Trip Reports
Chris called in tonight’s post from high camp. They did not go for the summit today, as high winds prevented an attempt. The post is a bit garbled, due to the challenges of calling via satellite phone from such norther latitudes, but most of his message is clear. I had to chuckle at his “Groundhog…
Joerg called in tonight’s update in English, French and German (show off!!) J’ai oubliez mi francais, but I hope he is providing similar reports…! I think “pizza” must be the same in all three languages! Here is/ Voici/ Hier ist Joerg: [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-26-02-02-37.mp3|titles=Audio Post]
Lead guide Eric Larson called in last night to report that the team had made a strong carry up to the bergschrund camp of the West Rib from 14,200′ camp on the West Buttress route. Many groups ascend the West Buttress route to put a cache of gear on the upper Rib and acclimatize to…
Zach called in to report that the group had made a great move from 11k to 14.2k yesterday, so they are now sleeping in at a higher elevation this morning and planning on travelling down the trail to pick up some gear they have cached at 13,500′. Everyone reports feeling strong and healthy so let’s…
Dave Ahrens reported a windy summit attempt on the Kahiltna Dome yesterday. The team made its way to approximately 11,000′ on the Northeast ridge of the Dome before increasing winds necessitated a retreat to camp. Now the team is in camp preparing to travel down the Kahiltna glacier to the southeast fork where basecamp resides,…
This expedition reports backcarrying yesterday, so now they are sitting within the confines of a solid camp, gathering their strength to carry a load up the fixed lines to around 16,200′. Rest days generally involve sleeping late, eating huge meals and going over technical skills that will be used in the more technical terrain above…
Our Northwest Buttress team is finding challenging, blue ice conditions on the route, but is making progress. They are currently camped at 15,400′ and will push up to their high camp at 16,400′ soon. This is a great effort on a huge and beautiful route, so good luck guys!!! [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-25-05-15-45.mp3|titles=Audio Post]
Not content to climb up and down the classic West Buttress, a handful of climbers have elected to climb up and over Denali to descend the wild and remote Muldrow Glacier route to the north. We call this our Denali Traverse climb, and we are the only guide service to run these trips year in…
Jacob called last night to report that the crew arrived yesterday afternoon at a their intended camp at 9,800′. The gang made good work of a challenging climb from their camp at 7,800′. At the same time, weather up higher on the mountain has been preventing many teams from moving, while the groups lower on…
Lead Guide Mike Burmeister called in last night. He had the stoves running and was making food and water for the gang while they built camp at 17,200 feet, what we commonly call “High Camp” on the West Buttress Route. This move is always a very challenging day–it involves a long day of climbing, including…