Trip Reports
We awoke at 3:45 a.m. this morning and struggled out of our sleeping bags in the dark to get an early start on our climb up the Lhotse Face, a demanding section of the route that begins just a few hundred feet above Camp 2. After a breakfast of cereal and freshly-baked cinnamon rolls (yes,…
Lead Guide Yoshiko Miyazaki-Back called in from 7,200′ on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, where the May 6th team spent the day reviewing skills and preparing to move upwards on the West Buttress route of Denali. The weather is holding, and despite some clouds, the daytime temperatures are quite warm. The plan is…
We had a great hike today, up to the base of the Lhotse Face, and are planning to climb on up to Camp 3 tomorrow morning. This will be our last day up here at C2 and we want to get all of the acclimating we can out of our days up here. We all…
The team packed up their kit at the Lakefront Hotel and loaded into our van and trailer for the drive north to Talkeetna. They broke the 2.5-hour drive up with a stop in Wasilla, AK, home to one of our more flamboyant political figures, and then continued up to the end of the road town…
The whole crew is here today – our team of climbing Sherpa moved up to Camp 2 with us today bringing the last of the equipment needed for the time being. Greg, Vanessa, and I are still working on acclimating to living at over 21,000ft, so we had another mellow day here with a little…
We are thrilled to welcome our first team of climbers of the 2016 Denali season, who are meeting our guide team today, May 6! Each spring, as the days grow longer, climbers from around the world feel the siren song of the north country. Many are drawn by the challenge of attempting to climb the…
Vanessa called in from Camp 2 via satellite phone, detailing the events of the day. She said they made good time through the Khumbu Icefall, and that the day’s biggest struggle was staying cool enough in the hot sun–which might seem strange considering that they’re incredibly high on the world’s tallest peak. Communicating from 21,500′…
Above you can see Vanessa, Greg, and DaOngchhu trekking below Pumori in the morning’s first light. Today went very well, and we’ve returned to Camp 2 for the night. We had an early start today at 1 a.m., and awoke a beautiful starry night. Everyone felt well and we made quick work of the Khumbu…
We woke up early again today (1am) and left camp excited to be making a move to Camp 2 under clear starry skies. After about an hour into the day Vanessa started feeling ill again, and after taking a good long break for some hot tea and a chance to weigh our options, we decided…
We spent another day in base camp today after waking up last night intending to move up to Camp 2. Vanessa wasn’t feeling well, and hadn’t slept, so we pushed everything back a day to allow her to recover and get some rest before the push up to Camp 2. We went back to sleep…