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.