All safe and sound in Talkeetna

The remainder of the team has flown off the Kahiltna and is in Talkeetna. They plan to head back to Anchorage tonight. I imagine that they are pretty tuckered out after a long hard trip.

Noel, who joined another Mountain Trip team at High Camp, reached the summit last night. He is descending with Chris Kerrick and the crew which started on May 6th. Noel will meet two other Mountain Trip guides at Base Camp and will hike out from the mountain to the Dutch Hills, where he will pick up a bicycle and ride it to the coast. Wow...

Durny, Bill and Larry are down safe and sound

I heard that our guide Rob Durnell (Durny), Larry and Bill have all made it back to Talkeetna. A hearty congratulations to those guys for sticking it out as long as they did. It is incredibly tough to keep motivated up high on Denali, when the wind and cold are doing their best to erode your will. These guys spent three weeks up there and have earned a big steak at a good restaurant in Anchorage!

I also received word that Heidi, Ed and David are all heading down and hope to fly off the glacier on Monday. Noel has joined another Mountain Trip team that started behind this crew and is hoping to make a summit bid today or tomorrow.

A point of clarification for those reading Wes's blog. The Park ranger who said that "that usually no one summits until the end of May due to weather" is either new to the job or just prone to making gross generalizations. Staistically, most climbers have reached the summit during the first week of June, however; our first trip of the season (like this one) has summitted for the past seven years. This trip just lucked out and met the harsh face of Denali when she wasn't very cooperative. I'm certain that not many people out there can relate to the demanding conditions that this team struggled through, which is all the more reason to give your friends and family a hearty hug when you see them back safe at home!

I'll post as soon as I know for certain.

Official News of Fatal Climbing Fall

We just received an NPS Press Release. Apparently the rumor mill mixed up a couple of things, so I have pasted the release in its entirety:

Two climbers died as a result of a 1,900-foot fall during a descent of Mt.
McKinley on Thursday evening May 17. Mizuki Takahashi, a 36-year-old
woman from Lake Forest Park, Washington was pronounced dead shortly after the fall. Her partner, 27-year-old Brian Massey from North Bend, Washington remained unconscious throughout the night, but succumbed to his injuries Friday morning.

Takahashi and Massey had left the 14,200-foot camp on Tuesday morning for an ascent of the Upper West Rib route of Mt. McKinley. A third team member stayed behind at the 14,200-foot camp. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening, a mountaineering ranger patrol staged at the mountain’s 17,200-foot High Camp witnessed the fall, which began from an elevation just below 19,000-feet near the Messner Couloir. The roped pair fell to a point just below High Camp.

A hasty team comprised of the ranger patrol and two climbing guides traversed to the team, and confirmed that Takahashi was deceased. The rescue team performed an initial assessment of Massey, who was immediately carried back to the ranger tent for emergency medical treatment for severe injuries. Massey never regained consciousness, and he died Friday morning at 8:30 a.m.

Cloud cover and darkness prevented a medical evacuation overnight. The remains of the two climbers will be flown down to Talkeetna when flying conditions permit.

Mountain Trip Team Helps With Rescue

I just received some tragic news from another team at Camp 3. Apparently a Czech team was attempting to cross the top of the Messner Coulouir at above 18,000 feet when a small slab avalanche killed one of their members.

Heidi and Rob Durnell, our two most experienced guides on this expedition assisted with the rescue of the remaining climbers.

I don't have any additional information, but rest assured that no one on our team was involved with the accident and everyone on our team is doing well. The weather has not improved and I think the team is discussing heading down. They have been on the mountain for 19 days and are about out of food and fuel.

I have to commend them on an exceptional effort in truly challenging conditions. They should all be proud of their hard work and if they do head down, let's wish them a speedy and uneventful descent.

I will post more details as I receive them.

Wes Lemberg's Expedition Update Page

I just learned that one of our climbers, Wes Lemberg, has his own Update Blog. His is actually really detailed and fun to read, so please check it out:

http://xxtinguish.blogspot.com

He's a firefighter, hence the blog title...

Thanks to Wes and Co. for the additional information.

One point of correction: "one wrap": refers to taking a wrap around your arm with the fixed rope. This enables you to have enough friction to control your descent, yet is quick and easy to deal with when you reach an anchor point and have to unwrap to pass the anchor. I love the commentary and really appreciate your effort!

Patience pays off

The team has been facing pretty rough weather for the past few days and only yesterday got the opportunity to move up to High Camp. The winds up high have been relentless and prudence and patience have been the order of the last few days.

Yesterday the winds abated a bit and they decided to push for the upper camp. It was a cold and challenging move, but they made it to High Camp.

Today will be a rest day and they will start looking for summit opportunities starting tomorrow. The forecast is for moderately high winds for the next couple of days, so let's hope that the forecast is wrong and that the team gets a nice window to punch it out for the top!

The team went up the fixed lines!

Heidi called today on the cell phone. She said that the crew did a "back-carry" two days ago and dropped down to their cache that was buried at about 13,700 feet. That was a pretty easy day and should have helped everyone acclimatize to the new elevation of Camp 2 at 14,200 feet.

She reported that when they team came up to Camp 3, they didn't even use crampons! That tells me that they are having amazing conditions for traveling.

Yesterday, they carried a load of gear up the fixed lines and cached it at about 16,400 feet. Apparently the fixed lines were in prime condition and everything went smoothly as they ascended.

Today they are taking a rest and acclimatization day. Heidi says it is snowing and cold. Daytime hight temperatures from the Denali weather forecasting page gave a high of 0 degrees Fahrenheit for today. Brrrr!