high

Photo of 3 climbers nearing the summit of Denali. The pass in the background is Denali Pass. The Japanese wx. station is just out of view in the upper left portion of the photo.

Nate Opp called in last night. They are doing exceptionally well. "Mike is wearing a bracelet for Katie."

They moved up to 14K yesterday. Nate said it was very windy, blowing 35-45 mph on their way up. This has been an exceptionally windy year I'd say. This is good training for those guys. Nate said they all did well moving up to 14K. The weather became "bluebird" just before Nate called in. They are probably back carrying right now to the Corner. Now they are really getting acclimatized.

Acclimatization of sorts starts as soon as folks arrive in Talkeetna. From the get go climbers work on staying or getting hydrated. The biggest increase in elevation of the expedition is the day we fly to base camp from Talkeetna. A 7000 foot elevation gain. Most everybody does fine with this jump in altitude. There are several days that we do 3000 foot elevation gains between camps, but before we do these moves we carry high and sleep low (carry) and or take a rest day at the camp. We try hard to stay hydrated and keep our blood pumping by staying active at camp during storm days and rest days.

It appears that the weather in the Range is nice, it sure is nice here in town. I have not talked to anyone high on the mountain today. The teams that are high on the mountain have all been up there for awhile and are surely conserving battery power. I have been checking the progress of Mike Janes' team here. I find it easiest, because of the satellite imagery, to click on the "terrain" button. Mike's team is already at the Japanese wx. station elevation (18,600 feet or so). At 11:30 they are nearing almost 19,000 feet which leads me to believe that they are not only making good time, but that they also left camp early this morning to beat the crowds. It can get rather crowded up there, especially when there is a bunch of pent up climbers that have been stewing at high camp for an extended period of time. I suspect that the other AMS teams are also en route up the mountain.

Like I said earlier, I have not heard directly from any teams high on the mountains today.

rob