Jacob called in yesterday evening from camp 4, looking for the weather forecast.  Usually 14,200′ (4,328m) is camp 3 and camp 4 is high camp, but the team was forced to make an extra camp due to a storm that blew in while moving from camp 1 to 2; there are no prescribed camp areas on the West Buttress but mostly people stay in the same area year after year because certain spots are more sheltered from the wind or have fewer crevasses or are otherwise more favorable for sleeping.  Therefore on this expedition there will be 5 camps total.

The team is prepared for a long, hard climb to their high camp at 17,200′ (5,243m)- supplies are cached below the fixed lines and the expedition has been practicing the skills necessary to safely travel along the rocky ridge that leads to camp 5.  All they need now is good weather, but looking at the Talkeetna Air Taxi webcam today looked pretty clear.  We’ll soon find out what that meant to the team on the mountain.