June 7, 2010 West Buttress Expedition

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2010-07-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a number of days sense we left the mountain, and I imagine everyone is just beginning the routine of our "off mountain" lives. I hope these photos remind everyone how beautiful of a setting Denali was during our brief adventure to the summit.

Thank you for following the blog as I know there were a number of family and friends wishing us well during the journey. We could not have gotten everyone to the summit without your support.

Congratulations to all the summiteers and I look forward to seeing in the mountains very soon.

Best,

Drew

Back to civilization.

2010-06-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

The team made great time and must have been quite motivated to get off of the mountain last night. They rolled into base camp early this morning and flew out to Talkeetna this afternoon where the Mountain Trip van was waiting to bring them back to Anchorage. Right now they are all back in the big city eating dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in town, "Orso" and enjoying their first relaxing night off the mountain.

Congratulations to the entire team for a great effort and a very successful trip!

Coming on down.

2010-06-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

They are on the way down to base camp right now, and will probably travel thru most of the night. It's a long way down, but they are pretty motivated to come on home and take showers. They'll stop for a few hours at each camp to pick up any gear they left behind, brew up some tea, and keep on moving down to base camp. If all goes to plan, they'll be there tomorrow morning.

The top of Denali!!

2010-06-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

The whole team summitted today!!! They got off to a slow start on this trip, but they had great weather when they needed it and everybody reached the summit this afternoon. They left at about 10 am this morning, and are rolling back into camp at just before 10 pm tonight. Drew said it was a beautiful day all day today.

Congratulations to everybody on the team, they stuck in there and worked hard and had a spectacular summit.

Listen to their call from the top of Denali, they are all pretty excited to be there and on a great day.

High Camp! 17,200 ft

2010-06-22T23:32:00.000-07:00

They moved up to High Camp today!! Drew said it was one of the nicest days he's ever had on Denali. The weather was spectacular and everybody was feeling strong on one of the hardest days of the trip. The climb up the fixed lines up to the ridge which takes them up to 17,200 ft is the most spectacular section of the entire W. Buttress climb (until you reach the summit of course).

It sounds like they are having a pretty good time up there, listen to their evening call.

Rest Day!

2010-06-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

Monday was a rest day for the crew. They slept in late, ate a big breakfast and enjoyed another beautiful sunny day on the mountain. They are prepared and rested a bit now for the big move up to high camp. They hope to move up to high camp on Tuesday morning if this great weather continues.

Here's the evening call from the crew.

Another great day!

2010-06-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

They are finally getting some beautiful weather up on Denali and our team is putting it to good use. They carried a load of gear up to 16,400 ft today, climbing some of the steepest terrain of the West Buttress route. Again, they all did great today, but it is a pretty hard day and climbing at these altitudes is physically demanding. They are planning a rest day tomorrow to acclimate a bit more and be ready to make the move up to high camp at over 17,000 ft in just a few days.

Apparently there was some confusion about what day was Father's Day, so they wanted to make sure they got it covered today... Here's their recording from Camp 3 this evening.

Camp 3, 14,000 ft

2010-06-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

The team is doing great and getting the job done up there. Today they slept in a bit and got up for a big breakfast of bacon, eggs and muffins. After the big meal they went back down to about 13,500ft to pick up their cache of food, fuel, and gear that they left there a few days back. They had some snow, but mostly pretty decent weather today up there and had no trouble getting the job done for today. It's a pretty short day of work, about 2 hours, so they spent the afternoon practicing some of the mountaineering skills they'll need as they move higher up the mountain.

Tomorrow they hope to climb up to the ridge above camp at about 16,200 ft. They'll climb the steepest terrain they've seen yet on the W. Buttress route, and gain a beautiful, sometimes steep ridge that leads up to high camp at 17,200 ft. It is the most beautiful climbing and some of the most scenic areas on the whole route, always a highlight.

They are all doing great, and in good spirits as you can hear in this call from the mountain tonight...

Camp 3, 14,000 ft!!

2010-06-18T21:25:00.001-07:00

The team was able to move up to Camp 3 today! They were thrilled to be moving again, but it wasn't an easy day as the wind was still blowing a bit. As they turned around "Windy Corner" and moved up into the 14,000 ft basin, the wind died and it was warm and sunny.

Here's the call from an excited team from 14k.

2010-06-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

A weather day at camp 2. The team sat out some stormy weather today at 11,000 ft. Drew called this evening after another big dinner. They saw a bunch of snow and wind today, had a few hours of beautiful sunshine, and then the clouds came back this evening. They all caught up on some sleep and a bit of reading today, kinda like a real vacation! I'm sure they'll be excited to get back to climbing a mountain soon.

Happy Birthday Eddie

2010-06-16T22:59:00.001-07:00

The team was able to get the job done again today with pretty marginal weather. They carried and cached a load of food, fuel and extra gear up at 13,500 ft around the aptly named "Windy Corner." It sounds like they came down and had a bit of a birthday celebration this afternoon/evening.

Bill

Snowy day at Camp 2

2010-06-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

The team is watching the snow fall at camp 2 this evening after another big dinner. Today's job was to go downhill to about 10,500 ft and pick up the cache of gear they left there on Sunday. It is a relatively easy day, only about 25 minutes down hill and 1 1/2 hours back up. Once again they all did great and moved right along today. It was snowing a bit all day, but not enough to stop them from getting their gear and food and bringing it up to their camp at just over 11,000 ft. The plan for tomorrow is to carry a load of food, fuel, and gear up to about 13,500 ft, dig a hole in the snow, and cache it. To get to this next cache they will need to climb around Windy Corner which was named that for good reason.

Bill

Happy Fathers Day

2010-06-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Here's the crew from Camp 2 on Monday.

Camp 2, 11,000 ft

2010-06-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Monday 6/13

The team is making great progress now after a slow start to the expedition with weather in Talkeetna and base camp. They moved up to Camp 2 at just over 11,000 ft early this morning. They got another early start today to beat the warmest part of the day. Everyone is doing great and moving really well, Drew said they got to camp 2 in just over 5 hrs which is moving right along.

They built camp, and had a bit of time for a nap this afternoon before waking up for the next meal. Another beautiful day today, but clouds were starting to move in later in the day. Forecast is calling for a bit of snow and wind for the next couple days, so we'll see how it goes for our crew.

Bill

Carry to 10,000' Today

2010-06-14T00:24:00.000-07:00

Drew called tonight with a team update for everyone. They had an absolutely beautiful sunny day on the Kahiltna Glacier today. They made a carry up to 10,000' today to cache gear for higher on the mountain. They came back to camp 1 at 7800' this evening and had an amazing dinner of blue cheese burgers. The plan tomorrow (weather-pending of course) is to move up to the next camp at 11,200'. We will keep you in the loop as we receive calls in the coming days from the team.

Call from Camp 1

2010-06-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

Julian, Lisa and Joe called in last night from 7,800'. I'm not entirely certain what the strange noises that pop up are from time to time, but I will assume that they are some artistic expression of the team having fun out there...

Enjoy!

Arrival at Camp 1

2010-06-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

After finally reuniting at base camp yesterday the team has moved up to camp 1 at 7800' today. They woke up around 2 am this morning to start their transition over to a night schedule. Later in the season the teams start to hike during the night and early morning hours to avoid the blistering heat of the day.

Denali is a mountain of many extremes. The temperature extremes this time of year can range from below zero at night to above freezing during the day. During the day the radiation from the sun is very intense as it comes through the thin, high-latitude arctic air, and bounces off the snow beneath your feet and all the surrounding mountains. This solar radiation zaps the energy from the climbers and softens the snow making it less safe to cross snow bridges that make crevasses crossable and hiking in the snow less efficient as climbers are often post-holing with their heavy packs. As the team makes it higher on the mountain they will transition back to a normal daytime schedule because the daytime temperatures will be lower than they are on the lower Kahiltna glacier.

Tomorrow they plan to carry a cache up to 11,000'. This cache will consist of extra food, fuel and other gear that the team will not need until higher on the mountain.

We will continue to post as the team moves higher up the mountain. As always, communication from the mountains is by no means perfect. Some days the team will be busy moving and building camp and staying healthy so there may not be time to make a call that day.

Teams are always excited to know that so many people are reading these blogs and keeping track of their trip. Thanks

Phone Call From Base Camp

2010-06-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

The following call came through last night from Base Camp at about 7:45 Alaska Time. The whole team is assembled and eager to head up glacier. They are probably halfway to Camp 1 at 7,800 feet as I type.

There has been a lot of new snow on the entire mountain, and it sounds like a good foot fell on Base Camp, so travel on the glacier should be a bit tiresome with trail breaking, but the crevasse hazards should be somewhat minimized.

The route out of Base Camp actually drops downhill for about 600 feet as the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna (where BC is located) pours down to the main body of the glacier. It then gradually ascends about 1400 feet over the course of four miles to a nice camping spot with views of the massive South Face of Denali.

Please be advised that not all podcasts will come through very clear, as the team is calling us on a satellite phone and those pesky satellites keep orbiting around, and occasionally make for garbled transmissions at latitudes as high as Denali.

Here is the team!

Team Reunites in Base Camp

2010-06-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

I have not talked to the team yet today, but I have been in contact with Talkeetna Air Taxi. Caitlin, Andy and Sally caught the first flight into base camp this morning! Thought you all might want to know that. We're excited that the team is back together and can start heading up the glacier to camp 1 at 7800'. I'll update once again if I hear from the team tonight.

A Day of Topsy-Turvy Anticipation in Talkeetna

2010-06-10T16:40:00.001-07:00

Just received a call from Caitlin who is still in Talkeetna with Andy and Sally. They have loaded the plane in an eager frenzy to catch a weather window to fly in, only to have to disappointedly unload it as the weather quickly worsens. They have already done this 5 TIMES today! That shows you how quickly the weather can change up here. We'll let you know as soon as this part of the expedition "gets off the ground."

Arrival in Talkeetna/Base Camp

2010-06-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

The team arrived safely in Talkeetna yesterday afternoon. This is always a busy day for the crew. Talkeeta is a 2.5 hour drive north of Anchorage. Once they arrive they head to the National Park Service Visitor Center where the team is presented a slide show and briefed about their expedition. Including tips on keeping the mountain clean and safe and the glories of the new world they are about to enter. After that the crew then heads over to Talkeetna Air Taxi to weigh all the gear before flight. Then it's time to put on boots and warm clothing and grab their camera for a breathtaking 45 minute flight into base camp.

As you can see by the rain in the above photo, the weather yesterday did not allow the team to fly in. They spent a night in Talkeetna enjoying more food and drink before getting a good rest in hopes to fly the next day.

I have just been in contact with Talkeetna Air Taxi. The Alaska Range has been been intermittently cloudy all day. They were able to fly a few planes in and out of the Range. 8 team members were able to make it into base camp today. 3 are still in Talkeetna and will hopefully fly tomorrow. So what are these teams going to do tonight? This extra time gives them a chance to rig their packs for pulling sleds and for glacier travel. The crew in base camp will go over campsite construction and will easily be able to fill in the rest of the group as soon as they arrive. This will save the team time once they reunite at base camp.

We will keep posting updates throughout the trip and please feel free to leave comments in support of the expedition team.

Thanks For Joining Us!

2010-06-08T20:33:00.001-07:00

Not far below the Arctic Circle a huge mountain dominates the skyline. Known by the Athabaskan natives as Denali, the truth in the translation of its name, "The Great One," is immediately apparent by anyone who has been fortunate enough to cast eyes on it. The tallest peak in north America, it rises 20,320 feet (6194m) into the thin air, at a latitude just below the Arctic Circle.

Denali has a greater vertical relief than Mount Everest and many climbers of both peaks will attest that Denali can be the more challenging of the two. Located so far north, it is subject to a thinner relative atmosphere, making it feel like a peak a thousand meters higher than it's true height. Tremendous storms are common and the temperatures climbers must contend with are bitterly cold. It is the challenge of a lifetime for many climbers and the experience of a lifetime for even more.

Mountain Trip is one of the few mountain guiding services authorized to guide climbers on Denali and we have been doing so since 1976. We are incredibly fortunate to share this beautiful peak and it's surrounding Alaska Range with climbers from around the world.

On May 2, 2010 a group of climbers from three continents are gathering in Anchorage, Alaska to meet three Mountain Trip guides in preparation for an attempt on Denali. Let's meet the team!

Guides:

Drew Ludwig from Ophir, CO
Caitlin Hague from Girdwood, AK
Julian Hanna From Tahoe, CA

Climbers:

Edward Tchigique
Lisa Barge
Jeffrey Micale
Chris Brown
Sally Camm
Andy Mcleod
James Wells
Paul Rudy
Joe Rudy

We will update this blog as often as possible so as to both provide you, the reader, with an accurate description of what the team is up to each day, and also to provide future readers with an account of what it is like to climb Denali. Please keep in mind that communication from the Alaska Range is not always easy and that weather could easily conspire to prevent us from hearing from the team.

Comments posted to our reports will occasionally be passed along to the climbers on the mountain, but we cannot always guarantee that messages will always be relayed. Please know that all of your kind thoughts and best wishes will be read and deeply appreciated by the climbers when they get back to "the real world," so we encourage you to post them frequently. If you should ever need to contact one of the climbers, please call or email our Colorado office.