Entries from Mt. McKinley
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Hey!! We got flown off Denali this afternoon. It was our 21st day on the mountain and it began with low cloud and unflyable conditions. We cooked up a casual breakfast on the glacier and waited patiently, checking in hourly with K2 Aviation via sat-phone. By mid-afternoon, the sun was trying to peak through and our visibility had improved a great deal. K2 was having some difficulty with thick cloud blocking the approaches on their side of the mountain, but they kept on trying to find holes. At three PM their perseverance paid off, in came the airplanes and out we went. The gang is getting together one last time in just a few minutes. Time for a triumphant feast at the West Rib and a few toasts to a good mountain, good luck and good friends.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Hey, this is Dave calling from Denali. We made it from 11,000' to base camp today. It took a long time: we started walking at 3:30 in the morning and got here about 2:30 p.m. Hard weather conditions on route, hard crevasse problems but everyone made it through okay. It's nice to be down. We haven't gotten picked up yet. The weather wasn't good enough to fly in but hopefully tomorrow morning.
Hey, this is Dave calling from Denali. We moved from 17,000' to 11,000' today. There was a lot of new snow down below and we were post holing through deep snow all the way down the West Buttress, down to 14,000' and all the way to 11,000' breaking trail. It all went really well. Today was a nice day, nice, calm and sunny.
Now we are camped at 11,000'. We hope to get up in a few hours and make our way to the airstrip and perhaps be there and ready to fly out tomorrow morning. So, I'll give a call if that happens. Today is Monday so that would be Tuesday morning that we would be at the airstrip if all goes well on the lower glacier. Talk to you soon.
The team is still stuck at 17,000' in blizzard conditions. Has been snowing continuously and winds blowing around 30 mph or so. The group is doing well; they have plenty of food and fuel and are just hanging out until the weather gets better. They will see how the weather looks in the morning. Dave will give us a call tomorrow with an update.
The team is at 17,000' right now. They were going to head down to 14,000' this morning but a snow storm moved in so they are just waiting. Dave was glad they headed to the summit when they had their small window of opportunity. Weather dependent, the team will descend further down the mountain. With the snow storm it is more likely that will be tomorrow.
July 10, 2010 - SUMMIT!
Dave Hahn and team reached the summit of Mount McKinley, North America's highest peak, yesterday evening. They had some wind up high but everyone was doing well.
Congratulations!
Dave Hahn called from 17,000' on Mount McKinley. They moved camp yesterday and made good time, reaching 17,000' camp in about 5 1/2 hours. It was a bit windy when they arrived but they got camp set up. They woke up this morning to a very pretty day - the best since they have been on the mountain. They can see all the way down the Alaska Range.
There is a little wind today but they are planning on heading out in about an hour for their summit push.
We wish them good luck!
This is Dave Hahn checking in from the familiar surroundings of Advance Base Camp at 14,000'. Life is good here, but we're not so sure that's the case at 17,000'. A cloud cap formed over the summit of Denali this morning, indicating high wind and changing weather conditions. Sometimes a cap will blow off, followed by settled weather. On the other hand, it may be a harbinger of worsening weather. At any rate, we're sitting tight for the moment, watching and waiting. We'll keep you posted.
This is Dave Hahn calling from 14,000' on Denali. Today was our first nice day in at least three or four days. We took full advantage of it and carried loads up the West Buttress. We reached 17,000', just a few hundred feet above Washburn's Thumb and maybe a 1/2 hour's easy walk from camp at 17,000'. We cached food and fuel up there and came back down to 14,000'.
Beautiful day and quite a relief from the snow storms we have been experiencing for the last few days. Everybody got the big view from up on the West Buttress looking out at Foraker and Hunter. It is still a sea of clouds down low covering the rest of Alaska but we were above it all today. Everything is going well and we'll check in again soon.
We had a little snow overnight and the winds on the upper mountain have picked up. We were hoping to make our carry today to cache some gear, we still might get it in if things change this afternoon, but for now we are going to sit tight at 14,000'. We might take a walk to the "Edge of the World" this afternoon. We will plan to carry tomorrow if the weather improves. Everyone is doing well. We will check in again soon.
Dave Hahn and the team tried doing a carry today but turned around at approximately 15,000' due to low clouds, snow and poor visibility. They are now back at their 14,000' camp and taking a rest day.
They will try to make their carry again tomorrow. The team is doing well and they wish everyone a Happy 4th of July!
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