Talkeetna!!!

They are all back in Talkeetna enjoying showers, food, and probably a beer or two.  They are all settling into rooms for tonight, and will come back to Anchorage tomorrow morning. 

Welcome back, and congratulations to all!

11,000 feet

Just got off the sat phone with Bill from 11,000 ft camp.   They slept in this morning, and are now eating pancakes and relaxing a bit before heading down to basecamp tonight.  They'll be traveling at night again down on the lower glacier to take advantage of the coldest time of day.  They hope to be in base camp at the landing strip tomorrow morning and in Talkeetna for breakfast at the world famous Road House restaurant.   

Summit today!! (Saturday)

I just got a call from Billmeier and everyone is back in high camp after reaching the summit today!  The whole team made it on a beautiful warm(ish) sunny, calm day at 20,000 ft.  They spent over an hour on the top today enjoying the views and taking lot's of pictures.  

Congratulations to everyone.  They'll start down tomorrow, and will be to basecamp in just a couple of days.

A beautiful evening at 17,000 ft on Denali

Just talked to Billmeier via sat phone a little while ago.  They were all settled in at high camp and doing great.  The team did well moving up the ridge, and will take a rest/acclimitization day tomorrow before their summit day...

Moving on up to High Camp!

The last Mountain Trip Denali Expedition of the 2008 season is moving one step closer to the top today.  They took a rest/acclimitization day yesterday, and right now are climbing up the ridge (in the picture below) and on their way to high camp at 17,200ft.  

This ridge is the West Buttress of Denali, and is some of the most technical climbing of the whole route.  They should be reaching camp this evening, and the weather is reported to be nice today.   

I'll update when we get the evening Sat Phone call from our guides.

14,000 ft Camp on Denali

The team carried their last loads yesterday to the ridge at 16,500 ft.   They didn't have much to carry, as they were only caching a couple of days worth of food and fuel, so this hike serves more as an acclimitization hike.   They did great, and the weather was pretty nice on the upper mountain for most of the day.  Everyone is still doing really well, and they are getting excited to see the top of the mountain.   The views get better every step of the way.

They may move to high camp today, but were waiting to see how the weather looked and how everyone feels after yesterdays climb.  They are getting close...

A nice day at 14K

The team had a good day of acclimating, resting, and practicing the skills they will need to go up the fixed lines tomorrow.   I just talked to Billmeier at 14k and they are just about to have dinner, and they were joined tonight by the June 22nd Mountain Trip team on their way down from the summit.  

14,000 ft Camp on Denali

Billmeier called from 14k camp this afternoon.  They were settling into their home for the next 4 nights.  They had a good day moving up to the next camp, and everyone is in great spirits!  This was the first day that the climbers got to put on their crampons, and get out the ice axes, everyone was excited for climbing. 

Eric Baker has a message."Daddy loves Julia and Drew and hopes that they are making good choices."  

Tommorow will be another rest/acclimitization day for the team, they'll sleep in late, and have a big leisurely breakfast that usually lasts until noon.

 

Moving to 11,000

Just got off the phone with lead guide Bill, and the team is already settled in at 11,000 camp today.  They are all doing great and moving right along.   They plan to take a rest/acclimitization day tomorrow and then move on up to the next camp at 14,000 ft.  

Moving up to 9,800 feet

In case you read this yesterday, I'm editing after getting a message that was incorrect.   

They are single carrying on this trip instead of carrying and cacheing loads.   That saves them a bunch of miles of climbing/walking and changes the strategy a bit.  They are able to do this on the last trip of the year because there is leftover food and fuel from previous expeditions already cached at camps above them.  

Thursday they moved up to 9,800 ft in a single push, and set up camp there.   Bill has a Sat Phone that works now, so we'll be getting daily calls from Denali updating their progress.

Camp 1 7,800ft

They got up early this morning (1am) to get on the trail during the coldest time of day.  This time of year it is typical for teams to travel during the night on the lower Kahiltna glacier to miss the heat of the day.  This allows them to move while the surface snow is still frozen, and the slushy mess that it will turn into in the afternoon.  They travelled the 5+ miles up the glacier to reach their first camp at 7,800 ft.  The loads only get lighter as they eat the food and fuel that fills their sleds and backpacks.  

They spent yesterday reviewing glacier travel skills in basecamp, and preparing the sleds and gear that they are carrying up the mountain.  

The team is at Base Camp!

Looking down the SE fork of the Kahiltna from Base Camp

Well, our last expedition of the season is off and running! This morning they packed up their kit in Anchorage and drove the 2.5 hours north to the small, end of the road town of Talkeetna, AK. They checked in with the National Park Service, completing the requisite registration forms and watching an eye popping PowerPoint presentation depicting all the ways climbers could get into trouble on Denali (actually is is a very informative presentation and much less gruesome than the old video the NPS used to show).

Formalities completed, they regrouped at the Talkeetna Air Taxi (TAT) office where they weighed all their packs and supplies for the flight to the glacier. As the weather was pretty nice, with only scattered clouds, the team was able to fly in to Base Camp, located on the Southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier at an elevation of 7,200 feet.

Base Camp is a breathtaking spot surrounded by peaks soaring a mile or two above your head. Denali looms more than three miles higher, framed off the east ridge of Mt Francis, to the north. The team spent some time soaking everything in, and then got to work establishing their camp and rigging their sleds for tomorrow morning's early start up glacier.

Welcome to Mountain Trip's June 29 West Buttress Expedition

On June 29, 2008 a team of climbers met 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:

Carl Blaschke from the UK
Arthur Prestidge from the UK
Brian Weimar from the UK
Jan Weimar from the UK
Mike Allen from the UK
Eric Baker from the US
Mike Arnold from the US
Chuck Raper from the US

Mountain Trip guides for the expedition will be Bill Billmeier from Anchorage, Alaska, Jacob Schmitz from southern California and Sean McManamy 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.