Exploradus
Pictured above: A Mountain Trip camp, looking south across the bottom of the basin at 11,200′.
Tonight we have a much better satellite connection with guide Gary Falk, and he clarified that the team made the move up to 11,200′ Camp yesterday and today the team is taking a rest day. It’s important for team members to take rest days to eat, hydrate and relax from the rigors of climbing. It sounds like the team is enjoying some good camaraderie with other Mountain Trip teams, and guide friends working for other climbing companies.
The plan is to move a load of equipment and supplies to approximately 13,500′ tomorrow. The team will begin ascending immediately out of camp, up Motorcycle Hill and then Squirrel Hill. They will continue up the Polo Fields, and then around Windy Corner, a notoriously windy area of climb. The cache site is located a bit beyond Windy Corner.
Listen to the audio of Gary Falk's satellite dispatch call into Mountain Trips »
Pictured: Mountain Trip climbers cresting the top of Motorcycle Hill. 11,200′ Camp is in the background.
By: Mountain Trip
Jim’s post from the 11,200′ basin is largely unintelligible, due to the steep southern walls of the basin that prevented them from having a good satellite signal.
The team took a rest day at 11,200′ today, allowing their bodies to acclimatize after their trek up the glacier. They will continue their upward momentum tomorrow, as the weather looks really good. Today the weather was so good, it was actually really hot on the glacier. Yup - sounds like an oxymoron, but it was really, really warm on the snow today.
Listen to the audio of Jim's satellite dispatch call into Mountain Trips »
By: Mountain Trip
Jim Williams called in on behalf of the June 10th team. They moved their camp from the traditional Camp 1 to a camp at about 9,600′.
Jim reports that it was extremely windy while they made their move during the middle of the night. They are traveling on a night schedule so as to avoid traveling up glacier during the heat of the day, and believe it or not – it’s been pretty HOT during the day!
Tonight, the team will pack up once again and head uphill into a basin, where they plan to establish their next camp at about 11,200′. This is a beautiful spot, with towering ice cliffs to the south, steep snow to the east, black, craggy rocks to the north and a wide open vista, gazing our across the tundra to the west.
Listen to the audio of Jim's satellite dispatch call into Mountain Trips »
By: Mountain Trips
Lead guide Jim Williams called in from 7,800′ at the base of Ski Hill on the broad Kahiltna Glacier with a recap of the past few days. His description is really clear and engaging, and portrays the need for guides and climbers to remain poised, ready and remain flexible, if they want to have success on a big, cold mountain like Denali.
The team moved up from Base Camp last night and are about to pack up and carry all their kit up glacier again today. This team is following a “single carry” schedule, meaning they are packing and moving their camp each day. They plan to move their camp up to somewhere between 9,500-9,700′ tomorrow and then on to 11,200′.
Listen to the audio of Jim's satellite dispatch call into Mountain Trips »
West Buttress Route Map
Meet the June 10 Williams Team Posted by: Mountain Trip
One of the great pleasures of guiding Denali is having the opportunity to work with some amazing guides. Jim Williams is one such guide, a long time high altitude guide who has mentored many of the younger guides working on big, cold mountains today. Mountain Trip is thrilled to have Jim working as part of our staff this season, bringing his tremendous knowledge of the profession to Denali and sharing it with two climbers and one of our returning guides. On the 10th of June, Roger Gregory and Steve Slaughter joined Jim and IFMGA Certified Guide Gary Falk in Anchorage to finalize the preparations for an attempt of the West Buttress route on Denali.
The team drove two hours north to the end of the road village of Talkeetna, Alaska today, where they were treated to an orientation provided by the climbing rangers of our National Park Service. Following the briefing, they sorted and weighed the small mountain of duffel bags and backpacks they will take with them, in preparation for a 40 minute flight into Denali’s Base Camp.
The weather is pretty rough at the moment, and the team is on a weather hold for flying. We need to have good weather to even attempt to fly into the tall, rugged peaks of the Alaska Range, and in recent days, it has been snowing a lot in the mountains, and raining at the lower elevations.
As soon as possible, they will load up on a ski-equipped Islander or DeHavilland Beaver and fly into the Range, landing at 7,200′ on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. They will them proceed up the main body of the Kahiltna and on to the West Buttress route of North America’s tallest mountain. The expedition will take between two and three weeks in total, and we wish them the best for every step of their collective journey.
