Trip Reports
Hey all! We are just now getting settled back in Anchorage after a rewarding West Buttress climb with Jaahnavi. She is both an incredibly talented young climber and young lady. Her technical abilities, winter camping and travel skills and general climbing knowledge increased tenfold over the course of the expedition. Denali is an incredibly tough…
The team made the move to high camp at over 17,000 ft today! The climbing from Camp 2(14,200ft) to High Camp (17,200 ft) is some of the more technical and fun sections of the entire West Buttress route. They climbed right out of camp up to the base of a steep headwall that gains a…
Sean checks in with the final dispatch from the June 15th Denali Expedition. He’s making the final post on a sunny day in Anchorage and everyone is on their way back towards home. Here’s Sean! recording
Back in the big city after a couple weeks in the Alaska Range, the June 24 Denali team is enjoying their first hot showers, internet and flush toilets! We left our 14,200′-camp at 9 p.m. and hiked through nearly two feet of fresh snow on the way down to Camp 2 at 11,200′. After a…
The June 26th team enjoyed a beautiful acclimatization/rest day at the 14,200 ft camp on Denali today. They hiked out to a spot called “The Edge of the World” where they can look down about 7,000 ft to the glacier below and get some amazing views of the Alaska Range. They are getting some really…
Jaahnavi called in from the 7,800 ft camp this evening on their descent from high camp. It sounds like they had a beautiful day on the descent and are planning to head to basecamp early tomorrow morning. They’ll travel the final 5+ miles to base camp during the coldest time of the day and hope…
Amanda Birkett called from 14,200′ where the members of the June 26th Team are all enjoying spectacular weather, after their extended stay in a snowstorm at their previous camp. Today, they reviewed skills that they will need to use as they move higher up the mountain. The guides established a series of “fixed lines” by…
Our guide Kristin Arnold called on behalf of Team Jaahnavi. They descended down from High Camp at 17,200′ to the big basin camp at 14,200′ today. It was a long descent, but Jaahnavi did really well, even climbing up on top of a rock tower known as “Washburn’s Thumb!” Back in camp, they settled in…
Lead Guide Rob “Durny” Durnell called from the summit of Denali! He, Oliver and Chip Crawley, a guide from another Mountain Trip team, are all on the top of North America. They moved up high and took advantage of a brief break in the weather to punch high in very tough conditions. We don’t have…
Unfortunately the team dispatch is too garbled to understand, but we know that the team moved to 14 Camp yesterday and everyone is safe and sound. Here is the mystery caller: recording