Trip Reports
We heard from the team this morning and they are still socked in at Kahiltna Pass. It is what we call 0/0 visibility, or living inside a ping pong ball, with whiteout in every direction. Spirits are high, however; and they dined on a chicken and pasta dinner and stuffed themselves with blueberry pancakes, so…
Bill Allen, Camp 2 21,500ft/6550m We moved up to Camp 2 on Friday, after a couple of very windy days down at Camp 1 (20,000 ft). We had winds over 50 mph for much of the night of the 21st and it wasn’t a pleasant night. We and our tents all survived, but our cook…
Bill called a little while ago to check in after a calm night at Camp 2. The first night at over 21,000′ is seldom a pleasant one and everyone is feeling a bit slow and looking forward to taking a slow and easy day in camp. Today, they plan to do just that, and just…
The team moved up to Camp 2, at 21,400+ feet last night. Bill makes a call to report that all members were feeling well, and happy to be settling into their tents to try and tune out the 60 mph. winds. Click to hear Bill! [audio:http://mteverest2011.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/c4fd574cce3ac9bf5fe8054f1a1067fef0767458.mp3]
The team tried to call in yesterday, but thick cloud cover prevented transmission via their satellite phone. They did reach our Alaska office late last night to report on their movements of the past couple of days. On Wednesday, April 20th, the team carried gear and supplies to a point at about 10,200′ (3120m), just…
April 20-21, 2011 Camp 1, 20,300′ (6190m) Bill called this morning (tonight in Nepal, due to the time difference), to report that the team is nestled in at Camp 1 at just about 20,300′ (6190m). They made great time moving up through the Khumbu Icefall, which is apparently in really good shape this year. The…
Chase Franklin called in from Camp 1 on the Kahiltna Glacier last night. the team moved about five miles up glacier to a broad plain at about 7,800′ (2380m). The weather was pretty warm and they traveled in light fleece layers and reveled in the sun. Chase makes reference to some excitement regarding crevasses, so…
Hello Followers! The team has flown onto the Kahiltna glacier and is heading down the valley! We have heard that the weather is “splitter” blue skies, which should give them a solid few days to move out of base camp to camp one. The National Park Service is in the process of setting up their…
Welcome to the dispatch page for Mountain Trip’s April 24th West Buttress Expedition. Conventional wisdom holds that the “Denali climbing season” begins on May 1st. We’re not certain how Denali reads the calender, but we have been happy to offer late April expeditions for the past six years and have enjoyed the more wild feel…
One of the famed Seven Summits, Denali is a challenging mountain, due to its combination of high elevation and arctic environment. Each year, about 1300 climbers attempt to climb to its summit and roughly half succeed. The most attempted route on the mountain is the West Buttress, first climbed by Bradford Washburn and company in…