11,000ft/3,350m Camp 2

Chris called last night from Camp 2 at 11,000 ft. They moved up to camp on Friday, and yesterday made a back carry down to pick up their cache of food and fuel from about 10,000 ft on the glacier below. Yesterday was a pretty short day, and they were able to sleep in a bit before setting off to get their work done. Sebastian spent most of the morning with the sewing kit repairing a tear in the kitchen tent that occurred when they were taking it down from the previous camp. They were able to sew it all up, and they are back in business with their comfy kitchen, and social scene.
It has been a snowy and windy trip so far, but they've been able to continue on up the mountain. Today they are hoping to carry a load of food and fuel up around "Windy Corner" to make a cache and prepare to move up to the next camp. This is often a spot where you just can't travel in bad weather, so hopefully they'll get a nice day today.

Camped at 10,000 ft

The team moved up the glacier, but didn't get all the way to their planned stopping point at 11,000 ft today. They set up camp at around 10,000 ft and plan to move up to 11,200 ft tomorrow.

Loads up to 10,200 ft

The team pushed thru the snow and wind today, and were able to carry a load of food and fuel up to 10,200 ft right below Kahiltna Pass. They cached the gear there (dug a hole in the snow and buried the gear marked with a wand) and returned to Camp 1. The plan for tomorrow will be to pack up camp and move all the way up to Camp 2 at 11,200 ft. Chris said everyone was doing great today, even under some challenging weather conditions. The snow and wind has picked up tonight a bit, and they were finishing dinner when they called at around 8:00 pm.

At Camp 1

Chris called via Sat phone this evening (6:45 pm Alaska time) from Camp 1 at 7,800 ft on the Kahiltna glacier. They got up this morning at 3:30 am and were on the trail by about 7 am. They reached camp 1 by about 1:30 this afternoon, so they are moving along great. The loads only get lighter from here...

They had a beautiful warm day today, and are enjoying some soup, and starting their dinner right now.

Flew in on Monday

The team all met for the first time on Sunday in Anchorage. The guides have been packing food and getting the equipment together for several days, and are as excited as anyone to get the show on the road, and begin the climbing. Nobody lost any baggage on the flights to Alaska, so they are off to a good start.

The crew flew in during another beautiful day in Alaska yesterday(monday). They got up this morning and started the hard work of hauling all of the food, fuel, tents, climbing gear, clothes, books, and iPods for 21 days up the glacier. The first day is the heaviest of the whole trip, as they move up the mountain from Camp 1 they'll begin to carry loads in 2 trips to move up to the higher camps.