In Talkeetna

The guys are in Talkeetna, eating, showering, and making plans to get home.

Heading down

The guys are heading out to basecamp, they left high camp, and have already passed thru Camp 3. John was planning on camping at 7,800ft (Camp 1) tonight, and making the final push to base camp in the morning.

Back to High Camp

The guys are back in high camp, eating dinner and enjoying a beautiful evening after a big day. Nice work.

On The Summit!

John called from the summit at around 3:00pm AK time. Vance and Nick were cheering in the background. They made great time reaching the top in just about 6 hours. It was a bit windy on top, but John said it was "bearable" so they aren't planning on spending much time up there.

Congratulations guys!

Here is a video Todd shot on the summit in 2007. It is a pretty amazing place...

Going for the summit!

John called this morning and said it was the nicest day they've seen on the mountain for almost 2 weeks. Perfect timing for the team and they'll be heading for the summit within the hour.

It's a long day, but they are feeling good, slept well last night, and it sounds like the weather has finally given them a break!

High Camp!

They got a bit of a break today and took full advantage and moved on up to high camp. If they get a nice day tomorrow they'll try for the summit. It wasn't a beautiful day, but nice enough and they got up there. Still some winds above them, but hopefully they'll settle enough for a summit shot.

In Base Camp waiting for a flight.

We just got a call from Talkeetna Air Taxi, and Philip, Larry, and Ian have all reached base camp and are awaiting a flight to Talkeetna this morning.

Getting to know 14,000 camp

John called last night, still hanging at Camp 3. Philip and Larry are calling it quits, and coming on down with Ian, they should be in base camp today (Tuesday) and in Talkeetna right away. It's been a long hang, and everyone hopes the weather cuts everyone a break pretty soon. Vance is sticking around with John, and Nick and they are things are looking promising for a chance to move to high camp today. I hope to get a call from high camp tonight.
They were stuck again yesterday (Monday) in a storm that seemed to be letting up a bit in the evening. Chris has high hopes of being able to carry a load today up to about 13,500 ft up around Windy Corner. They are in good company at Camp 2, with another Mt Trip group, and several other teams waiting out the weather together.

Here is a view of the upper route that I was able to get from a plane recently. The climbing route comes from the lower left corner(12,000 ft) working up to the right, around the rock buttress (Windy Corner) and up into the basin in the middle of the picture (14,200/Camp 3)

Waiting out the weather

John called this afternoon, and nothing much has happened at Camp 3 for several days now. Nobody going up, and nobody going down. They are doing fine, but going just a little crazy with the wait. It's the theme all over the mountain right now, everyone trying to wish away the weather.

Waiting out the weather at Camp 3

The team is at Camp 3 still, waiting out the current wind and snow. They are camped comfortably, but certainly ready to get on with the hard work and climbing. They'll move up to high camp as soon as they get a break. You can check out the forecast from the link to the right, but remember it's just a guess at the weather, and often not the reality.

Carrying Loads

The crew carried loads up to high camp today. John and Ian carried some food and fuel all of the way to high camp at 17,200ft, and the rest of the team cached some gear at 16,400ft on the ridge, and will grab it on the way to high camp. The plan will be to rest tomorrow, and then they'll be ready to move to high camp, and go on to the summit as soon as the weather cooperates.

At 14,000'

The team had a successful move to the 14,200' camp yesterday. They made it into camp in the early afternoon and found a nice new home which only required small modifications to existing tent platforms. This is always nice as building a new camp from scratch at 14,200' is hard work. 

Today is a rest day for the team. The camp at 14,200' often feels like a small town. On a nice day you can wander around in down booties and socialize with other teams. The park service's medical facilities are also at this camp and this provides another social hub.  The weather is posted here daily on a white board and climbers often congregate around this point. 

The group plans to carry to 16,200' tomorrow. This is a major transition point of the trip where you switch from walking up the lower glacier dragging heavy sleds to more technical climbing involving climbing the fixed lines. The good news is the sleds get left behind at 14,200'. After the carry the team will take another rest day on Wednesday and then they will be ready to move up to 17,200 (high camp) weather permitting. 

We will keep you posted. 

Moving to 14,000!

John called in last night to report that the team had successfully completed their carry to 13,500', just above Windy Corner. Nick and Ian, the assistant guides, took all of the food and fuel from 13,500' to 14,000'. This will save the team from having to back carry after their move into 14K. The weather has continued to cooperate and they are planning to move to 14,000' today. 

Now that they are off of the lower glacier the team's schedule will return to a more standard one. They do not have to worry about the warm daytime temps softening crevasse bridges anymore, instead they are moving into an elevation where staying warm is a bigger concern. On the upper mountain they will travel during the daytime hours to take advantage of the warmth of the sun. 

The team also wants Cindy to know that they all miss her!

Back Carry Day

Still doing great. They had a relatively easy day by Denali standards today. They went down the trail just a little over 1/2 hour, and carried loads for less than 2 hours back up to camp. Carrying a big backpack for 2 hours would probably qualify as hard work anywhere else, but on Denali it's a rest day...

Moving on up

John checked in last night. He said the weather is cooperating and the glacier is in perfect condition. Yesterday the group made their carry to 10,300' just below Kahiltna Pass. This is where they will make a right to head up to the 11,000' camp today. After the carry everyone returned to camp at 7,800' to rest up for today's move. Tomorrow they plan to back carry from 11,200' to the cache at 10,300'. This is a relatively restful day as it only takes about 20 min to drop back down to the cache and about a hour and a half to return with all of the gear. 

Camp 1

John called this evening from Camp 1 at about 7,800 ft on the Kahiltna glacier. Cindy got to basecamp and her back was causing problems so she had to make the difficult decision to leave the trip.

Ian stayed in basecamp to see her off this morning while the rest of the team started the hard work of hauling gear up the glacier about 6 miles to the first camp. Ian will tie onto another team who is moving up tomorrow morning and rejoin the team.

On the mountain!

Hi All,

John called at 7:40 last night and said everyone & everything made it onto the mountain. The weather was nice and warm and everyone is doing well. Their plan was to get up at 3AM this morning and start walking by 5AM. By now they are probably enjoying naps in warm tents. In the past I have measured the temperatures in a tent on the lower Kahiltna at 90-100 degrees F, prime conditions for drying socks and nap zen. 

The group plans to check in again tonight and I will keep you posted.  

Note from John Race in Talkeetna on Monday

Everyone made it to Talkeetna on the evening of May 16. We packed all
day on the 17th, and plan to fly on to the mountain this morning after
an orientation with the National Park Service. We are currently
having a nice, BIG breakfast at the Roadhouse and trying to savor one
more home cooked meal before switching over to our more modest
mountain "grub."

Trip participants include: Phil Nicoletti, Larry Sanford, Cindy
Outlaw, Vance Checketts. The trip will be guided by John Race, Nick
Shepherd, and Ian Nicholson. We are flying onto the mountain with
Talkeetna Air Taxi. We plan to spend today getting organized at the
airstrip on the Southeast fork of the Kahiltna before starting out in
the early morning to move all our gear to our first camp at 7800,
located near the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier.

The weather has been really good for the past few days and we are
itching to get on the mountain. On our first night in town we had the
good fortune to be invited on a scenic flight and we circled the
summit for over 45 minutes watching a small group reach the top on a
perfect evening. We plan to take about a week to reach 14,200, our
advanced base camp. The weather is always the biggest factor in
setting the schedule. We anticipate the trip taking no less than 14
days and potentially 21 or more days. We have a sat phone with us and
will be making posts here throughout the trip.

We are flying on with 909 lbs. of gear, which includes everything:
boots, food, sleds, our clothing. With this in mind we will each be
moving about 120 lbs. of gear up the glacier once we are in our
mountain clothes.

Here we go!