Mike Hamill, Greg Vernovage, Porter Draper, Leslie Herje, Fergal O'Donnell, Manev Luthra and Keith Bronstein are all back in Talkeetna. They are enjoying the slow pace of Talkeetna and eating watermelon in the shade. A great way to transition back to the "real" world and urban life. It's hot and sunny in Talkeetna!
We are hoping to get updates from Rob and Colby's teams later today. The weather looks good from here, so if the wind is cooperating they'll both be having good days to make a move.
More when we get updates...
~Julia
Rabu, 01 Juli 2015
Denali West Buttress Team Updates
AMS/ MT. Proesssionals 6/23 team led by Coady is moving to 14,200' camp today, all in good spirits and wondering about the World Cup scores. :) We have texted them the latest results!
AMS/AMICAL 6/22 team led by Ronczkowski made it to 14,200' yesterday and are making a back carry today. Everyone is doing great and very happy to be on the mountains.
AMS 6/24 team led by Hoeschen has rested at 11,200' camp and is making a carry up to Windy Corner area today. They will climb high and sleep low to acclimatize their bodies to the higher altitudes.
AMS 6/25 team led by Gowler moved to 11,200' camp yesterday. Their initial time departure was 3 am, but had a small delay due to heavy snow fall. They rolled into camp, got settled in and were in bed by midnight. Most teams reporting amazing views from 11 camp and really enjoying themselves.
AMS/AMICAL 6/22 team led by Ronczkowski made it to 14,200' yesterday and are making a back carry today. Everyone is doing great and very happy to be on the mountains.
AMS 6/24 team led by Hoeschen has rested at 11,200' camp and is making a carry up to Windy Corner area today. They will climb high and sleep low to acclimatize their bodies to the higher altitudes.
AMS 6/25 team led by Gowler moved to 11,200' camp yesterday. Their initial time departure was 3 am, but had a small delay due to heavy snow fall. They rolled into camp, got settled in and were in bed by midnight. Most teams reporting amazing views from 11 camp and really enjoying themselves.
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| AMS crew leaving 11,200' camp ascending higher on the Great One. |
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| AMS photo of 11,200 camp as the sun is briefly setting. |
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| AMS photo of area above 11,200 and before Windy Corner: a view our teams would have seen coming back from their carries. With a lot of fresh snow recently, this picture is a good indicator of current conditions. |
Denali West Buttress, 6/12, Hamill RETURNS!
AMS Team led by Mike Hamill and Nate Emerson returned safely today to Talkeetna after a great trip to the top of North America! Congratulations everyone and welcome back! After a lot of slogging through deep snow and shoveling they have entered back into summer green.
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| AMS team unpacking in the bay area. |
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| AMS Climber team: Taka, Nate, Deborah, Tim, Mike, Andrew, and Kara. |
Mountain Updates
AMS Guide Hunter Dahlberg of the Centennial Climb just called from McGonagall Pass! The group is tired but "stoked to be off the glacier and camping on dirt again." They are going to take a rest and tomorrow they will hike to the mountain side of the McKinley River. They will camp there on Tuesday night and in the wee hours of Wednesday morning they will cross the river. Because the McKinley River is a glacially-fed river, warm temperatures create more water volume, so crossing at the coolest time of day is the best bet.
When they crossed the river on their way to the mountain, they had no problems and the river was only knee deep. Let's hope for the same upon the return.
If they are able to cross the river on Wednesday morning then they have a four mile hike from the river to the Park Road where they will take a bus to the east entrance of the park. We estimate that they should be there late on Wednesday afternoon.
Gowler 6/27 phoned from 11,000 feet on the West Buttress Route. The had planned to do a carry to 13,500 foot with some of their gear but poor weather prevented this. It is snowing and blowing so they will take a rest day instead. These are built into their schedule so they aren't getting behind schedule. They have fortified snow walls and excellent tents and this gives them a day to do some reading, sleeping, eating and socializing.
You can check weather conditions given by the National Park Rangers from the 7,000 and 14,000 foot camps here.
When they crossed the river on their way to the mountain, they had no problems and the river was only knee deep. Let's hope for the same upon the return.
If they are able to cross the river on Wednesday morning then they have a four mile hike from the river to the Park Road where they will take a bus to the east entrance of the park. We estimate that they should be there late on Wednesday afternoon.
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| The view from McGonagall Pass; must be nice to see all that green after three weeks of white. Wildflowers are in full bloom right now. |
Gowler 6/27 phoned from 11,000 feet on the West Buttress Route. The had planned to do a carry to 13,500 foot with some of their gear but poor weather prevented this. It is snowing and blowing so they will take a rest day instead. These are built into their schedule so they aren't getting behind schedule. They have fortified snow walls and excellent tents and this gives them a day to do some reading, sleeping, eating and socializing.
You can check weather conditions given by the National Park Rangers from the 7,000 and 14,000 foot camps here.
Chill time at 14-camp
AMS guides Rob Gowler, Mike Janes & Beth Cleary and their team are enjoying a rest day at the 14,200' camp. They carried their extra food, fuel and equipment to 16,500' (a rocky feature called Washburn's Thumb) yesterday. They are watching the weather to see if tomorrow will be a good day to move to the 17,200' High Camp. It is nice at 14,200' but "blowing pretty hard up high".
AMS Guides Greg Vernovage & Nick D'Alessio and thier team are enjoying a rest day at the 14,200' camp. The IMG/AMS team lead by guides Phil Ershler & Max Bunce are also enjoying a rest day at 14,200'.
All watching to see what happens up high tomorrow. They were jazzed to hear that Melis' team had made the summit and said that it was a good window of weather for them. They will be ready to greet Melis' team when then arrive in the 14,200' camp - or - maybe they will be able to work out a tent swap and meet on the trail.
~Blogger Julia
AMS Guides Greg Vernovage & Nick D'Alessio and thier team are enjoying a rest day at the 14,200' camp. The IMG/AMS team lead by guides Phil Ershler & Max Bunce are also enjoying a rest day at 14,200'.
All watching to see what happens up high tomorrow. They were jazzed to hear that Melis' team had made the summit and said that it was a good window of weather for them. They will be ready to greet Melis' team when then arrive in the 14,200' camp - or - maybe they will be able to work out a tent swap and meet on the trail.
~Blogger Julia
Summit Report
AMS Guides Melis & Eben called from the summit of The High One last night! Melis said, "The whole team just summitted around 7 pm on June 30th! We've got awesome weather and looking forward to a beautiful and safe descent." Yee-haw! Congrats to Doug, Joe, Debby & Alan, Kriss & Dave, Melis & Eben! They have plenty of time to make a gentle descent. For blog followers, this is the team that got creative with some "hang" time in Talkeetna. Patience pays!
~Blogger Julia
~Blogger Julia
Gowler Report
AMS Guide Rob Gowler's team made their carry to the top of the fixed lines yesterday and are poised to make the move to high camp today. He said it was super hot up there, not a bad thing at 16,200' on Denali .
standing by, Colby