Team Ema is moving on up the mountain! Today, they packed up camp down in the basin at 11,200′ (3414m) and headed uphill on what Lead Guide Jason Denley described as one of the nicest days he’s seen on Denali in years.
Making good time, the team arrived in an even bigger basin, known by Alaskan climbers as “Genet Basin,” after Ray Genet, one of the pioneer guides to lead climbers up Denali in the 1970’s and 80’s. The views from “14 Camp” are impressive! Looking out to the southwest, Mount Foraker, which not long before towered two vertical miles over the team, now dominates the horizon, not too much taller than their current camp.
They are now settled into a well fortified camp, protected from the wind by walls built from blocks of snow. They will spend 4-5 days at this elevation, making a carry up above camp at some point, all the while allowing their bodies to adjust to the thinner air of Denali’s upper mountain.
Here’s Jason –
