Final thought from Kevin Koprek

A picture Kevin might not want us to share...



Greetings everyone! This post comes from back in sunny Colorado. At this point most of us are well on our way to whatever comes next. Before we get there I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to everyone for such a great trip. Myself, the guide team, and the entire Mountain Trip family are really pleased you chose us to help fullfill your wish of climbing Denali. Thanks guys for all of your preparation, hard work, and dedication to make it such a safe and enjoyable trip. To PI and Julie, you cats are amazing. I think the diversity of our guide team was appreciated by the guests and certainly made for a more memorable trip. PI is back at it with another group as we speak, best of luck guys. Be sure to follow his team's progress on the blog. Lastly, thanks to all the friends and family who supported members of our team during this journey. It is not an easy task and sometimes you don't ask for it but please understand your support means the world to the climbers as they battle their own monsters along the way. Thanks, be safe, and please keep in touch. Happy Trails, Kevin

In Talkeetna!

The team has all arrived in Talkeenta!

They had a bit of a forced march up another hill to what we call the "upper airstrip," as the traditional, lower strip was a bit too soft for the pilot's liking. They dug deep and hiked the additional 30 minutes, no doubt fueled by thoughts of showers, salads, pizza and perhaps some barley based beverages. They plan on driving back to Anchorage this evening.

It is a wild transition to go from the glacier world of white, black and gray to the lush greenery of Talkeetna in the summertime. The first two things to inundate your senses are the thick humidity of the air at 700 feet above sea level, and the fragrance of trees, grasses, bushes and...life.

Well done to all the team. You worked hard, suffered, pushe further and percevered. Thanks for your trust in us, and thanks for all your hard work.

We'll ask the guides to post some photos and some more details from the expedition, so stay tuned...

Heading down

Kevin called from Camp 3 at 14,200ft this evening, and they plan to be in base camp by tomorrow. It's still hard work coming down, but it goes pretty quick and they are highly motivated to get to cheeseburgers and showers.

Summit!!

Kevin called from the top of Denali at around 7:30 pm Alaska time. They were enjoying a beautiful day, and the rest of the team was snapping pictures and breathing hard. Steve had to come down with Peter from about 19,000 ft, I didn't get details, he's fine, but maybe this just wasn't his day. It's the hardest day of a very challeging climb, so if everything isn't going your way it can be a really tough one.

They'll be descending back to high camp any minute now, and will spend the night there before starting the long descent to base camp. The descent only takes a couple of days, so they'll all be back soon now.

Congratulations!!

Here's a link to a video Todd made from the summit of Denali in 2007, it's an amazing place...

Rest Day at 17,200 ft

The crew took a day to rest and acclimate today. They spent a few hours this afternoon digging in, and building walls with snow blocks to protect them from the wind. It was a bit windy today, not bad, but enought to encourage them to fortify their camp in case it picks up. This is a pretty common form of entertainment and exercise at high camp. They'll be watching the weather closely tomorrow (Tuesday) and hope to get a shot at the summit.

High Camp/17,200 ft

They made it to high camp today at 17,200 ft. It's a big day, and a pretty strenuous climb to get up there, so everyone is a bit tired tonight, but doing great. They'll plan on taking a rest day tomorrow, they'll need to be feeling strong and rested before the final push on up to the summit. They are excited to have made it up to high camp, now they just need one nice day to reach the summit.

The last 1000 ft of climbing up the ridge to reach high camp is some of the most beautiful on the West Buttress route. Here's a picture of the ridge looking back from camp, if you click on the image you can see climbers on the route.


Here's a picture of high camp, with the trail leading to Denali pass, and on to the summit in the back.

Carrying Loads

The team carried a load of food and fuel up to the W. Buttress ridge leading to high camp yesterday to stock their cache and prepare to move on up. It was a windy day (of course) but they got the job done, and will take a well deserved rest/acclimitization day today (Saturday). They may catch some luck with the weather, the forecast is looking OK after this weekend. They'll spend another day or 2 at Camp 3 to get acclimated, and then push on up to high camp, and then to the summit. It can all happen pretty quickly at this point if they get some good weather.
The climbing above Camp 3 gets a bit steeper and more technical. Here is a picture of some climbers climbing up the final 600 ft to the W. Buttress ridge. For this last steep pitch they will clip onto a permanently anchored "fixed line" for additional security. This is one of the more strenuous sections on the route.

Micky wants to pass on a Happy Birthday to his mom.

Backcarry

The crew slept in a bit this morning, had a big breakfast, and went down the hill to pick up their cache from 13,500. It only took a few hours, so it was a light day by Denali standards.

Camp 3/14,200 ft

The weather finally changed after a prolonged rough spell. They were able to move up to Camp 3 today at 14,200 ft, and are all settled in to their new home. They'll spend at least 4 nights at this camp acclimating, and caching some gear for their move up to high camp and the summit push. Kevin was thrilled to get the show moving again, and everybody did great today.

Here is a view of the 14k basin and Camp 3 from above. You can see it's quite a city of tents during the middle of the climbing season on Denali.

Nice Weather Finally

Reports from the mountain this morning are that the weather has finally improved, and it is the nicest day in almost 2 weeks. Expect that everyone will be moving on up to 14k today!

They were stuck again yesterday (Monday) in a storm that seemed to be letting up a bit in the evening. Kevin was quite optimistic that they would be able to make the move up to 14,200 ft/Camp 3 on Tuesday. What can they do but be optimistic right now? It is looking a bit better in the AK Range now, and everyone on the mountain is excited to get underway again. They are in good company at Camp 2, with another Mt Trip group, and several other teams waiting out the weather together. It's all part of the fun(?) of climbing Denali.

Here is a view of the upper route that I was able to get from a plane recently. The climbing route comes from the lower left corner(12,000 ft) working up to the right, around the rock buttress (Windy Corner) and up into the basin in the middle of the picture (14,200/Camp 3)

Wind and Snow continue...

Kevin called this afternoon still waiting for the weather to change. Nothing much to report from 11k, but they are doing fine and ready to get going again.

Micky asked that someone water his plants, he said you'll know who you are.

Things must be slow up there if he's worried about his plants right now...

Wind and Snow...

Saturday was a weather day up and down the mountain. Wind and Snow kept everyone in camp, resting, reading, and eating. These enforced rest days can become tiresome, but it's a good chance to acclimate better, and rest up for the hard work to come. If they get a break today they'll move on up to Camp 3 at 14,200 ft.

Back Carry day

The team was able to go down to pick up their cache this morning during a lull in the storm. The weather picked up again this afternoon, it's snowing and blowing this evening at 11k. They'll be ready to carry their load of gear up to the next cache at 13,500ft as soon as the weather settles down again.

Wind and Snow

The team had a nice rest day today at 11,000 ft as the weather encouraged them to stay close to camp. It was windy and snowing most of the day, with the wind picking up a bit this afternoon. They had a reasonable day, slept in, drank coffee, and had a big breakfast. It's not a bad place to get a bit of recovery and acclimitization right now, but tomorrow they hope to get back to work and go pick up their cache at 10,000 ft and bring it on up to camp.

Just pulled into 11,000 camp

Kevin called at 2pm Alaska time and was just getting settled in to Camp 2. He said everyone is doing great, and climbing strong. It's been beautiful weather since they've been on the mountain, and they've been enjoying themselves. The last several mornings they've had to get up quite early to beat the heat of the afternoon when the snow softens up and makes travel more difficult, and sweaty work. Tomorrow they'll sleep in a bit, and then go down to pick up their cache of food and fuel from 10,000 ft.

Camp 1

Kevin called on the Sat phone this afternoon from Camp 1 at 7,800 ft on the Kahiltna glacier. They moved up early this morning before it got too warm and the snow softened up. Sounds like everyone did great today, and they are happy to have the heaviest carry of the whole trip behind them.

Check out the Web Cam, and the weather forecasts on the links to the right.

On The Glacier!

They are off! They drove up to Talkeetna this morning, checked in with the National Park Service, and flew into basecamp. Now the work begins...

Gear check and team meeting... Day 1

The whole crew met for the first time this morning in Anchorage, and they are off to a great start. Everyones bags arrived, and they are doing the last minute gear buying right now. We meet at a nice Bed and Breakfast in Anchorage called the Earth B&B. Tomorrow they'll be off to Talkeetna to check in with the Park Service, and fly into base camp.

Here's a pic of the meeting this morning.

Welcome to Mountain Trip's May 22, 2009 West Buttress Expedition

In the far north lies one of the most magnificent ranges of mountains in the world. The Alaska Range stretches 400 miles across southcentral Alaska. It is a wild place, covered in glaciers and punctuated by rugged peaks. The crown of the range is Denali, at 20,320 feet (6194 m), the highest peak in North America. Located so close to the Arctic circle, Denali can present some of the most challenging and rugged conditions of any mountain on earth.

Each year a relatively few climbers from around the world migrate to test themselves on the slopes of Denali. Mountain Trip has been assisting these climbers achieve their Denali dreams since 1976. We love what we do and are happy to help provide you a taste of what these climbers are experiencing by updating their progress in this blog. Following the expedition, we will post numerous photos from the expedition, so please keep checking in.

On May 24, 2009, a small team of climbers will arrive in Anchorage. They will be accompanied by three Mountain Trip guides:

Kevin Koprek from Ouray, Colorado
Peter Ingliss from Telluride, Colorado
Julie Hodson from Telluride, Colorado

The climbers are:

Daniel Pastor from the US
Micky Goldschmidt from the US
Marcus Jamson from the UK
David Chamberlin from the US

Please keep in mind that communication from the big mountains can be challenging and occasionally intermittent. We will post updates as often as possible, but please keep in mind the old adage, "NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS!" when it comes to communications from the Range.

Also, please be advised that while we will attempt to pass comments along to the climbers, this is not always possible. The intent of this dispatch blog is to keep you up to date on your friends' and loved ones' progress while on the expedition, and to give you an opportunity to express your support of their dreams. We are certain they will love to read all of your comments when they get back to civilization, so please do post comments.