Teams in the Field

We have two other teams having a great time in the field...

5/30 West Buttress Team - Russell Hunter & Alex Stroud:
This team has been camped at 11,000 feet, happily acclimatizing and staying out of the wind and weather. Today they will be carrying gear up and around Windy Corner, in preparation for their move to the 14,200 foot camp - also called Basin Camp. It can take two or three days to make this move, which needs to be done when the weather conditions are suitable. There are usually many teams camped at Basin Camp along with the NPS crew that maintains a camp there - assisting climbers with weather reports, and prepared to assist with emergency communications and medical care. Like Base Camp, it can seem like an international city, you can hear many languages being spoken here - Japanese, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Italian, German, and maybe English. Teams usually spend a few days here to further get used to the altitude before moving to High Camp.

6/5 Kahiltna Dome/Denali Prep Team - Nick D'Alessio & Brian Skean:
This team is at Base Camp, where they are practicing skills before starting their expedition-style progress toward Kahiltna Dome. They'll be following the West Buttress Route, in the footsteps of Russell Hunter's team. There will be other teams on the trail, also. Today they'll be starting to practice Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue skills, starting with rope & knot skills. By the end of the day they'll be able to start practicing traveling safely as a roped team, wearing snowshoes. They'll also be learning about safe and efficient camping while getting used to the altitude. It's only 7,200 feet, but that can seem like 10,000 feet to most people. It helps to be in good shape up to have fun up there!
~Blogger Julia