They Summited and are on their way back down

After a beautiful summit day yesterday they are beggining the big descent. They are coming back down the West Buttress, and were not able to complete the traverse, but otherwise it was a successful trip for the team. They should be back in basecamp tommorow. It is amazing how fast you can come down the mountain after spending weeks trying to get to the top.

To The Top!

We haven't heard directly from Zach and company, but the word from the rest of the groups is that it was a beautiful day on Denali and they went for the summit. They are certainly busy this evening, recovering and sleeping at high camp after a long day, and we will hope to hear more tommorow about how their day went, and if they will still have the time and resources to complete the Traverse.

Another Day at High Camp

The weather isn't cooperating with our team at High Camp today. It is too windy to go for the summit again. The weather forecast is improving thru the weekend, so we will hope for a break where they will have the chance to go for the top. You can check out the official National Weather Service forecast at http://pafg.arh.noaa.gov/wmofcst.php?wmo=SXAK49PAFG&type=public but realize that it is very difficult to forecast weather on a big mountain like Denali and they may have very different weather than predicted.

Tried for the Summit today

They tried for the summit today, but were turned around by high winds at Denali Pass(18,000 feet). They will give it another go tommorow. Hope the weather cooperates.

Moving up to 17,000 feet

The remaining team moved up to 17,000 feet today while Eric and Oggy came down to basecamp with Kevin K. and Michael. We'll await the details, but everyone is healthy and I'm sure they will call home tonight or tommorow.

Watching the Wind Blow

We just heard from the team at 14,000 feet. They are packed and ready to head up to high camp at 17,000 feet, but the winds are still blowing 30-40mph on the ridge that they will be climbing from 16,000 - 17,000. They will watch for any improvement in the weather, and if they get a chance they may still move up this afternoon. We will update if we hear anything new.

To the Edge of the World

The team had a day off at the 14 camp today and took a hike out to a scenic spot called the Edge of the World. It is a spot overlooking the N.E. Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier with beautiful views of the lower glacier 7,000 feet below. Hope to move to 17 tommorow.

Zach Just Called From 14K

We just got the call from Zach at the 14,000 ft camp. They made a carry of food and fuel to the ridge at 16,400 ft today. Tommorow will be a rest day for the crew, and then they will be in a good position to move to High Camp and continue on up and over the mountain. After an extra 2 nights at 11,000 feet they are excited to be making progress again. The weather isn't perfect, but it is improving. We'll update you all tommorow.

They Moved to 14,000 feet!

After a few days delay waiting for the weather to settle down, the team was able to move up to the next camp today. They are enjoying the new beautiful views and are happy to be moving again and making progress. Tommorow they will go back to 13,500ft to pick up the cache of food and fuel that they left several days ago.

Still Waiting

The team is still waiting at 11,000 feet. It has been snowing and the wind is blowing and moving up the mountain isn't an option. The weather is supposed to be settling down tommorow, so send your good weather wishes to them, they could use it. They hope to be able to move up to 14,000 tommorow if the predicted break in the weather appears.

Waiting For the Weather

Progress has slowed all across the mountain for the last few days. The weather has been unsettled as wind and snow blow thru the Alaska Range. Our June 2nd team is waiting at the 11,000 ft camp for the storm to blow thru so that they can move on up to 14,000 as soon as they get a break. I'm sure they are having plenty of time to catch up on some reading, and getting their afternoon naps. We'll hope to hear that they are at 14 camp any day now.

At 11,000ft

The team has carried a load of food and fuel to 13,000 feet from their 11,000 ft camp. They are hoping to move up to the 14,000 foot camp tommorow. Everybody is going strong and excited to move. Above 11,000 the climbing gets a bit steeper, and more fun! Wish 'em luck!

The Traverse of Denali

The team has already flown onto the mountain and has made good progress so far. They moved up the the 11,000 foot camp today. The climbing gets more interesting above this point and they will be wearing crampons and using their ice axes above this point.

The guides for this expedition are Zach Schlosar, Kevin Koprek, Dave Ahrens, and Michael Burmeister.

We will be getting updates from the crew every few days, and will update the Blog here as soon as we hear any news.