In Talkeetna

Everybody is back in the relative civilization of Talkeetna.  Last I heard they were on the way to the West Rib Pub to have some food and beer before heading back to Anchorage. 

Congratulations to the whole team for a great trip and summit!

A plane is launching!

Though the weather from the TAT webcam doesn't look too promising, we just heard that Talkeetna Air Taxi is launching a DeHaviland Beaver to try to get in to Base Camp to get some of our crew.

The Beaver is an amazing aircraft that can fly higher than some of the other planes used to fly into the Alaska Range. The cloud cover is apparently rather low, so they think they can get above it with the Beaver. If they can make it to BC, they will pick up five of our team and bring them back to Talkeetna. We have transportation headed up to Talkeetna already (eternal optimists that we are!), so if they do get out, we can bring them right back to Anchorage to make scheduled flights, etc.

We'll keep you posted as we hear more.

Waiting in Basecamp

The team is waiting in basecamp for the weather to clear enough for planes to fly in and pick them up.  You can keep an eye on the weather from Talkeetna on a webcam, follow the link to the right.

We'll update if anything changes.

Moving Down to Basecamp

Dave Staeheli just called and they are packing up camp and heading down to basecamp.  They should be there this afternoon, and if the weather cooperates they will be able to fly out to Talkeetna this afternoon.  

The Wind...

The team is at 11,000 ft again tonight.  There is a pretty big storm with high winds moving thru the Alaska Range right now, and they are going to stay put until it settles a bit.  They are all pretty motivated to get down to cheeseburgers, beer, and showers right now, but the weather still rules all on Denali.  The wind is supposed to blow for another 36 hrs or so, and they should be able to move on down to basecamp and fly out to Talkeetna as soon as it settles down.  

SUCCESS!!!

We just received a call from Dave at high camp. The team reached the summit yesterday!!

They are busy breaking down camp and plan to head down to Camp 2 at 11,200 feet today. Tomorrow they will hike the 9 miles back to Base Camp and will hopefully fly back to Talkeetna.

I don't have much more information on the conditions they experienced yesterday. Satellite phone connections are not always that clear, but they did reach the top.

Congratulations to everyone for all their hard work and perseverance!

No news is GOOD NEWS

We didn't receive a call from the team last night, which I'm taking as a good sign. Summit day can be very long and grueling, so the fact that they did not call probably means that they went for the top and came back to camp very tired, ate some food and fell fast asleep.

If this is the case, we should know later today, as we have four other expeditions on the mountain and one of them should be in touch with our guys as they begin their descent from high camp today. Please keep in mind that no news is good news up on Denali. There are NPS rangers at high camp and if anything were to go awry, the rangers would call our office.

Today looks like a pretty good day, so if they did not make the summit yesterday, they might be busy heading uphill right now. If they did summit, they are undoubtedly busy packing up and sorting loads for the climb down the ridge to the fixed lines. They are probably all eager for a hot pizza and a fresh salad!

We'll post an update as soon as we know something concrete.

Still waiting for their shot at the top!

The crew took another rest day yesterday. The move up to high camp can really take a lot out of you and often requires climbers to take a day r two to let their reserves build back up. Today looks like it could be a possible summit day, so we will keep you posted if they make an attempt.

Thanks to everyone who posted comments on the previous dispatches. We will make a point of asking the guides for weather and temperature information, as that will give you, the readers, a better sense of what your friends and family are experiencing. From experience, I'll tell you that when the sun is out on Denali, it is often quite a bit warmer than you might expect. Even at high camp, 17,200 feet above the sea, you can walk around in a light fleece if the sun is out and the wind isn't blowing.

One reader asked for information on oxygen saturation levels for the climbers. We carry small pulse oximeters with us as a diagnostic tool, in the event that someone is not feeling well. This is one piece of information that can help with the decision making process as to whether a climber should continue heading up, but it is only one piece of the high altitude puzzle. Different guide services have different protocols about how to use the information provided by your 02 sat levels, so I'll just leave it at that.

Keep your fingers crossed that the high clouds that seem to be hovering over the summit in the TAT webcam are only in the foreground and not really parked on the summit.

High Camp Today!

The team moved to high camp today.  This is one of the hardest days of the trip, so it's a good one to have behind you.   Everybody did great, but they are feeling some of the effects of a hard day at high altitude (17,200 feet).  

They are now in position for a shot at the summit!  They may need to take a rest day before going for it, but if everyone is doing OK they could go as soon as tomorrow.  

We'll keep you posted.

Carrying Loads to 16,400 ft

Dave Staeheli's group carried a load up the fixed lines above the 14,000 ft camp up to the ridge at above 16,000 ft.   This is the last big load carry, and they hope to be able to move to high camp tomorrow.   The weather forecast looks pretty good for the next several days, so they could be in a great position to summit soon.

Settled in at 14,000 ft

The team is at 14,000 and everyones doing good.  They'll spend several nights at this camp to rest, acclimate, and carry loads before making the move to high camp.  

Moving to 14,000 today

The crew spent another night at 11,000 last night, and should be rolling into the 14,000 camp today.  I hope to get a call tonight after they are settled in, and I'll update their progress if I hear from them.  Everyone's still hanging tough.

Moving to 14,000 ft camp tommorow

They are ready to move on up and plan on spending tomorrow night at the 14k camp.   They've been doing great so far, and have been right on schedule.  

I'm supposed to pass on a happy mothers day to all of the moms that may be reading.   

They have already carried some of their gear to 13,500 ft and tomorrow they will move the rest of their gear all of the way to camp at 14k.  They have a lot of work to do tomorrow moving camp, and setting up the camp so we may not get a call until the next morning after they have caught up on some sleep.  

We'll post as soon as we hear from them again.

Loving the Views from 11,000 ft

The team moved up the 11,000 ft camp yesterday, and everyone is doing great.    They will spend a few nights at this camp before pushing up to the next camp at 14,000.  

At 9,000 ft

The team is up at 9,000ft and everyone is doing great.  They loaded all of their gear and food into their packs and sleds and hauled it to 7,800 yesterday, and then continued up to around 9,000ft today.    They'll be carrying a load of food and fuel to 11,000ft tommorow.   

Welcome to Mountain Trip's May 4 West Buttress Expedition

On May 4, 2008 a team of climbers will meet in Anchorage, Alaska in order to attempt to climb to the top of North America.

The summit of Denali (Mount McKinley) is the one of the famed Seven Summits and soars 20.320 feet above sea level. This team will spend up to three weeks working their way up the mountain from a base camp located at 7,200'. Due to it's proximity to the Arctic Circle, Denali is notorious for its ferocious weather and extreme cold. For many climbers, it is the challenge of a lifetime.

The team will include:

Joe Lawson from the US
David Ratcliffe from the UK
Thomas Kormendi from Sweden
Pam Westgate from the US
Tore Sunde-Rasmussen from Norway
Ian Phillips from the US
Jason Penman from the US
Chance Bentley from the US
Adam Hodges from the US

Mountain Trip guides for the expedition will be Dave Staeheli from Palmer, Alaska, Jacob Schmitz from SoCal, California, and Greg Nappi from Girdwood, Alaska.

We will post updates as they are available, however due to weather and the big mountains surrounding the team for much of the climb, communications with the team may not occur on a daily basis. Please keep in mind the axiom of "no news is good news."

We can not guarantee that any comments posted to this blog will reach the climbers on the mountain. If you do wish to pass along any news, please call or email the Mountain Trip Office at info@mountaintrip.com or +1-970-369-1153.