Trip Reports
The participants from our May 14th 12-Day Mountaineering Course are all on the Kahiltna Glacier. They met in Anchorage and drove to the small town of Talkeetna yesterday. Fortunately, the weather was cooperative and they were able to make the 45 minute flight into the heart of the Alaska Range, saving them about a week…
Yesterday, Qobin, Peter Inglis and Zach Quine departed Anchorage, Alaska en route to the small town of Talkeetna, where they spent some time being briefed about some of the challenges of climbing Denali by Rangers from the National Park Service. They were fortunate in that the weather was cooperative and they were able to board…
Hi Folks, We really apologize for the delay in posting, but rest assured that the May 8th team is doing great. They have been moving strong and yesterday carried a load of food, fuel and supplies up and around a key feature of the route, namely a massive, steep ridge of rock and ice that…
Sean called in last night from 10.200′ on the Northwest Buttress. The team is doing great and feels energized to be on the route. His reference to “Thanksgiving Dinner” means that they dined on a guide favorite of turkey and stuffing with re-hydrated cranberries and mashed potatoes and gravy. Sounds like pretty good living for…
The 11,200′ basin is a tough place to get messages out from, as the steep walls provide scant chances for satellite phones to connect with the orbiting satellites. Bryan called this in, and it’s nice to hear his voice, although it gets rather garbled. Enjoy! [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-16-04-38-00.mp3|titles=Audio Post]
May 15, Camp 2 We made it to Camp 2 in record time this morning, everyone did great coming up here and it really looks like our team is going to be strong. Now it’s just the weather game… We’re still checking multiple forecasts, getting updates a couple of times a day, and still hoping…
After much analysis of a variety of forecasts, we have decided that a window of lower winds starting May 19th looks like it will be hopeful for a summit attempt. We will be checking that every day for any changes, but it looks good. So the whole team is off tomorrow morning at 4am for…
Hi followers, Lead guide Joe Butler called in last night to report all is well, and the team is gearing up for a day of work and snow school tomorrow. A few of the guides will be carrying loads to the next camp, while the climbers will learn crevasse rescue skills and practice how to…
Brian called this in from the base of their route. I’ll not spoil the surprise, but his brother should listen! [audio:http://mountaintripdenali2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/audio-post-2011-05-14-03-30-27.mp3|titles=Audio Post]