June 15 team moved up to Camp 3
After some extra days at the 11,000 camp and a bit of snow, the team was able to move up to Camp 3 today in the 14,000 ft basin. They were happy to get climbing again. Here’s Kim calling from 14,200 ft! recording
Trip Reports
Meet the June 26 Mountain Trip West Buttress Team!
This morning a group of climbers from around the world met in Anchorage, Alaska to finalize their preparations for an attempt on the classic West Buttress Route of Denali. The team has been preparing for months, training and acquiring the highly specialized clothing and gear that their ascent requires. Today, they will meet three guides…
June West Rib – Waiting in Talkeetna
The team is waiting for the weather to improve so they can fly to the glacier and start climbing. The snow is falling heavily at Base Camp, so no planes are flying. This is called the “Talkeetna Hang,” in local parlance, and a day or two is kind of fun, but much longer can begin…
June 24 Team – Doing The Talkeetna Hang!
The team drove up to Talkeetna yesterday and attended an orientation p[resented by the National Park Service about climbing Denali. They wandered over to the airstrip to finish arranging their mountain of baggage at the shop of Talkeetna Air Taxi, and finally, feeling completely ready to fly… they proceeded to wait. Weather at Base Camp…
Wounded Warriors – Waiting, Watching and Waiting Some More…
The snow continues to fall on the team entrenched at 14,200′ I suspect entrenched is a fairly appropriate term, given the quantities of white that have been falling. The wind has been transporting it around, so it is something of a full-time job to keep it from piling up on the tents in conditions like…
June 15 Team – Waiting in the Snow at 11,200′
The team is still waiting out the storm at 11,200′ (3413m). There is not much else to do in a situation like this, but to hang tough and wait. The snow has been falling steadily, at pretty much all elevations on the mountain. The winds are blowing pretty strong as well, making for challenging conditions.…
June 17 Team – A Riddle From Yoshiko
The team is at 11,200′ (3413m) sitting in the snow, watching it snow, digging snow… Cason describes camp as looking like “The Wall” in Game of Thrones (love the show, by the way!). Let’s hope no wildlings come charging into the basin! Slowing down, tuning out the noise in your brain and just sitting tight…
June 12 Stuart Team – Trying to Keep Sane in the Snow!
Duncan called in what I must describe as a brilliant glimpse into the challenge of keeping sane whilst waiting, and waiting… and waiting… for the weather to break at 14,200′. Dante wrote of a similar phenomenon, and although the descent passed through different circles, the mountains have their own version. Duncan and Co. are already…
June 17 Team – Waiting on the Weather at 11,200′
The June 17th Team is waiting for the weather to improve so they can move up and around the steep ridge of the West Buttress known as Windy Corner. This feature can be very challenging in rough weather, so the guides do not want to push it up, unless the weather is clear enough to…
June 15 Team – Sitting Tight at 11,200′
The team called in an audio post that was too garbled to understand, but they are hanging tough at the basin camp at 11,200′ (3413m). One of the climbers, Kat, developed some health issues that presented a few days back and were sufficient cause for her and the guides to decide that it was no…