The Planes Are Flying!

The traverse team is in Talkeetna!! The weather cleared enough this evening to allow the planes to fly into base camp for the first time since Monday. The sound of the planes coming in to base camp is music to the ears of climbers who are craving a cheeseburger and a shower.

Dave Ahrens went up to Talkeetna this afternoon to pick up the crew, and they are heading back to Anchorage tonight.

Congratulations to everyone for a safe and successful trip!

Bill

Still in Base Camp...

Another day of clouds and snow kept the planes from flying in to base camp today. The crew is hanging tough, and catching up on sleep and eating lots of food. Looks like they might catch a break tomorrow.

Base Camp

They made it to base camp on Wednesday, but the planes aren't flying. The clouds and snow have been keeping the planes from making it to base camp for 2 days now, so there are a lot of climbers in their position right now. They'll have some tome to eat and sleep while they wait for the weather to allow the planes to come in.

Passing thru Camp 2

The team passed thru Camp 2 at around 4 pm this afternoon. They were able to meet up with another Mountain Trip group and refuel a bit with hot drinks and bagels. The plan is to continue down this evening and thru the night to base camp. They should be there very early tomorrow morning!

Coming on down.

The team is descending the West Buttress today. They called this evening from Camp 3 at 14,000 ft where they were taking a break before continuing towards base camp. They'll probably arrive in base camp early tomorrow if the weather doesn't slow them down, and could be in Talkeetna by tomorrow afternoon if they get lucky. Coming down the mountain can happen pretty fast with gravity working for you, and very motivated climbers.

Bill

Summit!!

We got a message from Mike Burmeister this evening that they reached the summit today and are back at high camp eating dinner and resting. Unfortunately we missed the call while talking to another team on the mountain so didn't get very many details about their day.

It looked like they probably got a pretty nice summit day, but it's hard to tell from down low. The forecast for the next few days is calling for snow and wind again, the traverse is the next big challenge, but the weather might not cooperate.

Congratulations to the team on reaching the summit. Their patience and persistance paid off.

Dave was able to fly out from base camp yesterday afternoon, and is back at the Mt Trip house in Anchorage recovering. We're glad to have him safely off the mountain.

Waiting out Weather at 17,000

Jacob & Mike called in from 17,000 today to give us an update on how the team is doing. They are still hanging out at camp. The weather hasn't allowed them a summit attempt yet. Currently it is snowing with winds up to 40 mph rattling their tents. This is their 6th day at 17,000. Hopefully the weather will open up soon allowing them time for a summit attempt. At 17,000 feet on Denali the air pressure is getting close to half of what it normally is at sea level. No matter how much rest these climbers get or how much food they eat their are still slowly losing energy. They will continue to wait to see what the weather does the next few days.