Sleeping and eating in Anchorage

This is Chris Kerrick, one of the guides on our exceptional adventure. Please understand that I am recovering from a late, late night last night. It was our last night together and our guests demanded from the guides endless toasts and speeches. Many of you whom have been following our trip may get to see some of the video footage taken at Orso's restaurant. Anush has a keen ability to capture people on video while they are at their worst. I would like to thank George for paying the bill last night. Your short speech is one that I will always remember. Thanks again.
This was my sixteenth trip on Denali and I feel that in many ways it was the most successful trip which I have been a part of. In the beginning we were 12 people from all over the world and at the end we were a team whom worked hard and cared for one another. I have never had so much help setting up camp, building the kitchen and snow walls. It is my hope that these trips inspire our guests to further explore life.
Thanks for following our climb on Denali,
Chris kerrick

Everybody's in Anchorage

They flew off the mountain this afternoon, and I brought them back to Anchorage this evening. A bunch of happy, sunburned faces.

God job everyone!

Trying to fly

The crew is all assembled at what is known as the "upper airstrip." The traditional strip was too soft and mushy for the pilots to want to attempt a landing, so the team hiked to the back up strip, located a half hour and several hundred feet higher. They are hoping to fly out today, but clouds have been moving in and out of the Range, so we are not certain if they will have a chance to fly or not.

We call this the "hurry up and wait" program. You need to hurry up to the upper strip and get yourselves ready for the air taxi, but you just might have to wait a while. Tempering your enthusiasm is crucial at this juncture. Rumor has it that some of the lads cached some beverages, which might help pass the time.

Be patient, hope for light winds to blow those clouds out, and stay tuned...

Coming Home

Chris called from Camp 3 this evening while as they were picking up some gear, and continuing down the mountain. They'll rest for a while along the way, but it's a pretty quick descent and they plan to be in base camp tomorrow.

Summit of Denali!!

Chris just called from the Summit of Denali at about 8:15pm AK time. They were enjoying a pretty nice evening up there, and the rest of the team was busy snapping pictures, and trying to catch there breath at 20,320 ft. They did great today, and will be heading back down to high camp in just a few minutes, the top of Denali isn't a place to dilly dally. George and Anush had to turn around with Peter, a guide from the other Mountain Trip team at around 19,000 ft. They are doing fine, it just wasn't their day to reach the top. It's the longest day of the trip, and everything has to be right to make it to the top. George and Anush are safely back in camp, so that's a success as well.

They'll begin the relatively quick descent to basecamp tomorrow, and be down in just a couple of days!

Congratulations.

Here's a link to a video that Todd took from the summit of Denali in 2007. It's a stunning place.

High Camp

The crew took a day to rest and acclimate today. They spent a few hours this afternoon digging in, and building walls with snow blocks to protect them from the wind. It was a bit windy today, not bad, but enought to encourage them to fortify their camp in case it picks up. This is a pretty common form of entertainment and exercise at high camp. Chris is pretty a meticulous wall builder, so they've probably got the best walls and squarest snow blocks in camp. They'll be watching the weather closely tomorrow (Tuesday) and hope to get a shot at the summit.

High Camp!

They made it to high camp today at 17,200 ft. It's a big day, and a pretty strenuous climb to get up there, so everyone is a bit tired tonight, but doing great. They'll plan on taking a rest day tomorrow, they'll need to be feeling strong and rested before the final push on up to the summit. They are excited to have made it up to high camp, now they just need one nice day to reach the summit.

The last 1000 ft of climbing up the ridge to reach high camp is some of the most beautiful on the West Buttress route. Here's a picture of the ridge looking back from camp, if you click on the image you can see climbers on the route.


Here's a picture of high camp, with the trail leading to Denali pass, and on to the summit in the back.

Carrying Loads to 16,200 ft

The team carried a load of food and fuel up to the W. Buttress ridge leading to high camp yesterday to stock their cache and prepare to move on up. It was a windy day (of course) but they got the job done, and will take a well deserved rest/acclimitization day today (Saturday). They may catch some luck with the weather, the forecast is looking OK after this weekend. They'll spend another day or 2 at Camp 3 to get acclimated, and then push on up to high camp, and then to the summit. It can all happen pretty quickly at this point if they get some good weather.
The climbing above Camp 3 gets a bit steeper and more technical. Here is a picture of some climbers climbing up the final 600 ft to the W. Buttress ridge. For this last steep pitch they will clip onto a permanently anchored "fixed line" for additional security. This is one of the more strenuous sections on the route. Everyone did great on the carry yesterday, and they're looking forward to a bit of rest before the final push up to high camp and the summit.

Backcarry

Today the team slept in, ate a big French Toast breakfast, and then went down to 13,500 ft to pick up their cache. It was a light day by Denali standards, and they were back in camp after just a couple of hours. Tomorrow they'll hope to carry some a load up high again if the weather cooperates.

Camp 3/14,200 ft

They moved up to Camp 3 at 14,200 ft today. It was a beautiful day in the Alaska Range finally after a prolonged stretch of bad weather. Lot's of activity on the mountain today, teams moving up, and the first good summit day in almost 2 weeks. Another Mt Trip group was able to summit in beautiful weather today. Chris's crew moved up to Camp 3 on this relatively warm and windless day. They made pretty good time moving up, and were settled in for soup and dinner when he called at 7:30 pm AK time(Wednesday).

Everyone was doing great, but feeling a bit winded at this new altitude. They'll spend at least 4 nights at this camp acclimating, and caching gear in preparation for the move to high camp and the summit push.

Here's a view of Camp 3 from above. It's quite a tent city during the middle of the climbing season on Denali. Mt Hunter is the big peak in the back.

Nice Weather Finally

Reports from the mountain this morning are that the weather has finally improved, and it is the nicest day in almost 2 weeks. Expect that everyone will be moving on up to 14k today!

Carrying Loads around Windy Corner

Chris called this evening in great spirits after they were able to do a bit of climbing today and carried loads up around Windy Corner. The conditions were pretty tough, with some pretty strong winds still, but they were able to get thru and get the cache up. Everybody did great today, and they were back to camp in about 5 1/2 hours(which is pretty good time).

They all seem to be enjoying the trip, and Chris said it's been a fun group.

They could move to Camp 3 tomorrow if the weather lets them.

Another day at 11,000 ft

They were stuck again yesterday (Monday) in a storm that seemed to be letting up a bit in the evening. Chris has high hopes of being able to carry a load today up to about 13,500 ft up around Windy Corner. They are in good company at Camp 2, with another Mt Trip group, and several other teams waiting out the weather together.

Here is a view of the upper route that I was able to get from a plane recently. The climbing route comes from the lower left corner(12,000 ft) working up to the right, around the rock buttress (Windy Corner) and up into the basin in the middle of the picture (14,200/Camp 3)