High Camp!

The team moved up to high camp today on another perfect day in the Alaska Range. Jacob had Sat Phone duty tonight, and reported that they were finishing dinner and getting ready to settle in for the night at around 8:30 AK time. They did great today moving up thru some of the most technical, and strenuous climbing of the entire West Buttress route.

A couple of the team have some headaches tonight, which is to be expected, but they are all feeling pretty good at 17,200 ft and will take a rest/acclimitization day tomorrow before their summit bid.

Here's a picture of high camp with the route up to Denali Pass and on to the summit visible in the background. The small peak on the left isn't the top of Denali...

Training day at Camp 3

They spent today doing some training and practicing some of the skills they will need for the more technical climbing above them. They will need to ascend some permanently anchored ropes to reach the ridge that will take them to high camp. Once they reach the ridge they'll ascend another 1000 ft to high camp thru some of the most beautiful and exposed climbing on the W. Buttress route.
Climbers at the bottom of the fixed lines, heading for the ridge.



Climbers on the ridge of the W. Buttress leading to high camp at 17,200 ft above a rock outcropping called "Washburns Thumb" named for Bradford Washburn who lead the first ascent team up the West Buttress route in 1951.

Rest Day at Camp 3

The team took a well deserved rest today. Everyone slept in, ate lots and got to know their neighbors in camp today. It was a nice day in the Alaska Range, so they were enjoying views and should have some great pictures to share when they get home. Dinner tonight was pizza, which is always a crowd pleaser.

Back Carry day

They slept in a bit this morning after yesterday's big move. After a big breakfast they went down to pick up the cache that they had left at 13,500 ft just a couple of days ago, and bring it all up to Camp 3. It is Annie's birthday today, so to celebrate they went for a little scenic hike in the afternoon, and had a big dinner and desert.

It was a little bit snowy today, in and out, but a pretty nice day.

Camp 3/14,200 ft

They moved up to Camp 3 today under blue skies, and very little wind. It was a perfect day in the Alaska Range, and the team had a great day climbing up to their new home for the next few days. They'll spend at least 4 nights at this altitude to acclimate, cache their gear up high, and recover a bit before the final push to high camp and the summit. Camp 3 is the social hub of Denali, with lots of teams staging here for their push to the upper mountain. There can be well over 100 climbers from all over the world in this camp this time of year. It is generally quite entertaining.


Here is a view of the 14,000 basin from high camp. You can see the tent city of Camp 3. Mount Hunter (14,573 ft) is the big peak in the back.

Carrying Loads to Windy Corner

The team is doing great, and staying right on schedule. They carried loads up to just below "Windy Corner" today. Typically Dave Staeheli would have planned to cache the gear above windy corner (around 13,500 ft), but today it lived up to it's name, and the wind kept them from getting as high as planned. They'll still be able to move up to Camp 3 at 14,200 ft tomorrow if the wind dies down. Everyone did great today, they are having a good time, and it looks like they might have some pretty nice weather for the next few days.

11,000ft/3,350m Camp 2

They made the move on up to Camp 2 today at over 11,000 ft. They got up early to beat the heat, and got up to Camp by mid day. Everyone is doing great and they made good time. They'll sleep in a bit tomorrow, and then go pick up the cache they left at 10,200ft yesterday.