Trip Reports
Hello, This is lead guide Michael Burmeister bringing you the final blog post for the May 31st West Buttress expedition. First of all, I just want to say thanks to all the team members for their help, patience, and perseverance. An additional thanks to assistant guides Jared Vilhauer and Sean McManamy for all their expertise…
The team slept a few hours last night, and were moving by 2am this morning on their way up to Camp 1. They traveled up the lower Kahiltna glacier for about 5 miles and gained just a few hundred feet from base camp at 7,200 ft to Camp 1 at 7,800 ft. They had a…
A group of four climbers will meet this morning in Anchorage, Alaska in preparation for an attempt to climb to the summit of Denali via its classic West Buttress route. This is the third year that Mountain Trip has offered a Denali climb where the climbers can travel on skis and actually have the opportunity…
The team spent the night in Talkeetna last night, but were able to fly in to base camp this morning. The weather was beautiful up at base camp this morning, clear skies and views of the mountain looming above. They took a final picture before hopping in the ski planes to go to base camp.…
The sun is shining up at base camp this morning and the planes are coming in right now. They will be back in Talkeetna by noon, and plan to be in Anchorage tonight.
Karen called in last night from the June 12 expedition after a day of watching the snow fall. They had intended to carry a load of gear/food/etc. up to about 13,500 ft yesterday, cache it, and return to the 11,000ft camp for the night. Instead they watched the snow pile up and watched the wind…
Our June 19th West Buttress team hoped to fly onto the glacier yesterday, but was stymied by inclement weather. The team met in Anchorage on the morning of the 19th for a team meeting and a comprehensive gear check. It was a pretty busy day and they made the rounds of the local climbing shops…
Durny called this evening from base camp and said that conditions and visibility has improved a bit, but it is still not flying weather in there. They are eating dinner, and calling it a night, hoping to fly out tomorrow.
We just got word from base camp and the team has arrived! Unfortunately, the weather isn’t allowing planes to fly in and pick them up right now. They cached some good food at base camp when they flew in, so they’ll be eating well and waiting for the planes.