Everyone is out of the mountains!

They all flew out in 2 flights this afternoon, and are on the way to the Anchorage Airport to catch their flights home right now. We had the Mt Trip van heading to Talkeetna when we got the word they were flying out, and Dave Staeheli said they all had time for one beer in Talkeetna before rushing off to Anchorage and beyond.

Welcome home guys! That's the last trip on Denali for this season, so we are all relaxing a bit finally after a great year in Alaska.

The Planes Are Flying!

They are heading in to base camp to pick up the first load right now. The weather is still marginal, and they've tried to get in once already today only to be turned around by clouds, but things are looking up for the crew!

Still Waiting at Base Camp

They are still at base camp waiting for a chance to fly out. It was cloudy and rainy most of the day in Talkeetna, and clouds blew in and out of base camp. The team is going a bit crazy sitting at bc now and are quite anxious to get home. We hope they'll be able to fly out this afternoon, the weather is supposed to break up and the clouds lift a bit later today.

Yesterday afternoon they moved about 3/4 mile up the glacier to the "Upper Airstrip" where they will get picked up by the ski planes. They have a lot of food and extra equipment that was left at base camp, so the guide team made several laps to shuttle all the loads. They aren't in danger of running out of food or fuel, but I'm sure the base camp beer supply is getting low.

We'll be waiting for them in Talkeetna when they arrive to whisk them back to Anchorage and hope to catch flights home tonight.

Waiting Patiently(?) at Base Camp

Still cloudy in Talkeetna, but improving. Hopefully they'll get a chance to fly out today.

Back to Base Camp

They had an adventurous day getting back down to base camp today. Dave Hill jumped into a crevasse, but was pulled out right away and is laughing about it now. It's always exciting to have someone fall into a crevasse, but that's why we travel on a rope on the glacier.

The weather is continuing to work against the climbers, and the planes couldn't fly into the Alaska Range today due to low clouds and bad visibility. The small planes that fly into base camp and land on the snowy glacier can only fly when they can see where they are going. There isn't an instrument approach to the Kahiltna glacier, so they fly by Visual Flight Rules. You can check out the view of the Alaska Range from Talkeetna on the link for the webcam to the right ---->

Their biggest concern now is running out of the beer they stashed at base camp before the planes can pick them up.

Here's Dave Hill from BC this afternoon.

Camp 2, 11,200 ft on the way down

They made it down to camp 2 this afternoon, and lead guide Dave Staeheli called to check in after dinner. They had a mix of snow and sunshine today, and there were some pretty tired climbers coming down. They'll get a good night sleep tonight in the thick, warm air of 11,200 ft after 6 nights at high camp.

Tomorrow they hope to get to base camp in the afternoon, and fly out to Talkeetna if the weather permits where we will be waiting for them.

Heading down

Dave called from high camp this morning and said it was blowing even harder up high on Denali today and they were going to have to descend. They've given it a good shot, but just got unlucky with the weather. It has been an unusually long stretch of wind and snow up high on the mountain and they never got a chance to summit. It's unfortunate, they all worked very hard to get to high camp and be in position. Possibly the hardest part is waiting around for the weather when there are no guarantees that it will ever get nice. They gave it a good shot, but part of climbing big mountains is that the outcome is never guaranteed and sometimes you just need a bit of luck.

They plan to descend to Camp 2 (11,200 ft) tonight, and then keep going to base camp tomorrow morning.

And another...

They sat thru another stormy day again today. It's been a tough stretch of weather and they are starting to run low on time. They'll try again one more time tomorrow, but if they can't go for the summit they'll start down towards base camp. It is hard to hang up there, and Dave Staeheli has been trying to keep everyone healthy and motivated to get a shot at the summit.

Hopefully tomorrow will be the day they need and their hard work and patience will pay off.

And another...

They had another day of wind and snow today up at 17,000 ft. There was an hour or so where it was really starting to look promising today and they got ready to go, but then the weather came back in. The sky is blue up there this evening, but the wind is still blowing pretty strong above them. They are hoping tomorrow will be their lucky day!

Another Snowy Day...

They had another stormy day at high camp today. They watched the snow fall, and tried to entertain themselves today at 17,000 ft. It can get tough hanging out in a tent and a storm at that altitude, but they are all doing fine still tonight. They'll keep trying again tomorrow, and hope the weather changes for them.

Much of climbing big mountains is about patience, and luck... they have the patience, and hopefully they'll get some luck.

Snow and Wind..

The team was up this morning with aspirations of going to the summit. The weather, however, didn't cooperate and they had to wait it out for another day. It was windy and snowing off and on sometimes quite heavily up there today. They are doing great, hanging in there with good spirits and just waiting for a nice day to make the final upwards push to the top. They are getting an extra day of acclimitizing to the high altitude, but I'm sure they are all anxious to go to the top. They'll get up and try again tomorrow, wish them luck.

Here's Jack with the evening call.

Acclimating and Recovering at 17,200 ft

The team enjoyed a pretty nice day up at high camp on Denali today. It was pretty warm and calm, so they were able to walk around camp and really enjoy the views from 17,200 ft. They are higher than every peak in the Alaska Range except Mt Foraker (17,400 ft) so the views are vast and spectacular from camp.

Everyone is doing great and they hope to get a shot at the summit tomorrow. We'll hope for good weather and maybe we'll get the call from the summit!

There was an evening call for the dispatch, but it got cut off right away.

A Spectacular Sunny Day

Their patience thru the storm paid off and they had a beautiful day today. The team moved up to high camp at 17,200 ft where they are settling in this evening.

They plan to take a day to recover and acclimate tomorrow and go for the summit as early as Tuesday.

Another Snowy Day...

Not much happening anywhere on Denali today as most teams are just sitting out the snow and wind. Our guys sound like they are in good spirits and making the best of it.

It get's cut off pretty quickly, but again that's pretty common.

Here's the evening call.

Wind and Snow return

It was a stormy day on Denali today, so they got another day of rest at Camp 3. It was too windy and snowy to push up to high camp today. They are all catching up on reading, and naps today and hoping for another sunny day tomorrow.

Here's the evening phone call from Camp 3.

A Spectacular Sunny Day

The sun came out in the Alaska Range today and they enjoyed it at 14,200 ft. It was their last acclimitzation day at this altitude before trying to move up to high camp tomorrow. They spent the day going over crevasse rescue skills, and lowered people into a crevasse and pulled them out again. It sounds like it was an entertaining learning experience.

Here's Karen calling in this evening from Camp 3.

Sunny Day!

It is one of the nicest days we've seen in the Alaska Range in over a month!! Check out the views this morning on the webcam. http://www.talkeetnaair.com/web-cam

There is also a link to the right. ------------>

Rest Day at Camp 3

The crew had a rest and recovery day at Camp 3 today while part of their guide/sherpa team carried some food and fuel up to a cache on the ridge near high camp. It was a bit windy today, so a good day for a rest at 14,000 ft. They are all doing great and having a good time up there it seems.

Here's Adam checking in.

A Nice Day at Camp 3

They had a great day up at 14,200 ft relaxing and goofing off. They went for a hike out to a place called "the edge of the world" where they got spectacular views looking down the lower Kahiltna glacier almost 7000 ft below them. They are all doing great up there and sounds like they are enjoying themselves.

I did have to give Karen the bad news that Germany lost in World Cup play today... I'm sure she'll be OK.

Here's Jack with today's podcast.

Camp 3, 14,200 ft!!

The weather has improved after a couple of stormy days and our team has moved on up to Camp 3. They'll spend a few nights here to acclimate and recover before moving up to the next camp, so tomorrow is a rest day.

Here's Greg with the evening call.

A Stormy Day

It was a stormy day on Denali, and teams across the mountain spent the day eating and resting as climbing up wasn't really an option. Our June 28 crew spent another day at their 2 1/2 camp trying to keep themselves entertained. The forecast is calling for much improved weather for tonight and tomorrow, so hopefully there will be more to report then. Everyone is doing great, and this extra rest day is probably just what their blistered feet needed to recover a bit.

Snowy 4th of July!

They moved up to another intermediate camp today (Camp 2 1/2) at a place we call the "Polo Fields" just below Windy Corner. It was a pretty nice day today, with a little snow this afternoon, but not to bad. They are breaking the climb up into shorter days and using some seldom used areas to camp, so it's a nice change of scenery for some of the guides as well. Dave Staeheli is our lead guide on this trip, he's been guiding in the Alaska Range for about 30 years, and says it has been probably 20 years since he has camped in this location, so he's enjoying the change.

It's Independence Day in the US, so there were plenty of American vs. Canadian jokes today.

Here's the evening call from Ben.

Camp 2, 11,200 ft

They moved on up to Camp 2 today, another 1700 vertical feet up the mountain. Dave Staehehli called this evening to say that they were all doing great, and moving very well. They may carry a small load up around "Windy Corner" tomorrow, up to around 13,500 ft, or they may take a day to acclimate and recover depending on what the weather looks like and how everyone feels in the morning.

Camp 1.5 at 9,500 ft

The team moved up to about 9,500 ft today, a camp we call 1 1/2 camp. This is a pretty common strategy this time of year to stay at an intermediate camp instead of doing the typical cache high sleep low technique. It can be a pretty windy cold spot early in the season, but is generally pretty good this time of the season. It sounds like they are all doing great and climbing strong. They'll move up to 11,200 ft (Camp 2) tomorrow.

Here's the evening phone call from our guide Brennan.

Camp 1, 7,800 ft

They moved on up to Camp 1 today, about 5 miles up the Kahiltna glacier from where they were dropped off yesterday. 5 miles on the local trails is a pretty easy hike, but it's a fair bit more strenuous on a glacier with packs and sleds. They did great today, made good time, and enjoyed themselves. They were settled into camp by noon and relaxed for the afternoon. The views of Denali from Camp 1 are stunning, it towers another 12,000ft above them.

Here is the link to Dave's Spot GPS Tracking unit if the link to the right isn't working for you. http://share.findmespot.com/shared/gogl.jsp?glId=0cOXyHGKmKbfADVLQiyyubc2IOno5tIC

They are off to a great start, and here is the evening phone call from the glacier.