Trip Reports
On Wednesday, June 22nd, a small group of climbers met in Anchorage, AK to join a team of Mountain Trip guides for an attempt to climb the highest peak in North America. Denali rises 20,320′ above the not-too-distant sea. Located close to the Arctic Circle, it is famous for presenting climbers with extreme cold and…
Guide Sean McManamy and climber Briana Faulstich called in with an update on the June 15 West Buttress team on Denali. At the time of the call, they had just arrived at Camp 2 at 11,200′, above the clouds, and had just set up camp and enjoyed a pasta dinner. The team will likely spend…
Mountain Trip guide Ian Nicholson called in on behalf of the June 11 Denali team, who are planning on making a push for the SUMMIT today via the West Buttress Route! All climbers on the June 11 team, including Nimrod and Yftah Sheffer, David Porter, Remo Bernhardsgrütter and Blaine Yates, will be heading for the…
Mountain Trip guide Robert “Durny” Durnell called in with an update on the June 16 West Buttress Expedition on Denali. Last night the team made their cache at about 10,000′ on the notoriously windy Kahiltna Pass above Ski Hill. The team was undoubtedly tired out by carrying and pulling the heavy loads up a couple…
Lead guide Ben Adkison called in with an update on the June 5 team from High Camp on the West Buttress Route, at 17,200′. They utilized yesterday as an additional rest and weather day, to mentally and physically prepare themselves to push the approximately 3,000′ of vertical to the top of the Great One and…
Guide Bill Allen and the Gildor Denali team were unable to call in via satellite phone due to a spotty connnection, but they sent a short update via inReach today: Happy Solstice! We cached supplies around Windy Corner today. All is well up here at 14,000′ on Denali. We hope you are all enjoying summer…
Mountain Trip lead guide Ian Nicholson called in with an update on the June 11 Denali West Buttress expedition. The team took a weather window and pushed up the fixed lines from 14,200′ to 17,200′, the High Camp on the West Buttress Route, one of the steepest and most strenuous sections on the route. The…
Mountain Trip guide Nick Aiello, and climber Wolfgang Pfaeffel, called in via satellite phone on behalf of the June (not May) 15 Denali West Buttress expedition, who were able to push to up to 7,800′ feet on the Kahiltna Glacier. Wolfgang gave us part of the update in German, as well. While I can’t exactly…
Mountain Trip guide Robert “Durny” Durnell called in with an update on the June 16 Denali West Buttress expedition. The team was rewarded with clear skies and good weather after a few bonus days in Denali Base Camp at 7,200′, due to poor visibility and blowing snow. The team is traveling on a night schedule,…
Assistant guide Taylor Pyle called in with an update on the Mountain Trip Gildor Upper Rib expedition on Denali. The team retrieved their cache above Ski Hill and moved up to Camp 2 at 11,200′. Tomorrow, the team plans to bring a cache up above Windy Corner at 13,500′ to ease the difficulty of their…