Coming off the mountain

THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2008

Coming off the mountain

As most of you know I'm finally off the mountain. 23 days waiting for the right timing to go for the summit, and 2 additional to come all the way off. It was definitely an adventure of a lifetime. For the past few days I've been eating like a pig....anything and everything in sight. It's been great. Just like coming off the mountain, all great things must come to an end. So starting tomorrow my eating habits will change and I'll begin exercising for whatever next adventure. In the near future Wendy and I have Mt. Rainier. That should be fun being able to share the experience together rather than sharing it through the connection of a satellite phone. Thanks to everyone that clicked in for updates and following along. It was fun. To the right I posted a few photos of the trip, and larger ones on the bottom. I'll see what I can do for a slide show. Thanks again. Wes

Wes in Talkeetna!

SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 2008

Wes in Talkeetna!

Wes landed in Talkeetna about 30 minutes ago. Dan and Brian were on the same flight as Wes. Jerry and Billy are also in Talkeetna. They had the first flight out. Wes, Dan and Brian got the second flight out because they had helped carry Jerry's stuff. The rest of the team will also be coming off the mountain tonight. Everyone says that this team set a new RMI record of being on the mountain the longest - 25 days! Wes said that the first flight from Hudson Air that landed at Base Camp greeted the climbers with a case of Miller Lite. Tonight the team will get together for a celebratory dinner. They will stay the night at the Talkeetna Hotel otherwise known as T.P. The team will take the shuttle back to Anchorage in the morning. Wes found out that the people around there call Denali "Big Mac." He has already shed his mountaineering boots and is walking around in flip flops. He said it feels weird to be without his boots. Everything is really green and it is about 75 degrees right now. They went from minus 50 with the wind chill to 75 degrees in just a couple of days. Wes is planning on staying at the Historic Anchorage Hotel tomorrow night and will be home on Tuesday. He said he met a bunch of really great guys on this trip. A big thank you goes out to the guides - Mike, Billy and Federico. They really seemed to be motivated and interested in making sure their team succeeded in the climb - even though it meant staying on the mountain longer than expected and foraging for extra food. The most important thing is that they made sure the team got back safely. This was a much different experience in terms of guides for Wes than last year. Thanks to all who wrote comments - I know the guys appreciated getting hellos from home. Tune in next year to catch the blog on Wes' next adventure - will it be Aconcagua or Cho Oyu? Now on to Rainier!

Team at Base Camp

Team at Base Camp

The team left 11,000 feet this morning at 2:00 a.m. They hiked for six hours across the Kahiltna Glacier and got into Base Camp at 8:00 a.m. They set up a tent and slept for a few hours. They have all their gear ready in case they are able to fly out. The weather is marginal right now but the team is still hoping to fly off the mountain today. There are a lot of "walking wounded" - mainly some bad blisters. If they are able to fly out they will be taking the cold injury people off first. Jerry and the guy from India will be the first ones to go. I'll let you know when the team gets in to Talkeetna.

Team Back at Medical Camp

SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2008

Team Back at Medical Camp

The team has made it back down to Medical Camp. They plan to stay there for a little longer and then hopefully move down to 11,000 tonight and stay there until morning. They found out that it was 50 below with the wind chill when they were at the summit. There were a lot of frostbite injuries yesterday due to the severe cold. Jerry has some frostbite on his right hand. He is currently in the medical tent being taken care of. A climber from India on the AAI team is going to lose a couple of fingers - they are completely black. Wes said he was wearing every piece of clothing that he brought with him when he made the summit. He did not have any skin exposed at all. He said his La Sportiva boots were a great investment - his feet were really warm. When they got back to 14,000 they saw that their igloo was still standing. Wes went around with a sled full of food and fuel and offered it to some of the other teams that are making their way up the mountain. The more they can get rid of the less they have to take with them on the climb down. 

Team Safely back at Camp V

Team Safely back at Camp V

Wes just called and sounds exhausted! He said the excitement of making the summit will probably set in later today or tomorrow. Right now he is too tired. He said they left yesterday at 10 am and did not get back to camp until 10 pm. They ate dinner around midnight (some freeze dried food) and then everyone passed out. He said no one tossed and turned at all, they slept like stones. Right now everyone is still sleeping. Wes said ALL of the team made it to the summit! He said it was everything he expected and then some. It was a real mental challenge. It was like running a marathon with a backpack on and breathing through a straw. It was one of his toughest days ever. He said it was really treacherous and very cold. They were all roped in but walking right along the edge of the mountain. It was pretty "insane." He said there were a lot of people going for the summit but not all of the people made it. Wes said he had plenty of food but it got to the point where his body just didn't want to take in any food at all. He said he sucked down a lot of Goo and it would take about 10 minutes to kick in and then he would feel energized to move on - however that didn't last very long and then he was sucking down more Goo. It was about minus 20 degrees with winds about 20 to 25 mph at the summit. John and Wes could see the curvature of the earth. He said the views were spectacular. They didn't spend much time at the summit. He said everyone was so tired and didn't have the energy to take many pictures but they got some. The plan for today is to rest a little longer and eat breakfast. The team will then move down to 11,000 feet tonight and spend a few hours. Tomorrow they will move down to Base Camp and hopefully fly out to Talkeetna. The weather is supposed to be good. They will probably spend the night in Talkeetna on Sunday and get back to Anchorage on Monday. Wes may come home Monday really late or spend the night in Anchorage and get home Tuesday (four weeks after he left).

SUMMIT!!!!!!!!!!

SUMMIT!!!!!!!!!!

After 23 days on the mountain the team has summited Denali! They summited at about 6 pm yesterday. More details to come when Wes calls in.

Team on the Move!

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2008

Team on the Move!

The team is making their summit attempt today! According to the RMI website all three teams at High Camp are making their bid for the summit right now. The weather is sunny with minimal wind at the moment. As of 12 pm Alaska time, Wes' team is right below the other two RMI teams who have reached Denali Pass at 18,200! Will keep you posted.

Holding at High Camp

THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2008

Holding at High Camp

The team is still holding at High Camp. It is about zero degrees right now. The sun is out. This morning it was pretty windy and they could tell it was really windy higher up. Clouds were blowing in earlier but it is nice at the moment. The inside of Wes' tent is like an ice cave. There are icicles hanging inside the tent and every time someone moves it looks like it is snowing. Today Wes spent most of the day inside the tent. He did go out for about an hour and a half and did some work. He dug a new path to the "watering hole," aka the bathroom. He built some other walls to give better shelter, too. He spent a few minutes just relaxing and taking in the view but then had to move back inside because it was so cold. There are five RMI teams on the mountain right now. Three are at 17,200, one is at Medical Camp and one is a little lower on the mountain. Wes' new tent mates are Yury, Eric and Brian. Wes sleeps closest to the tent wall on the left side. Very cozy. When the team dug up their cache of food at 16,000 the guides found another cache that was about two years old that had some food in it. Since it had not been claimed they took that cache which will give them a day or two of extra food. Today Wes has eaten a piece of beef jerky, cracker crumbs and some Starburst (I'm sure he had breakfast, too). Brian had some homemade energy bars (thank you Britta and Gigi) and he was nice enough to share them so Wes got one of those, too. He has three candy bars, three power bars and some string cheese left. He said he is a big eater and if he doesn't eat a lot then he doesn't do very well. Some of the other guys have about the same amount of food as Wes does left. Other guys have a bit more. Wes said he still feels good. The winds are supposed to diminish tomorrow to about 30 mph and even less on Saturday. They may try to make a summit attempt tomorrow. However, Mike said that they will really need to watch the wind because once they get to the "football field" if the winds are too strong they will have to turn back. So they may wait until Saturday to attempt the summit. Stay tuned...

Team at 17,200!

TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2008

Team at 17,200!

The team has moved to 17,200! They moved to Camp V yesterday. Wes said it was a really tough climb. It took about six hours. Although it was really hard he said it was a great climb meandering through rock passageways right along a ridge. They had spectacular views along the way. There were a lot of safety procedures in place. There was a fixed rope section along Washburn's Thumb. They had running belays and pickets with carabiners. Once they got into camp they spent about four hours making walls and getting the campsite ready. Wes said it pretty much wiped everyone out - the altitude and the exertion from the climb. He said I wouldn't have even recognized him if he had called last night, that's how out of it he was from the climb. The team has ditched one of their tents and now they have four climbers in each tent. At first they thought that might be a little too close for comfort but everyone has decided it is pretty cozy! They ended up working so hard yesterday that they didn't even eat dinner until 11:30 p.m. Today they cut more blocks of ice for the camp. It was a nice day. It was about zero degrees. He said that inside the tent it got up to 100 degrees because of the radiant heat. Wes said from their camp they have panoramic views of the whole route they have climbed so far. They could see Medical Camp and it looked so far away. There are about 30 people at Camp V right now. Another RMI team (one guide and one climber - the rest of that team is still at 14,000) arrived today at 17,200. Wes' team has about five days worth of food now. They were able to pick up their cache at 16,000. Wes has seen aircraft flying overhead the past two days still searching for the missing Japanese team on the Cassian Ridge route. There was a German team at 17,200 that lost a couple of their tents from the wind and ended up bunking in with an American team for a couple of days. One team in camp had two tents and a modified igloo for shelter. They had their climbing rope spidered all over the tents to anchor them down. Wes said it looked pretty interesting. The plan right now is to wait for the winds to die down before making a summit attempt. They had thought about it today but the winds at the summit were just too strong. The winds are supposed to slow by Friday. Until then the team will watch the weather and hang out. Everyone on the team is in great spirits. Wes said they have a really tough team. Wes was glad to hear that you made it back safely, Baron. He said he will pass on your well wishes to the team.

Team Hoping for a Break in the Weather

SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2008

Team Hoping for a Break in the Weather

The team is at Medical Camp still. The last two or three days the winds have been 40 to 60 mph in camp. The wind has reached 110 mph at 17,000 and above. Twenty-five people have been stuck at 17,000 for the last four days. There is a team that is climbing the Cassian Ridge route that hasn't been heard from in five days. The weather has been pretty miserable lately. However, there is supposed to be a slight break in the wind tomorrow - slowing to 35 mph on the way to 17,000. Another storm is moving in on Thursday. The team has been able to scrounge up some additional food from some climbers going down the mountain. They were actually offered a week's worth of food from a firefighter from England and his team but they graciously declined their offer. If the reduction in wind really happens (there is a two day window) then the team is going to try for 17,000 tomorrow. They are going to pick up their cache at 16,000 and move up. They will make a full assault on the summit on Tuesday - again, only if the break in the wind really happens. Wes said he feels a little weak due to the fact that they have been conserving food. He has more of his snack food cached at 16,000. He is going to take in as many calories today to gain strength for the possible move tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Another Day at Camp IV

SATURDAY, MAY 24, 2008

Another Day at Camp IV

Latest update from Wes indicates that the team is still waiting out the storm at Camp IV. They are predicting 90 mph winds for the next week. The team will see what the status of the weather is tomorrow. It will then be decided if the team is able to move up to 17,000 or if they will pick up their cache at 16,000 and come off the mountain.

Team Still at Camp IV

THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2008

Team Still at Camp IV

Here is the latest update from Wes. The team is still at Camp IV. The storm that was expected on Friday came in a little earlier. Mike (the lead guide) said they could have tried to move to 17,000 yesterday but if they did they would have had one shot at the summit and that was it. They decided to stay at 14,200 until Sunday. The storm is supposed to clear by then. They will go for 17,000 on Sunday and bring five days of food with them. This should give them about two or three good days for summit attempts. Another RMI team has just made it to 14,000. Wes' team has been spending the last couple of hours helping them set up their camp. Yesterday Wes and some of the guys got inspired and decided to make a couch and a dining room table out of ice blocks. Now they have a place to sit and relax and put their feet up. They also made a Greek goddess without a head or extremities. They've put a helmet and an ice axe next to her. She is an unofficial team member. They haven't decided on a name for her yet. Today they decided to make an igloo. It is big enough to stand up in. Wes made bench seating all around the inside. He says it is really cool. Wes said he feels like an "animal" and really strong. The team is doing well. They are anxious to move up to High Camp but will have to hang out at 14,000 for a couple more days.

Rest Day at Camp IV

TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2008

Rest Day at Camp IV

Today the team rested at Camp IV. They spent the day eating, napping and hanging out. If the weather is good tomorrow the team plans to climb to high camp at around 17,000 feet. There is a high wind advisory for Friday with winds potentially up to 60 mph. If this is the case, the team may attempt to summit on Thursday before the weather turns. They were expecting to get a weather update within the hour. However, if the weather does not cooperate, they will be staying at 14,000 to ride it out. Wes said he can see clouds blowing up from lower on the mountain. The guides are really motivated to get the team as high up the mountain as possible. Wes said there was a rescue today. A Spanish woman had summited yesterday but did not get back to 17,000 until 3:00 a.m. The rangers had to lower her down from 17,000 first in a basket and then skied her down in a sled to Medical Camp. They weren't able to airlift her out today but she will be flown off the mountain tomorrow. It sounds like she has severe frostbite on her hands and may lose her fingers. All of Wes' team is doing well. They had one very minor injury. Jerry cut his finger with a knife and Wes had to dermabond (surgical crazy glue) it together. He said Jerry's finger will be fine and he is doing well. Wes also talked to one of the volunteer medics at Medical Camp named Paul. He gave Wes a tour of Medical Camp. He suggested Wes come back as a volunteer medic next year. Wes said he feels great and is ready to move higher. Let's all hope the weather cooperates and the team is able to move to 17,000 tomorrow.

Cached a Load at 16,300

MONDAY, MAY 19, 2008

Cached a Load at 16,300

Wes just called with the latest update (6:45 pm Alaska time). Today the team climbed using the fixed lines to above the head wall at around 16,300 and made a cache. They hung out at 16,300 for about 30 minutes and then headed back down to Camp IV to rest. It was about a 5 1/2 climb today. They will probably spend the day at Camp IV tomorrow resting. If the weather is good on Wednesday they will head to 17,000. However, there is a low pressure system moving in so they will just have to wait and see what happens. The team is doing well. Wes said the weather is perfect at the moment - sunny and about 0 degrees. At 16,300 it was about minus 5 degrees. They are firing up the stoves right now to get some water made for their water bottles. After that it will be hot drinks, dinner and bed! Wes has been sleeping really well and eating like crazy. He hasn't had any nausea so far this time around. Britta, I passed on your message to Wes who said he would be sure to tell Brian.

Retrieved Cache at 13,600

MONDAY, MAY 19, 2008

Retrieved Cache at 13,600

Latest Update: According to a couple of sources, yesterday the team retrieved their cache at around 13,600 and brought it back up to Camp IV. This took a few hours. The team hopes to carry another cache up to around 16,000 or 17,000 feet today and then go back down to 14,000 for tonight. The weather is good. Lows at night are about minus 10 to 15 degrees. Team is doing well.

Team at 14,300 - Camp IV

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2008

Team at 14,300 - Camp IV

The team climbed to 14,300 today - Medical base camp. They just got there about an hour ago (5:15 pm Alaska time) and have been digging out spots to set up the sleeping and kitchen tents. It was about a 5 1/2 hour hike today. There are about 70 people currently at Camp IV. Wes was talking to the ranger and he said it was minus 17 degrees last night. They are gearing up for another cold one tonight. The weather is really nice right now - clear skies, can see clouds below them at about 9,000 or 10,000 feet. Wes has great views of Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter. Tomorrow they plan to go back down to Windy Corner to pick up their cache. They will bring it back to Camp IV and then take it easy the rest of the day. It should only be about a 2 hour hike tomorrow. If the weather is good they will try to head for the next camp around 17,000 feet on Monday. The team is still doing well. A couple of people got really tired on the hike today and had to be urged to keep going but made it just fine to camp. Hopefully getting some rest tomorrow will help restore their energy. I have passed on all of your well wishes to Wes who is passing them on to the rest of the team.