That's it

After a few days in basecamp the expedition caught a plane out to Talkeetna and are safely in Anchorage.

Change of plans

The team has moved to basecamp to reevaluate the objectives of the climb; after a few days spent at the base of the West Rib couloir in bad weather, Jared and Greg were forced to come to the decision to abandon their hopes for a West Rib ascent and change the focus of the trip to climbing other peaks around the Kahiltna glacier area. Weather and route conditions often ruin even the most carefully laid mountain strategies, and while waiting the team used up their supplies for the route between the base of the route and their high camp cache. A team is in a vulnerable position between when they cache most of their supplies elsewhere and when they can reach those supplies, so even though Jared reserved several extra days of food and fuel for just this scenario, the weather and resulting route conditions had other ideas and prevented them from moving and consequently the team found themselves without adequate supplies to continue upward.
As we say in the mountains, weather is king- moving despite bad conditions is bad style, so I sent sixty pounds of food to basecamp yesterday with another MT group and the West Rib crew has reached them and are eating happy right now. The plan for the remainder of the trip is being formulated as I write this, and when I know more you'll know more.

Waiting for conditions

Jared called yesterday afternoon, the team was waiting for conditions to be right and remained in camp. Mountaineering is all about timing, and it can be difficult to wait for things to be optimal, but Jared is a patient guide and will stick it out in camp until climbing conditions line up that allow for efficient travel. From their current position at the base of the couloir to their high camp at 16,000' is just under 6,000' of climbing, so they have a few big days ahead to be in position for the summit day.

Entrance couloir fixed

Greg called last night for a weather report and to say that the guides had climbed the initial couloir of the West Rib and fixed ropes for the team to move up today if conditions allow. The couloir is steep and usually icy, so Jared and Greg clipped a separate rope into ice screws or snow pickets which the team can clip their rope ascenders into as a backup as they climb to prevent any slips from becoming falls- this will allow the climbers to move quickly and safely onto the West Rib proper. Greg said 'all is well' and the climbers got a rest day as the guides fixed rope- their camp is in a sheltered spot of the northeast fork looking right at the couloir and is well away from the crowds of the West Buttress. Tonight's phone call will tell if everything went well in the couloir, so stay tuned tomorrow for more updates..

In the NE Fork!

Greg Nappi left the following message from the seldom visited, Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier at about 9"30 pm, Alaska time. It sounds like they had an exciting day yesterday!

at, 7,800' plan to move up the NE fork Kahiltna

Word from the MT radio network yesterday evening was that the team cruised down to 7,800' camp in perfect weather from 14, and moved right into an old camp to sleep. The range has been blessed with a stable high pressure; the Talkeetna Air Taxi webcam (www.talkeetnaair.com will get you started) shows the range to be in fine form. High pressures don't always mean perfect weather, although they generally mean a lack of systemic storms and precipitation they can also mean high winds. The weather report calls for light winds today clear through to Sunday, so our team plans to move up the Northeast fork of the Kahiltna today and will try for camp at the base of the route; with any luck, they will have a beautiful windless day and move as efficiently as they have been on the rest of the trip.

You know the old adage, "Better living through technology?" Well, this is a case in point...

Mark called in again and it seems as if the satellites were not quite lined up, as his transmission is fairly garbled. I'll post it anyway, as it's nice to hear his voice and especially to hear the enthusiasm in it.

Enjoy: