Back in town, moving on the the next adventure

Mike called me from the hotel in Anchorage, they waited out a few days of bad weather in basecamp and got their flight back to civilization. Almost immediately the jumped in a MT vehicle and hit the road, trying to get on a flight out of Anchorage to start climbing the next high point. Good luck to the Moniz party on their next series of adventures!

Headed back to Base Camp

Jacob just called with more details about summit day. Apparently, they had a truly amazing day with great conditions. They felt so good after their quick round trip to the summit, that they packed up camp at 17,200' and descended down to the 14,200' camp.

They are now packing up and readying themselves for the long descent down to Base Camp at 7,200' on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. They are traveling on skis, so they should make relatively quick work of the descent. Word from other teams is that the snow on the lower glacier is fairly isothermic, meaning it is something like soft, mashed potato goo... they'll be thankful for those skis!

We'll keep you posted on the team's progress and on Matt's upcoming adventures, which I suspect will be impressive, but I'm not talking...;)

Summit!

The team made a 5:30am departure from high camp and went for the summit, taking advantage of unusually warm temperatures and Alaska's excess of daylight to make a ten-hour round trip summit of Denali. Everyone performed great and hit the weather window perfectly, just ahead of a few forecast low pressure systems. When I talked to Jacob this afternoon the team was packing up camp in preparation to move down to 14 camp tonight; the plan is for the team to try to move down to basecamp tomorrow and fly as soon as the weather permits. The range is socked in at lower elevations right now, but change is the norm and let's all hope for some flyable weather!

Summit attempt

Team Moniz went for the summit yesterday and were turned back at the top of Denali Pass by high winds, which is a very common scenario. Jacob called once the team was in camp again and drinking hot drinks- as is also a common scenario, the weather quieted down in the afternoon and things were looking favorable. So now the team is on the familiar routine of hurry up and wait, but being prepared for the summit attempt with packed backpacks and full water bottles means they will be able to jump on good weather when it does come around. The team has plenty of food and fuel to wait out even the most persistent storm systems, so they'll poke their heads out of the tent to keep an eye on the weather and be ready to pounce when the opportunity presents itself.

High camp

Jacob called yesterday during dinner to report that the Moniz expedition had moved to high camp sucessfully and were settled in- warm, dry and full, feeling fine. It was a short call from Jacob as everyone was eager to get to sleep after a hard day of travel, but it sounds like moving up the ridge was much easier this time and there were no climber jams to slow their progress. Jacob said it was unusually warm for high camp, so let's hope it stays warmer and the weather holds out for their summit attempt.

Still at 14,200' camp

Jacob checked in on Friday to tell me that he was so impressed with the fitness, skill and motivation of Matt, Mike and Dan that he was planning to head to high camp yesterday (Saturday). I cautioned him that they were only on day seven of their climb, and that heading to high camp on day eight seemed awful quick to me. I advised him to make the best decision he could, based on how everyone was doing, but reminded him that the Boulder crew arrived at the mountain partially acclimatized, Nick just got off a Denali climb, and that, despite having been to 6000+ meters over 30 times, he was living at just above sea level just eight days ago.

It is easy to get excited and caught up in the momentum of an expedition that is moving along well. Add a weather window that appears to be closing over the next couple of days and the increase in pressure to push faster than you would typically push becomes very intense. I definitely felt that Jacob was calling me to get the perspective of someone who is removed from the excitement of the team's building energy levels, and while I supported whatever decision they made in the field (I'm sitting at my desk in Colorado and can only advise from this long arm's length), I did remind him that they have plenty of food and fuel, and that if they spend more days at the 14,200' camp, they will benefit greatly from their time at that altitude when they do move high.

So it was not a real surprise to get the call last night that the team did pack up camp and start up the hill above 14,200' camp to the steepest section of the route known as the headwall. Their progress was slowed as a rescue party made their way downhill, assisting a woman who had pushed too high, too fast and suffered from Pulmonary Edema, a critical care issue that required her to be helped down while on oxygen.

Not too far above the headwall, Jacob realized that he was not moving as well as he always had been able to move at that elevation. It was apparent that they were also going to arrive into the 17,200' High Camp at a fairly late hour. Snow walls to fortify their tents would need to be built and the chances of their feeling good enough to make a summit bid the following day (today) were slim to none. The signs were all pointing toward making the prudent decision to return to the 14,200' camp for further acclimatization.

I'm proud of Jacob for making this difficult decision. It is very hard to interrupt the momentum of a quick moving team, but safety and caution in such an unforgiving environment are more critical. As I mentioned, they have plenty of time, and I suspect they will make a move up high in the next day or so.

Until then- stay tuned!

Phone call from the team!

This phone call came in last night from Mike, Matt and Dan. They are really moving well and making great time. From the sounds of their voices, they are enjoying them,selves!

Here you go: