Trip Reports
The members of the team of United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard who attempted the summit yesterday turned back at 20,000′ (6094m), as one of their team had a severe headache that was apparently beyond the team’s ability to mitigate. John Doyle, Hasan Al Naqbi, Ahmed Al Mazrouei and our guide Adam Smith are back at…
We’d like to welcome Joe Marinucci to Alaska! Joe will be joining senior Mountain trip guide Rob “Durny” Durnell and Chad Peele, a guide with Aspen, CO based Alpenglow Expeditions on an attempt of the West Buttress of North America’s highest peak. The West Buttress is a classic mountaineering challenge that climbs 13,000′ from the…
Our guide Rene Welty called in from the 11,200′ camp to let us all know that they team made it to the beautiful basin and established themselves for the evening. She mentioned that it was HOT on the glacier today, which might sound like an oxymoron, eh? A hot glacier? It is amazing how warm…
Dan Khouri called in from 14,200′ (4328m) to lets us know that the team took it easy today, letting their bodies further acclimate to the thinner air of above 4000m. They also spent part of the day practicing the skills that they will need to employ in the coming days. The guides set up a…
The entire May 16 team is on the summit of Denali!!! They had a great day and reached the top of North America!!! Congratulations to Ray, Tashi, Nungshi, Jason, Caroline, Rob, Alan, Brian and Yoshiko! Here is the call from the summit: recording
The Upper Rib Team made short work of their back carry day today, skiing (while roped) down to their cache site, where they had left some supplies the day before. The team is traveling on skis, which is one potential benefit of a small, private team like this one; however, the National Park Service does…
The father and sons Simmons team is on the move, carrying a load of equipment up from their 11,200′ camp. The plan is to carry supplies up the moderately steep, 1000′ Motorcycle Hill and up alongside the massive, rocky crags of the southern edge of the West Buttress proper. After several miles, they will turn…
The May 30 West Buttress team is taking advantage of a beautiful day in the Alaska Range to move up to the basin camp at 11,200′. They put in a cache of equipment yesterday and today are climbing up past that cache to establish a new camp. This system of carrying equipment and supplies to…
The May 30th Team has been working hard, and moving well. Yesterday they cached a load of equipment and supplies at 10,000 ft, and today they are moving up to Camp 2 at 11,200 ft. It’s a calm, clear day and the conditions are perfect for the team to continue their progress up the mountain.…
The May 26th Team is on the move today, ferrying a load of equipment and supplies from Camp 2 at 11,200 ft to a cache at 13,500 ft. They have been making good time up the glacier! Yesterday they “back carried” which means they brought a load of equipment and supplies from their cache at…