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Denali June expedition – lucky Friday 13th 2014
Read full details and book online for our Denali expedition
Team: Matthew Foote, Henk Kronje, Johan Jordaan, Christiaan Van Der Merwe, Lloyd Hales, Hui Ling McCarthy
15th June
Lloyd Hales called in on behalf of our June 13th tea. This crew had the auspicious fortune of commencing their expedition by meeting in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday the 13th! The team spent that day sorting their kit and discussing details of their venture with their guides.
Yesterday, they drove up to Talkeetna, a small town, quite literally at the end of the road, where they met with officials from our National Park Service to finalize their registration requirements for climbing the tallest peak in North America. With clear weather, they departed the Park Service Station and readied their kit for the 40 minute flight into the Alaska Range. Our friends at Talkeetna Air Taxi delivered them to the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, where their planes lowered skis to the snow, to bump, and glide to a halt in one of the more amazing settings on our planet.
Today the team spent the day in Denali Base Camp, where they reviewed skills that they will employ as they head upwards on their quest to attempt Mount McKinley.
17th June
Matthew called in from 7,800′ on the Kahiltna Glacier, after the team carried loads up to about 10,000′ on the glacier. They are getting early morning starts, to both avoid the heat of the day and also to travel over the glacier when it is at its most frozen state. The weather has not been perfect, but the team has been working hard and getting things done!
18th June
The June 13th West Buttress team is taking advantage of a beautiful day in the Alaska Range to move up to the basin camp at 11,200′. They put in a cache of equipment yesterday and today are climbing up past that cache to establish a new camp. This system of carrying equipment and supplies to the next camp, or to a point near the next camp is called “double carrying,” and it is a nice way to both aid climbers’ acclimatization and also ferry the mountain of food, fuel and gear up the route.
The route today climbed up a moderately steep hill on the Kahiltna Glacier known as Ski Hill an onto the upper stretch of the Kahiltna. At about 10,200′, the team made a hard right hand turn and is currently climbing up into a stunningly beautiful basin, where they will make camp. The basin is flanked on two sides by snow slopes and a third side by massive ice cliffs. The fourth side opens to the west and provides climbers with a view of the heavily glaciated Kahiltna Dome and glimpses of the tundra beyond the Range, which stretches all the way to the western edge of Alaska.
20th June
The team gets ready to rest after a hard day of caching gear at 13,500 ft. They hope to wake up in the morning and move to 14,000ft if the weather permits. Everybody is looking strong and prepared for the move.
22nd June
Hui Ling and Christiaan called in the team’s report today. The climbers made a back carry today, meaning that they dropped back down to the site of their last supply cache at about 13,500′, dug it up from the snow and carried the supplies back up to 14 Camp. This makes for a pretty easy day, and is somewhat like an active rest day. Such days help climbers acclimatize and also allow us to move all the requisite gear and food uphill to sustain a 3-week climb. It sounds like the team has a good dynamic, and thee climbers are enjoying the expedition. Tomorrow the plan is to move a cache of equipment and supplies up the “headwall” section of the climb to approximately 16,000′
24th June
Lloyd Hales called in from the big basin camp at 14,200′, as the team readies themselves for their push up to High Camp. Hopefully, the weather will remain favorable, so they can push high, as it is a long, tough day, made slightly easier when conditions are calm.
The team will climb up about 400m of moderate snow slopes before clipping themselves into a 200m length of rope that is fixed into the icy surface of the next bit of climbing. Above the top of the fixed lines, a beautiful and fun ridge climbs another 300m to the flat plateau of High Camp. Climbers weave in and out of rocks, climb short, steep sections of the ridge and walk atop narrow stretches of trail with HUGE air to either side of their crampons!
27th June
Christiaan called in from a very snowy 14,200′ camp. The team dug out from two feet (.60m) of snow this morning, and spent the day in camp. As the day progressed, the weather improved and Christiaan spoke of a stunning sunset, replete with nice views at the time of his call. I’ve attached an image below that might be close to what the team was experiencing at the time of the call.
The plan is to move higher as soon as prudent, so stay tuned for more updates!
30th June
Matt called in an update from the basin camp at 14,200′. The team has been waiting and watching, assessing the avalanche hazard that has been increased of late between them and their next goal, the high camp at 17,200′. They are optimistic that the weather and conditions are trending a bit more favorably than things have looked over the past week. Hopefully, they will move up high tomorrow and have a crack at the summit shortly thereafter!
One of their team mates, Hui Ling, unfortunately needed to say farewell to the team, due to work necessities. Good work, Hui Ling, and we’re sorry that things did not align a bit more expeditiously for you this time.
4th July
We’ve not heard from the team in a few days, but we did get a report late yesterday that they had decided not to continue their bid for the summit. The team had experienced a number of weather delays, but continued their push for the summit in spite of those challenges. After arriving at High Camp a few days ago, they had planned on a summit attempt yesterday, but awoke to 30+ mph winds and blowing snow on the upper mountain.
The translation of such conditions meant that to continue upwards, they would be climbing in windchill of close to -20F, in poor visibility. That combination made the decision relatively easy, yet not without disappointment, and the team descended 13,000 vertical feet yesterday. They arrived at Base Camp this morning and are hopeful to fly back to Talkeetna today, having spent 21 days on the mountain.
Great job everyone. It is a very difficult mountain to climb and Denali gave you few breaks in the weather. You did a great job taking advantage of those small windows of good weather and made it as high as you could, with the conditions you had to deal with.
7th July
After pushing up the ridge in moderate winds and light snow, the team was rewarded with a calm and sunny rest day at 17,200′. The day offered plenty of good photos and a chance for everyone to get ready for the summit attempt the following day.
The alarm in the guides tent went off at 5:30am. As the door opened that morning the view confirmed our fears for the day. Overnight, winds had increased, clouds had rolled in and it was snowing lightly. After watching the weather trend worse for the next five hours, the team decided to call off the attempt and and retreat. The trip back to base camp was disappointing for all, but went smoothly. Now everyone is back in Anchorage and preparing to head home.