Final Post from Dave Ahrens, back in Anchorage...

Back to the green grass and rich smells of spring in Alaska! The tents are drying out and the extra cheese is back in the freezer. I hope everyone is getting back into the swing of "normal" day to day life. I just want to thank everyone for a great trip and let everyone know I appreciate there effort and humor from day one to twenty.

  I'm glad everyone made there flights and I'm sorry I missed Simon and Toni. Best of luck to everyone and as I told Dave, Neil and Toni, please use me as a resource and if I can help with anything in the future from buying a rope to getting back to Alaska please let me know. I have every ones email and will be in touch, I have some of Simon's personal items, photos from the fixed lines and of course I want to know how Dave's hand is healing up. Best of luck and keep on climbing!

Base Camp!

The whole team is now in basecamp.   The weather isn't cooperating for them right now, and the planes can't fly in to pick them up, but that could change any minute.  They still hope to fly out some time today, but the hard work is done, and they are enjoying the relative warmth, and the thick Oxygen filled air of the lower elevations.

Summit!

Dave just called from High Camp after returning from the summit!   He said it was a windy difficult day, and not everyone made it to the top, but they are all back to their tents now.  We'll get the details from them when they get back down, but it's good to hear they are back in camp and doing good.  They'll plan to go down to 11,000ft tomorrow, and then to basecamp the following day.  We'll see them down in the land of green grass soon.   Congrat's

Possible Summit Day...

Still waiting for final word, but the team went for the summit today.  The reports from the mountain say that the weather was good, and they are probably going to summit.   They may not get the chance to call in until tomorrow, often they are too tired and busy on summit day to make the obligatory phone call.  I'll update if I hear tonight.

Caitlin, Simon, and Daire in Talkeetna

Caitlin, Simon, and Daire reached basecamp today, and were able to fly out to the relative civilization of Talkeetna this evening. They are probably going to spend the night in Talkeetna, as it is already 8pm, enjoy a good dinner, a cold beer, warm showers, and then head for Anchorage tomorrow.

Good to have them safely back in the world!

Another Windy Day

Dave called tonight, they had a windy day at high camp today, which kept them hiding in their tents most of the day.  The winds died a bit this evening, and are forecasted to keep settling down thru the night.   They still hope to get a chance at the summit in the morning.  

Good thoughts for tomorrow!

Windy up High

Dave called after dinner again tonight and said that they had a relatively pleasant day at high camp, but watched the winds blow up above them.  They'll try for the summit tomorrow if the weather cooperates, but it looks more promising for Friday.

Caitlin(guide) descended this afternoon with Simon and Daire.  It sounds like everyone is OK, they just had enough of high camp.  It can be a very difficult place, and if you aren't acclimating or are feeling off, it might be best to just come back down.  I didn't get details, but they should be heading to basecamp in the next few days.  

High Camp!

The crew was able to move up to high camp in beautiful weather yesterday in spite of a day that was forecasted to be windy.   I talked to Dave Ahrens this evening, and they were just finishing up dinner and everyone was feeling strong.  Often a couple of extra days waiting at 14,000 really pays off when moving to 17,000 by being a bit more acclimated.  They don't have a great weather forecast for the next couple of days, but hope to get a shot at the summit starting as soon as tomorrow. 

Wish then luck.

The Wind Continues...

Another day of wind, and reading books in their tents.  The weather is changing, and they are hoping for something better tomorrow.  They are still eating well, and boredom is the biggest hazard at this point.  

Hope for a break soon...

Wind

Well, they are finally getting a real taste of Denali weather.  They are tucked in tight at 14,000 camp and the winds were blowing thru at 60mph this evening.  Dave says they are all doing good and ready to move up to high camp as soon as this storm blows thru.  The forecast is calling for the wind to settle in the next 36 hours, so don't be suprised if tomorrow is another day of hiding in the tents and listening to the wind blow.  

A day of rest at 14,000 feet

Dave Ahrens and his crew are taking a well deserved rest day today.  Yesterday they carried a load of food and fuel up to 16,500 feet to stock their high camp in preparation for their push to the summit.  The climbing above 14,000 feet is the most technical and the most fun on the whole West Buttress route.  They clip into some fixed lines at around 15,000 feet for the steep pitch of snow/ice that gets them to the West Buttress.  They will follow the ridge up for another 900 vertical feet to get to the high camp at over 17,000 ft.  This ridge is one of the most aesthetic places on the entire route, and I'm sure you'll see some pictures when they get home.  Today they will be resting, and when the weather looks promising they will make their push to high camp, and on to the summit.  

It looks like they might be sitting out a bit of weather before moving up.   You can check out the forecast on the link listed on the side.  

14,000 ft Camp

I got the call last night from Dave Ahrens from 14,000 feet.   The team is doing great, and this morning they will sleep in a bit before heading downhill to pick up their cache from 13,500 feet. We call this a "back carry" and it is usually a pretty easy, active-rest day.  

They can now see the upper mountain, and from this camp the top finally seems in striking distance.   From the 14,000 camp they are looking over the top of Mount Hunter, which towered above them from base camp.   It really starts to feel like you are high on a very big mountain when you get to this height.   They will spend several nights at this camp, carrying a load to the ridge at 16,000 ft, and setting up for the push to high camp and the summit.

At 11,000

The team is at 11,000 feet again tonight.  They were able to carry their loads of food and fuel up to 13,500 yesterday (around Windy Corner) and are in position to move up to the next camp at 14,000.   

Guides Caitlin and Nick brought Michel W. down yesterday.  Unfortunately his feet were causing him too much pain to continue up the mountain.  The guides caught back up to the rest of the team this afternoon, and the whole crew will plan to move to 14,000 tomorrow.

Michel is a friend of ours, and a repeat Mountain Trip climber, so we are particularly sorry to see him leave the trip.  

11,000 feet

I just got a call from Dave Ahrens at 11,000 feet. They moved up today, and despite some sore feet, everyone is doing pretty well. They plan to spend 3 nights at this camp, so they settled in and built a comfy camping spot. They are now getting up off of the Kahiltna glacier, and the views just keep getting better from here on up.

Camp 2 is located in a big, glacial bowl with a steep snow slope called Motorcycle Hill rising above them to the east and tremendous views of Kahiltna Dome and Mount Foraker to the west and south. Gigantic seracs or ice blocks tower along the side of this camp and turn a sublime orange and pink when the sun works its way toward the horizon in the evening.

Camp 1 7,800ft

Dave Ahrens(lead guide) just called moments ago from Camp 1.  Today they carried a load of food, fuel, and some extra gear up to Kahiltna Pass at around 10,000 ft.   They got into a bit of wind and snow up a bit higher, but it was otherwise a pretty good day.   Tomorrow they plan to move up to the 11,000 ft camp.    Everyone on the team did great today, and they'll be eating pasta with sausage for dinner tonight.  No glass of wine to go with it, but a pretty good meal on the glacier.  

Camp 1 7,800ft

The team spent an extra night in Talkeetna waiting for the clouds to clear, but yesterday they were able to fly into base camp.  

This morning they woke up early, loaded all of their gear in their packs and sleds, and headed up the Kahiltna glacier to Camp 1 at 7,800 ft.

In Talkeetna

The team all met yesterday and spent their last day preparing, and going thru their gear one last time.  Everyone's bags arrived, which is no small accomplishment, and they were very excited to get underway.  

Today they met early in Anchorage and drove to Talkeetna.  There they had their Park Service briefing, and prepared their equipment for the flight into basecamp.   The weather needs to be pretty good to fly into the Alaska Range in a small airplane on ski's, and today's is a bit marginal.  It is about 50/50 if they will fly today, or end up spending a night in Talkeetna waiting for the weather to clear.  You may get a last phone call from your loved one tonight.  

You can watch the weather live on a webcam hosted by Talkeetna Air Taxi.     Check it out at

http://www.talkeetnaair.com/webcam/index.html  

Welcome to the Dispatch Page for Mountain Trip's May 11, 2008 West Buttress Expedition

On May 11, 2008 a team of climbers will meet in Anchorage, Alaska in order to attempt to climb to the top of North America.

The summit of Denali (Mount McKinley) is the one of the famed Seven Summits and soars 20.320 feet above sea level. This team will spend up to three weeks working their way up the mountain from a base camp located at 7,200'. Due to it's proximity to the Arctic Circle, Denali is notorious for its ferocious weather and extreme cold. For many climbers, it is the challenge of a lifetime.

The team will include:

Neil O'Gorman from the UK
Anthony Osborn from the UK
Neil Deegan from Ireland
Daire O'Flynn from Ireland
David Woodman from the UK
Simon Biltcliffe from the UK
Tony Jones from the UK
Marek Baran from Poland
Michel Waechter from Canada

Mountain Trip guides for the expedition will be Dave Ahrens from Jackson, Wyoming, Nick Shepard from Anchorage, Alaska and Caitlin Hague from Anchorage, Alaska.

We will post updates as they are available, however due to weather and the big mountains surrounding the team for much of the climb, communications with the team may not occur on a daily basis. Please keep in mind the axiom of "no news is good news."

We can not guarantee that any comments posted to this blog will reach the climbers on the mountain. If you do wish to pass along any news, please call or email the Mountain Trip Office at info@mountaintrip.com or +1-970-369-1153.