A snowy day at 17,000 ft

Sebastian just called with the evening update from High Camp. The weather, as expected, wasn't cooperative today. Snow and wind kept them in camp waiting today. They are doing great and still in good spirits on day one of their weather delay, it may be a few more days up there. Waiting for the weather is a big part of the big mountain game. They are in the right spot, and can wait for several days waiting for a good day.

Mark decided he'd had enough and decided to come on home. He is descending this evening with another guide.

High Camp! 17,200 ft

Everything is working again and Dave called in this afternoon from high camp (camp 4) at 17,200 ft. The views from this camp are amazing, they are already higher than any other summit in the Alaska Range besides Denali's neighbor Mt. Foraker. Dave said it was a beautiful day up there, but there were some clouds moving in with the next big storm system. They were able to move up to high camp on Sunday, but it is a pretty tough day and everyone needed a day of rest and acclimating before pushing up to the summit. The last few days of the trip, moving to high camp and summit day, are the hardest days of the trip for most climbers.

They're ready to go for the summit as soon as tomorrow, but will need a pretty nice day. The forecast isn't great, but we've seen lot's of great summit days that were forecast to be stormy. They'll get up and be ready in the morning and see what the day brings.

Bill

Technical difficulties and a message to Adrian

The team has not called in for a couple of days, due to a hiccup with their satellite phone (better living through technology, eh?). We have a solution in place that was delayed by the weekend, however; they should be up and calling today.

In the meantime, I am going to sort of flip this expedition dispatch idea on it's head and post a family dispatch for one of our climbers. Adrian- your wife is having technical difficulties posting to our blog, so she sent the following to our office.

Our climbers might not always get these messages while they are on the mountain, but, as a climber who has been known to go away from home for weeks at a stretch, I can attest to the fact that it is certainly nice to read such sentiments at any time, even after an expedition.

Here's the message:

"Please tell Adrian that all is well and safe in Japan and China. Say that his girls love and are proud of him...that we expect him to get the top even in hell and high water...that we expect him to come down again too...and promising never to think of such shenanigans again!! We can`t wait till we`re all back home in Plymouth sharing adventure stories over a Friday night pizza and glass or two of wine....Hugs to Nick Bunch too and tell him to look after Ade...!

Thank you so much..

>From Elaine, Felicity and Polly Vinken in Japan and China variously ウ゛ァリオウ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Waiting at 14,200'

Due to high winds and still more snow the team is waiting at 14,200' for better weather. Reports from high camp say that the wind is blowing 30-40 mph. Hopefully it is a little calmer at 14,000'

We will keep everyone posted as soon as the team makes a move.

Nicki asked a very good question in our comments section: How do we defrost food in freezing conditions? Thanks for the good question Nicki. I am sure others have wondered the same thing. Unlike at home, they can't leave food on the counter or throw it in the microwave to thaw it. There are a few options they have though. They can put sealed bags of food in warm water as they are cooking to thaw them. Another option is to simply cook the food from its frozen state. Lastly as the guides are cooking up a storm their bodies are generating enough heat that they can put bags of food inside of their jackets to help thaw them out. On the other end of the spectrum there can be problems keeping the food cold on the mountain. Later in the season like this temperatures on the lower glacier can be unbearably hot. Once in camp guides will usually build a fridge for the cold food. This is simply a hole in the snow with the food in it and then a door made of snow and ice to keep the heat and pesky ravens out of the food.

Decision to Move Up?

Yesterday the team had a good rest day, complete with bacon cheeseburgers for lunch. Excellent food like that gives the team mental and physical energy and motivation to keep moving up the mountain. With clear skies and colder temperatures the team was making plans to move up today.

Lead guide, Dave Staeheli, called this morning for a quick weather report to help make his decision on whether or not to move up to 17,000'. The report suggested that the next few days were going to be partly cloudy with a little bit of snow and wind. All the guides have learned over the years to take these reports with a grain of salt. But accompanied by a good survey of the clouds and wind around them on the mountain they can make educated decisions for the team.

Stay tuned for an update on what the team ended up doing today.

Nick Bunch from 14,200'

Nick left the following message last night. The collapse of the cook tent is one of the many hurdles that the team has faced or will have to face. When it snows with no wind, it is easy to sleep more soundly, as the soft "hisssss" of the falling snow is very relaxing. The lack of wind unfortunately allows the snow to pile evenly up all sides of our pyramid shaped cook tents with a single pole supporting the apex. With enough weight, the pole will eventually collapse or snap, leaving climbers with a good project to focus their energies on during the subsequent rest day!

I'm not sure what the "Pisco" references are in Nick's message... Maybe a coded message to his cat, of whom I've heard so much? Maybe this is a good time for a trivia contest? Whoever can email me the correct meaning of his references will win a limited edition, Drew Ludwig original, commemorative Mountain Trip T-shirt!!! I'll post the winner on the blog after conferring with Nick.

Resting at 14,200'

I received a call from Eric at 14,200' this morning. The team woke up to 2 feet of new snow today. He said the guide team was wallowing through waist-deep snow to shovel all the new snow off the tents. The pole to their cook tent broke during the night under the weight of all this new snow. This is a small hurdle that the team will easily deal with.

The team is eating well and relaxing during their rest day today. They are all in good spirits as it has stopped snowing and they are starting to get views of the rest of the Alaska Range as the clouds are starting to part. We all hope this trend continues so the team can move up to 17,000' tomorrow.

We'll update everyone in the next few days as the team moves up to high camp.