The suspense is over!

I just received third-hand news from the team and we know know who made the summit.

Jack Strickland, Babptista Kwok and Martin Douthitt all reached the summit the day before yesterday.

I do not know the circumstances surrounding Christian, however he and the rest of the team are all at Camp 3 at 14,200' (4328 m), and should be descending shortly. They planned on sleeping late today, and will pack up and head down to Camp 1 at 7,800' (2380 m) this afternoon or evening, Alaska Time. Guide Bill Dwyer needed to get back for personal reasons, so he descended through the night last night and is currently in Talkeetna.

Congratulations to all the team. Climbing Denali is a lot of hard work and you all did great!

I'll keep posting as I receive updates on their descent.

Messages from 17,200 feet

I just received a barely intelligible message from Greg Nappi. Some of the climbers would like us to pass along the following messages. I'm sorry that I still can not give any more information as to who summitted, because I am still not certain. So much for high tech satellite communication!

Here are the messages:

Jack Strickland: (admittedly plagiarizing Sir Edmund Hillary) "We knocked the bastard off!"

Baptista: "To the Apex Dental staff, friends and family, and Christine, we're doing well and coming downtoday."

Christian: "To Krista and Franz, we're OK and coming down!"

A view from the top!

Here is a video I shot in 2007 from the summit of Denali on a day very similar to the one the crew experienced yesterday.

Summit!!!

I received word that the team made a push for the summit yesterday (Sunday, June 28) and that three of the four climbers made it to the summit!

Sorry for the suspense, but I do not know who the three climbers were, or which of the guides went to the top with them. The day looked like a beautiful summit day, so their views from the top of North America must have been absolutely stunning.

The route up from High Camp ascends a long, rising traverse up to a saddle that separated the north and south summits of Denali. From this saddle (Denali Pass), the team made a hard right hand turn and climbed up through some rolling terrain to reach a large plateau at 19,500, known as the Football Field. The Football Field is a great place to rest up and re-group for the push up to the summit ridge. There is a steep 500' hill to climb which puts the climbers on the knife edged summit ridge that leads to the summit. The climbing through the last several hundred feet is spectacular and very engaging, with big drop offs of either side of the ridge.

Congratulations to all the climbers for their hard work. I'll post more details as I receive them.

Still at High Camp

The team woke up to -15 F (-22 C) temperatures this morning, which is unseasonably cold for Denali. The wind higher up was ferocious and they sat tight and watched as clouds steamed past.

Tomorrow will be their 20th day on the mountain, and they are feeling all the emotions and pressures associated with spending so long in such an unforgiving environment. Hopefully the weather will improve and they will get a chance to head for the top tomorrow.

Today was a classic example of how the weather forecast can be completely wrong. It sure looked like a good day on the weather site, but I guess Denali does not get internet, and missed last night's weather call, because it did not cooperate.

Hang tough up there, fellows!

Resting and Acclimatizing at High Camp

Greg called in late last night and said that yesterday (Friday) was not a good summit day. High winds and a thick lenticular cloud conspired to make the crew take a rest and acclimatization day. The additional time at High Camp should help a lot if they have a summit window today.

High Camp is a stark, windswept landscape, surrounded by BIG views. It is hard to relax up there, because the altitude makes everything difficult, and you're feeling pretty anxious about the next day of work. You pass the hours keeping an eye out for telltale signs that the weather might be improving enough to make a go for the top, and that makes it a bit tough to just kick back and read those last chapters in your book.

Today's forecast and view from the TAT webcam look favorable, so if visibility is decent, I suspect the crew will pack up and start heading up the long, rising traverse called the Autobahn that leads to Denali Pass. From this point, they will be able to better see the summit proper, and can reevaluate whether to puch higher.

Jack sends a message out to his friends and family: "Target in sight! Thanks for the love and support"

Jack has put more time in on that mountain than mmany climbers, so I sure hope the weather gives him a shot.

Best of luck to all of you up there at 17,200' on Denali. We'll keep everyone else updated on their progress as we hear reports throughout the day.

Continuing the Camp 3 "Hang."

The crew is still hanging out at Camp 3. The weather has improved tremenously today, however the recent snows have created some degree of avalanche hazard, so they will probably wait for the new snow to settle or slide before heading up hill.

We received some reports of avalanches in the vivinity of the fixed lines, so that area might become cleared out enough for the team to head up, but I would bet that they will wait until tomorrow to head up to High Camp.