Trip Reports
June 5 Mountain Trip West Buttress team called in an update from camp at 14,200′ on Denali’s West Buttress route, after enjoying a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy above the clouds. With their final cache assembled, the team ascended fixed lines to around 16,500′, around infamous Windy Corner, to prepare for the trip up…
Lead Guide Eli Potter called in with an update. The team spent a very cold day watching winds blow up high. The combination of wind and cold was too much to risk a long summit day, so they are crossing their fingers that tomorrow might bring a bit more warmth or less wind. The team…
Lead Guide Aaron Diamond called in on behalf of the June 9 Denali team. They moved up into a beautiful basin today, located at about 11,200′ off the west side of Denali. The camp is situated below the massive bulk of the West Buttress proper, and is ringed with steep ice and snow slopes. The…
Today at 14 Camp the team rested, relaxed, ate and caught up on sleep. They have a big day tomorrow, climbing up the Headwall section of the West Buttress Route. The Headwall starts out at about 45 degrees and mellows somewhat as you get higher. The 600′ vertical rise is protected by ropes affixed into…
Unfortunately John’s message is garbled, but it’s clear he’s sending a big hello to Lucy and also to Pachi’s girls. Here’s John: recording
Although the West Buttress route is not considered a highly technical climb, the physical environment of Denali presents much of the climbing challenge: miles of heavily glaciated terrain, extremes of temperatures and weather, and climbing and living at altitude. In addition to extensive glacier travel on the lower mountain, the climbing is considerably steeper above…
Taylor called in the team report tonight from 14 Camp. The team woke to snowy, cloudy conditions and they opted to remain in 14 Camp for another day. Taylor reports that the weather appears to be clearing and the team is excited to make the move up to High Camp. Here’s Taylor: recording
It was an exciting day for the June 2nd Team as they moved a load of equipment and supplies up the steepest part of the route today. They packed up their loads and climbed about 1,400′ up moderate snow slopes to the base of a section known as The Headwall. The Headwall starts out at about…
Travis called back to finish his post by stating that everyone is doing well and the plan is to move to 11 Camp tomorrow. Here’s Travis: recording