Taken from agents Web Blog :
14th
June The team passed thru Camp 3 and were on the
way down to Camp 2 at 11,200 ft to spend the night before continuing
to basecamp. They plan to be in basecamp tomorrow, and hope to fly
out to Talkeetna by tomorrow afternoon.
It goes pretty quick going down, they are pretty motivated to get
down to cheesburgers and showers.
The team
is all back in high camp after a beautiful, long summit day. There
were some tired climbers last night as they got back to camp around
midnight (it doesn't get dark high on Denali this time of year).
They are all sleeping in this morning, and will pack up and start
down the mountain a bit later.
Congratulations to the whole team!
13th
June SUCCESS Jacob
just called, and the team has summitted!! The first rope team reached
the top just before 8pm, and the other teams followed 30-40 minutes
later. I'll get some more details later tonight or tomorrow, but
it sounds like everyone reached the top, and it is a beautiful evening.
They'll descend to high camp in the next few hours.
12th
June Friday was a day of rest for the crew at high
camp. They woke up with some mild headaches, that is to be expected
the first night at 17,200 ft, but everyone is doing great and looking
forward to a potential summit chance as soon as Saturday.
It's a beautiful place to rest and acclimate.
11th
June The team moved up to high camp today on another
perfect day in the Alaska Range. Jacob had Sat Phone duty tonight,
and reported that they were finishing dinner and getting ready to
settle in for the night at around 8:30 AK time. They did great today
moving up thru some of the most technical, and strenuous climbing
of the entire West Buttress route.
A couple of the team have some headaches tonight, which is to be
expected, but they are all feeling pretty good at 17,200 ft and
will take a rest/acclimitization day tomorrow before their summit
bid.
Here's
a picture of high camp with the route up to Denali Pass and on to
the summit visible in the background. The small peak on the left
isn't the top of Denali...
10th
June They spent today doing some training and practicing
some of the skills they will need for the more technical climbing
above them. They will need to ascend some permanently anchored ropes
to reach the ridge that will take them to high camp. Once they reach
the ridge they'll ascend another 1000 ft to high camp thru some
of the most beautiful and exposed climbing on the W. Buttress route.
Climbers
at the bottom of the fixed lines, heading for the ridge.
Climbers
on the ridge of the W. Buttress leading to high camp at 17,200 ft
above a rock outcropping called "Washburns Thumb" named for Bradford
Washburn who lead the first ascent team up the West Buttress route
in 1951.
9th
June The team took a well deserved rest today. Everyone
slept in, ate lots and got to know their neighbors in camp today.
It was a nice day in the Alaska Range, so they were enjoying views
and should have some great pictures to share when they get home.
Dinner tonight was pizza, which is always a crowd pleaser.
8th
June They slept in a bit this morning after yesterday's
big move. After a big breakfast they went down to pick up the cache
that they had left at 13,500 ft just a couple of days ago, and bring
it all up to Camp 3. It is Annie's birthday today, so to celebrate
they went for a little scenic hike in the afternoon, and had a big
dinner and desert.
It was a little bit snowy today, in and out, but a pretty nice day.
7th
June They moved up to Camp 3 today under blue skies,
and very little wind. It was a perfect day in the Alaska Range,
and the team had a great day climbing up to their new home for the
next few days. They'll spend at least 4 nights at this altitude
to acclimate, cache their gear up high, and recover a bit before
the final push to high camp and the summit. Camp 3 is the social
hub of Denali, with lots of teams staging here for their push to
the upper mountain. There can be well over 100 climbers from all
over the world in this camp this time of year. It is generally quite
entertaining.
Here is a view of the 14,000 basin from high camp. You can see the
tent city of Camp 3. Mount Hunter (14,573 ft) is the big peak in
the back.
6th
June The team is doing great, and staying right
on schedule. They carried loads up to just below "Windy Corner"
today. Typically Dave Staeheli would have planned to cache the gear
above windy corner (around 13,500 ft), but today it lived up to
it's name, and the wind kept them from getting as high as planned.
They'll still be able to move up to Camp 3 at 14,200 ft tomorrow
if the wind dies down. Everyone did great today, they are having
a good time, and it looks like they might have some pretty nice
weather for the next few days.
4th
June They made the move on up to Camp 2 today at
over 11,000 ft. They got up early to beat the heat, and got up to
Camp by mid day. Everyone is doing great and they made good time.
They'll sleep in a bit tomorrow, and then go pick up the cache they
left at 10,200ft yesterday.
3rd
June They enjoyed a beautiful day in the Alaska
Range today, and got a load of food and fuel cached at 10,200 ft.
It was the first really nice weather in the range for the last 2
weeks almost, so hopefully it will stick around for the team. They
dropped their cache into a hole they dug in the snow, and returned
to camp for the night. Tomorrow they'll pack up camp, and move on
up to Camp 2 at 11,200 ft. Jacob got Sat Phone duty, and he said
they are having a great time and everyone is doing fine.
2nd
June The team moved up to Camp 1 today, a 6 mile
march up the Kahiltna glacier. They got up early and travelled before
the day heated up and the snow got soft. They were settled into
camp and enjoying dinner when Jacob made the call at about 7:30
AK time. They all did great today, and tomorrow they hope to carry
a load of food and fuel up to a cache at around 10,200 ft.
They had
a busy day on Monday, they drove to Talkeetna, checked in with the
Park Service, and flew in to base camp. It's an exciting day and
minds race thru last minute lists to make sure nothing is forgotten.
Jacob called from base camp on the Sat phone last night (monday)
as they were settling in after dinner. Everyone was happy to get
onto the glacier, and ready to start the work.
This morning(Tuesday) they planned to get up early, load up all
of their gear, food, and fuel for 20+ days into their packs and
sleds and head up the 6 miles to Camp 1.
31st
May The whole crew met in Anchorage today for the
team meeting and a final gear check. Rod was missing a bag from
his flight across the Atlantic, but it arrived this afternoon, so
everybody is ready to go. Tomorrow morning they'll head up to Talkeetna
and fly into base camp.
The team,
before...
Lunch
at the Bear Tooth
In the
far north lies one of the most magnificent ranges of mountains in
the world. The Alaska Range stretches 400 miles across southcentral
Alaska. It is a wild place, covered in glaciers and punctuated by
rugged peaks. The crown of the range is Denali, at 20,320 feet (6194
m), the highest peak in North America. Located so close to the Arctic
circle, Denali can present some of the most challenging and rugged
conditions of any mountain on earth.
Each year a relatively few climbers from around the world migrate
to test themselves on the slopes of Denali. Mountain Trip has been
assisting these climbers achieve their Denali dreams since 1976.
We love what we do and are happy to help provide you a taste of
what these climbers are experiencing by updating their progress
in this blog. Following the expedition, we will post numerous photos
from the expedition, so please keep checking in.
On May 31, 2009, a small team of climbers will arrive in Anchorage.
They will be accompanied by three Mountain Trip guides:
Dave Staeheli from Palmer, Alaska
Jacob Schmitz from Bend, Oregon
Sean McManamy from
Let's meet the climbers!
Dean Albrecht from Canada
Rod Hogg from the UK
Teresa Gergen from the US
Greg Stephens from the US
Andrew Horton from the UK
Sietse Berghuis from Holland
Emanoel Rizea from the US
Annie Doyle from New Zealand
Trevor Jones from the US
We encourage you to follow the team's progress. There is an option
at right to "follow" this blog, which is a convenient way to keep
up with the team. Please post comments for the climbers, but realize
that we cannot always get those messages to your climber in a timely
fashion, due to the challenges of communicating from the Alaska
Range.
Please
keep in mind that communication from the big mountains can be challenging
and occasionally intermittent. We will post updates as often as
possible, but please keep in mind the old adage, "NO NEWS IS GOOD
NEWS!" when it comes to communications from the Range.
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