Janes 6/14 West Buttress Calls In

Mike Janes' 6/14 team did a carry from their camp at bottom of Ski Hill (7,800 feet) to 10,500 feet. Then they descended back to camp where they are probably having dinner and going to sleep.

Teams are on a night schedule as it is cooler and makes for better conditions on the glacier. Keep in mind we have about 21 hours of daylight now and the weather has been 'severe clear' so it is actually quite hot on the glaciers.

They did a single carry (all of their gear) from base camp (where they landed) to 7,800 feet. Now they take half of their gear and front carry to a point higher on the mountain. This allows them to acclimate...by climbing higher during the day and returning to camp to sleep...then they move up to a higher camp the next day. They will continue this process all the way to 17,000 feet....so really they are climbing the mountain twice!

Tomorrow they will move up to 11,000 foot camp then do a backcarry to 10,500 to pick up their cache.

Weather continues to be beautiful. You can check current conditions and statistics with the National Park Service.

Here are some photos from the area between 7800 and 9500 feet.

Rope team ascending ski hill

Enlarge this photo and you can see the 7,800 camp below.

Denali in background, kitchen tent in foreground as seen from 7800 camp.

Here's a good example of the loads people are carrying and pulling.