Day 11 - 14K camp, snow storm is coming

We spoke with a ranger who informed us that a snowstorm is expected on Saturday and it would be unwise to be above 14,000 feet. She advised us to be back down by the day after tomorrow. Based on this information, we decided to abandon our original plan to cache on the 16K ridge. We only went up towards the fixed lines for exercise. Everyone is currently building snow walls around their tents to prepare for the storm.

We also met a climber from Mongolia named Zhula. She climbs with her personal guide and they have been staying here for a week. They had already cached on the 16,000-foot ridge, but for some reason, they had never moved on to the 17,000-foot camp. They should have, as it will be too late to do so tomorrow with the big storm approaching.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let's do it!

Image
262 days to Day 1 (1st attempt) California Climber's Salute. Two of us on the summit of DaFeng (四姑娘山大丰), in China. Elevation 5,025 m. This peak had been on my mind for more than ten years! After it's over, what's next? We wanted to climb something higher, and as always, without guides and porters. Naturally, there was yet another peak, equally desired by me and equally hard to even think it was possible to climb: Denali (6,190m), the highest mountain in North America. Now, it made perfect sense to attempt. Since that day, Denali would be mentioned by two of us every single day.
Read more

Day 10 - 14K camp, very windy

Image
Windy. Vera keeps building snow wall. From Denali Dispatches : "Patrol #1 is glad they descended to 14 camp yesterday, as it is howling enough there today. High camp would have been brutal, and all are relieved that no teams are up high...Gorgeous skies, but definitely one of the windiest days this season with gusts at 14K clocked at 36 mph.  A big fat lenticular cloud is perched on the summit...Wilson and Oliver Hoogendorn of Nome, Alaska were the first two -- and so far the only two -- mountaineers to reach the summit of Denali this climbing season.  The brothers (age 20 and 21, respectively) began their West Buttress climb on May 5.  They reached the summit on Sunday, May 19, and returned to Talkeetna today.  "
Read more