Photos from Christian - Summit day to BC

High Camp on summit morning, looking over at Mount Foraker

Climbing above High Camp (click on the photo and you can see the tents at top right), through the long traverse to Denali Pass 18,000 feet.

Climbing above Denali Pass at about 19,000 feet.

Part of the team headed toward the summit, on the dramatic, knife-edged summit ridge.

On the top of North America!

The last few meters can seem the hardest, as you step off the ridge and re-group below the summit...

On the summit!!

The sun was sinking low in the "Land Of The Midnight Sun" as the team descended back to high camp, following the summit.

On the descent the team stopped at Camp 2 for food and to pick up their skis for the remaining 9.5 miles (15 K) of descent.

The crew team, back at base camp.

Back in Talkeetna

They are all back down to the relative civilization of Talkeetna, and will be driving back to Anchorage this afternoon (Thursday). Descending the mountain happens fast, and they got lucky with their flights off the hill. Another successful trip!!

Summit!!

The winds were hammering up high yesterday (monday) and kept the team in camp focusing on keeping their tents up. Dave Staeheli called the winds "intense" yesterday at high camp.

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Adam just called in, and the whole team was able to reach the summit last night. It sounds like they got a late start because the weather was a bit rough early in the day. The winds died down enough to give them a shot, and they went for the summit later in the afternoon.

Looking down to 14,200 camp, and across to Mt Foraker from high camp.

Here is a video shot by Todd in 2007 from the summit. It is a spectacular place!

High Camp!

The team moved to High Camp on Sunday, and everyone is doing great. They hope to be able to try for the summit Monday if everyone is feeling good and the weather holds out. Adam was on Sat Phone duty again tonight and he said it was a beautiful evening, and they had a great day moving up the ridge to 17,200ft.

Loads up to 16,400 ft

Dave called tonight from Camp 3 after carrying loads up to the ridge at around 16,400ft. They are doing great, and taking advantage of the improving weather and moving right along. They'll plan on one last day of acclimitization at camp 3 and then they'll be ready to move up to high camp.

Moving up again!

The wind settled down a bit yesterday and the team took advantage of the lull and moved up to Camp 3 at 14,200ft/4,300 m on Wednesday. They were very excited to be making progress again after taking a beating from the wind for several days. Last night they put in their new camp, and enjoyed pasta with smoked salmon for dinner. Everyone was doing great, and spirits are high again.

Another Windy Night

The wind continues to be the defining element today on Denali. Dave Staeheli said that it is the windiest he has ever seen it at Camp 2. They've had a couple of tent poles break, but have been able to repair them, and are hanging in there. The forecast is calling for a few more days of windy weather. Everyone is doing fine and is in good spirits, but they are anxious for a change in the weather so that they can continue to move up the mountain. Nobody has been able to move between camps for several days now due to the high winds, and bad weather.

The only thing that weather always does is change...

Wind Wind Wind

The wind is blowing again today, and they aren't going to be able to get up to the 14,200ft camp until it slows down a bit. They watched the wind blow yesterday as well, and stayed in camp hoping for a change. The winds are forecasted to be about 50mph/80kmh for at least another day.

You can follow the links to the right to see the forecast, as well as live webcam views of the Alaska Range.

Carrying Loads around Windy Corner

The team carried a load of food and fuel up around Windy Corner yesterday, and Adam reported that they are strong and doing great. They plan to move up to the next camp at 14,200ft on Sunday if "Windy Corner" doesn't live up to it's name. The forecast is for a bit of wind on the mountain today, but they've been enjoying exceptionally nice weather so far.

11,000ft/3,350m Camp 2

The team went back down the hill to pick up their cache yesterday, which was a short and semi-restful day. Today they are back to work carrying loads up around "Windy Corner" at over 13,500ft/4,115m. Everyone is doing great and the team is strong.

There was a tragic unexpected death on another team just a few days ahead of this group. You can read about it on the blog for the May 1st trip at http://may12009denali.blogspot.com

11,000ft/3,350m Camp 2

The team is doing great and moved on up to Camp 2 today. Tomorrow they will descend to pick up a cache of food and fuel they left 2 days ago, and return to camp. It is a relatively short day, so they'll get plenty of rest and recovery time. The weather in the Alaska Range has continued to be beautiful!

Camp 1

The team called last night from Camp 1. They are all doing great, and were able to move the 8 km with all of their gear, food, and fuel for 20 + days in just over 6 hrs. It's hard work, but they had beautiful weather and are feeling strong. Today they intend to start the process of caching a load of food, fuel and equipment up higher on the mountain, returning to their lower camp for the night, and moving up the following day.