An old photo of some windy looking clouds over Mt. Foraker by Brian Okonek.
I just talked with Robert from up at his camp on the ridge. He said it actually isn't too bad up there, but it is a little too windy to make the move along the ridge to high camp. I suspect that the moving along the ridge might not be a problem but that the breaking down of camp at 16 and setting up of camp at 17 might be the problem.
If the weather improves and the winds die down by tomorrow; Robert, Solveigh and the other 4 team members will move up to high camp and try to summit the following day. If the weather does not improve by tomorrow then they will head down and start their descent to base camp. All is well with them other than the fact that they are waiting out some weather. Pretty standard up there.
I did not talk top Mark today, but he was talking with Solveigh on the radio as I was talking to Robert on the cell phone. He is holding tight at 14 K waiting on better weather to make his move up to high camp. This is probably their 5th night up at 14. As far as the guides are concerned, the more days at 14 the better. 14K is the best place to get strong. People generally have not lost their appetites like they do at 17,so they are still able to eat a good diet and are getting more and more acclimatized. 16K, where Robert's gang is is also a good place to acclimatize. 17 camp, highcamp, is the best place to try to summit from but 14.2 and 16.2 are better camps to acclimatize at.
That's all for now. We have another West Buttress flying on the mountain tonight Led by Jared Vilhauer and Chris Nance and an Upper West Rib of Denali starting tomorrow led by Greg Collins and Sam Johnson.
Stay tuned 'til the next episode.
Rob
