In Talkeetna

I just heard from Greg Nappi from Talkeetna, part of the team is already out, and the rest will be landing in town shortly.   The plan right now is to spend the day walking around Talkeetna eating too much and driving back to Anchorage tomorrow.    

Coming Down

Heidi called this evening from 9,800 ft on the way down to basecamp.  They still have several hours of travel, but they are getting close now.  They should be able to fly out to Talkeetna tomorrow for the 4th of July celebrations.  

Summit on Tuesday!

The team summited yesterday!  It was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind was blowing pretty hard up high, and not everyone made it to the top due to the conditions.  They got back late last night, and Heidi said that the guides were up until almost 3am melting snow and making sure everyone was fed and settled in before going to sleep.  Heidi was just getting up this morning, and they plan to head on down after breakfast.  Everyone did great yesterday, and made it to over 19,700 feet before the wind and cold forced a retreat.  I'm sure they are all exhausted this morning. 

I don't have details right now on who reached the top yesterday, I'll talk to Heidi again tonight and try to get names.

High Camp !7,200ft

I talked to Heidi this morning from High Camp at over 17,000 feet.  They are taking a rest day today after a pretty tough day yesterday, and hope to get a shot at the summit tomorrow.  All of that waiting at 14,000 ft is paying off now, as the weather seems to be improving finally, and teams all over Denali are crawling out of their tents and climbing again.  

They are doing excellent, and are very excited to be moving up Denali again!

14,000...

Just got off the phone with Heidi and the gang, still hanging tough at 14k.  They woke up to some broken sky and somewhat promising weather that deteriorated into winds, and snow thru the day.  This evening the winds have mellowed out, and they are very optimistic that they will be able to move up to high camp tomorrow.  The upside is that they will all be very well acclimated by the time they move up, and should be strong for their summit day!

Some Photos of the Team

Here are some images I took of the team back on the 17th of June. Sorry for the delay... :)

The crew, day 1 on the trail, just below Camp 1, with Mount Francis in the background


My apologies if I don't get the correct names lined up with the image. I took these on the spur of the moment and did not have a pen handy to make notes about who was who. If any viewers notice that I mixed folks up, please let me know and I'll make the correction. In any case, here are (I think):
Faye O'Conner, Keiran Whitefield, Rachel McGibbon and John Miltcalf (clockwise from top left)


Johanne Jacques, Tom Henson, Francois Morin and Francois LeFebvre (probably...)

Here is Michel Asselin (most likely) watching over some drying sleeping bags at their Camp 1, at the mouth of the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier (in the background). Denali is rising up at the top of the image.

Still Waiting

The team continues to wait...  The weather up high on the mountain has continued to be unfreiendly and they will wait for something more encouraging before heading to high camp.  Today at 14,000 it was snowing pretty heavily at times, so the Mountain Trip June 15 Denali Expedition is practicing meditation and wishing the weather will change.  There is still lot's of food and fuel, so nobody is suffering from anything but boredom right now.  

Hope for a change tomorrow...