This report came in from Adrian last night at about 8:30 pm Alaska Time. The call gets a bit jumbled at the end, but he was able to get the most important part of his message out before the satellites orbited bast the ridge lines and communications were lost.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
At 14 camp, backcarried
Dave Staeheli called this evening to report on their day- the weather was a little iffy, with no wind but snow and low visibility making things more interesting. They back carried from 14 camp, which involves walking about 40 minutes back down the Buttress trail to around 13,500' to pick up the remainder of their cached gear and food, so now they are fully supplied and right now probably finishing up their dinner of spaghetti with sausage and dreaming of tucking into their warm down bags.
Tomorrow is a rest day, which means the expedition gets to sleep in and eat a large breakfast to recoup their strength and acclimatize to the new elevation. Dave said everyone was tired but happy, which is to be expected as the group is still getting used to the air at 14k, and then he said they were going to bed.
Tomorrow is a rest day, which means the expedition gets to sleep in and eat a large breakfast to recoup their strength and acclimatize to the new elevation. Dave said everyone was tired but happy, which is to be expected as the group is still getting used to the air at 14k, and then he said they were going to bed.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Message from Joe
Joe called in the following message from 11,200 foot camp last night at about 5:30 Alaska time. It sounds like the team is doing very well and had a really nice day yesterday as they carried food and supplies up above camp to the 13,500' elevation.
To give you all a bit more of an idea of what Joe describes, they loaded up their packs with roughly half their food and fuel and any additional clothing items that they won't need until they get to the next camp and carried them up a moderately steep snow slope called Motorcycle Hill. They are wearing crampons now, as the conditions on and above Motorcycle Hill generally warrant the extra traction of steel spikes.
It takes a bit under an hour to top out above Motorcycle Hill and they would have taken a break somewhere with views of the immense Washburn Wall and the Father and Sons Wall, both of which rise for thousands of feet out of the Peters Glacier which flows just to the north of the team's route of ascent. After their break, they climbed up a series of rises, that get a bit steep at times, and are often firm neve or wind scoured ice. They weaved amongst some rocks, and it's at a bout this point where climbers get the sense that the "approach" of the Kahiltna is over and by Golly, they are climbing!
Topping out the rises known as Squirrel Hill, they begin a long gradual ascent that skirts the broad snowy (yet crevasse strewn) plain called the Polo Fields. They follow a path that keeps them off to the left of the crevasses, yet right of the avalanche runoffs from gullies that pour down from the granite crags of the West Buttress proper, which rises thousands of feet just to the left of the ascending climbers. It is pretty straight forward route finding and Dave Staeheli has seen 30 years of slide activity, so he knows where to take the team.
After the Polo fields there is another fairly steep climb up to the wind swept and often challenging Windy Corner. This steep ridge line comes down off the West Buttress and forms the western most border of the immense South Face of Denali, one of the biggest faces on one of the biggest mountains on the planet, so, as you might expect, it can be a magnet for incredibly harsh winds. Yesterday, Joe described it as "a lamb," meaning they were probably trying to hide from the sun under their sun hats, bandannas or light scarves.
As they turned Windy Corner, they needed to negotiate some persistent crevasses, which have given more than one climber a hearty surprise. There is some rockfall hazard for a few hundred meters and then they would have rolled into a safer zone where they dug a deep hole in the snow and buried their supplies.
After a rest at their cache spot, they would have boogied back down to camp, which takes a bit over an hour. This is an exciting day during the course of an expedition, and it is a real transition, as I mentioned, from the approach of hiking the Kahiltna to actually climbing!
OK- enough prattling on. Here's Joe:
To give you all a bit more of an idea of what Joe describes, they loaded up their packs with roughly half their food and fuel and any additional clothing items that they won't need until they get to the next camp and carried them up a moderately steep snow slope called Motorcycle Hill. They are wearing crampons now, as the conditions on and above Motorcycle Hill generally warrant the extra traction of steel spikes.
It takes a bit under an hour to top out above Motorcycle Hill and they would have taken a break somewhere with views of the immense Washburn Wall and the Father and Sons Wall, both of which rise for thousands of feet out of the Peters Glacier which flows just to the north of the team's route of ascent. After their break, they climbed up a series of rises, that get a bit steep at times, and are often firm neve or wind scoured ice. They weaved amongst some rocks, and it's at a bout this point where climbers get the sense that the "approach" of the Kahiltna is over and by Golly, they are climbing!
Topping out the rises known as Squirrel Hill, they begin a long gradual ascent that skirts the broad snowy (yet crevasse strewn) plain called the Polo Fields. They follow a path that keeps them off to the left of the crevasses, yet right of the avalanche runoffs from gullies that pour down from the granite crags of the West Buttress proper, which rises thousands of feet just to the left of the ascending climbers. It is pretty straight forward route finding and Dave Staeheli has seen 30 years of slide activity, so he knows where to take the team.
After the Polo fields there is another fairly steep climb up to the wind swept and often challenging Windy Corner. This steep ridge line comes down off the West Buttress and forms the western most border of the immense South Face of Denali, one of the biggest faces on one of the biggest mountains on the planet, so, as you might expect, it can be a magnet for incredibly harsh winds. Yesterday, Joe described it as "a lamb," meaning they were probably trying to hide from the sun under their sun hats, bandannas or light scarves.
As they turned Windy Corner, they needed to negotiate some persistent crevasses, which have given more than one climber a hearty surprise. There is some rockfall hazard for a few hundred meters and then they would have rolled into a safer zone where they dug a deep hole in the snow and buried their supplies.
After a rest at their cache spot, they would have boogied back down to camp, which takes a bit over an hour. This is an exciting day during the course of an expedition, and it is a real transition, as I mentioned, from the approach of hiking the Kahiltna to actually climbing!
OK- enough prattling on. Here's Joe:
Friday, June 4, 2010
At 11 camp
Guide Eric Gullickson called in yesterday to say the team had just pulled into 11,000' camp after a quick 4.5 hour move. 11 camp signals the end of the approach to the Denali massif, once they move up from 11 the distances covered per day become shorter; they will still be working plenty hard though! 11 camp isn't as casual as lower ones, the area is notorious for crevasses and anyone unroped has to stay in wanded safe zones, proven safe by guides with ten foot avalanche probes. From here the team will backcarry to get their supplies and get ready to carry them up higher again. 11 camp is notorious for snowfall and much of the mountain has been getting snow last night and today, so folks may have to get up a few times to clear the tents of snow, but nothing unusual.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Gear check photos
Here's some images to give an idea of the meet-and-greet in Anchorage- each client has their gear checked by the guides before setting off into the Alaska Range. Lead guide Dave Staeheli (orange hat) briefs the group on the West Buttress.
3rd guide Eric Gullickson (sunglasses) checks all the details.
2nd guide Sebastian Grau (in the red) slims down the kit. Ounces equal pounds and pounds equal suffering, so every little bit of kit is analyzed and scrutinized in the interest of keeping loads to an acceptable weight.Images of the lower glacier
The view of Denali from 7,800' camp, looking up the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. The top of the mountain is a mere 12,400' above!
Here are some images from the lower Kahiltna Glacier. I thought it might give you all a better sense of what your friends and loved ones are experiencing, and help you put yourselves in their boots (minus the backbreaking effort!).
A camp being established at 7,800'. The peak in the background is Mount Hunter, the third highest mountain in the Alaska Range.
An almost established camp at 7,800'. We use tents like the one in the foreground to cook and eat in. By digging down to about shoulder deep, we can easily fit the entire team inside. We cut benches and shelves into the walls and when there are six stoves blasting away, it is a pretty cozy place to sit out less cozy weather...At 7,800' camp
I just got our first phone call from the May 30 Denali expedition today, and the group has moved from basecamp up the Kahiltna Glacier and have established themselves at the base of Ski Hill at 7,800'. "7.8 camp" is located in a compression zone of the glacier, which means the ice underfoot is being squeezed together. This is good because it means that most crevasses are pinched shut, which makes for a safer camping experience.
Today the team carried a load of supplies to 10,000' on the Kahiltna in preparation for their planned move to 11,200' camp tomorrow. Moving on the lower sections of the West Buttress route involves traveling for miles on relatively flat terrain; the route from basecamp to 7,800 hardly gains any elevation. The move from 7.8 to 11 involves gaining over 3,000' but that gain is spread out over several miles. If the weather allows the team will move up and officially be at high elevation tomorrow.
The team wanted to relay that they are working hard ('backbreaking labor' was the quote) and the third guide Eric reported that all was well and everyone was looking and feeling strong. More tomorrow, stay tuned....
Today the team carried a load of supplies to 10,000' on the Kahiltna in preparation for their planned move to 11,200' camp tomorrow. Moving on the lower sections of the West Buttress route involves traveling for miles on relatively flat terrain; the route from basecamp to 7,800 hardly gains any elevation. The move from 7.8 to 11 involves gaining over 3,000' but that gain is spread out over several miles. If the weather allows the team will move up and officially be at high elevation tomorrow.
The team wanted to relay that they are working hard ('backbreaking labor' was the quote) and the third guide Eric reported that all was well and everyone was looking and feeling strong. More tomorrow, stay tuned....
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