One step back...

Alex woke up this morning feeling a bit of congestion in his lungs that seems like a bit of Pulmonary Edema. It is something that happens at altitude, and fluid will seep into the lungs. It was pretty mild, but did require him to get to lower altitude and ended the trip for him. It was an unfortunate ending for him, but it is a problem he's had previously. So, Durny and Mike Burmeister (our guides) skied down to basecamp with Alex today while the rest of the crew took an extra rest day at Camp 2. Alex has already flown out to the waiting Mountain Trip van, and is in Anchorage tonight feeling much much better in the thick Oxygenated air of Anchorage.

Durny and Mike are leaving for Camp 2 tonight after the snow has a chance to refreeze a bit from the hot day, and expect to be there by 2am.

The team was sad to see Alex need to leave, but health and safety obviously come first.

Carry around Windy Corner

They woke up to a bunch of new snow and winds up high this morning, but it cleared up enough for the team to ski up above "Windy Corner" today. They made a cache of gear up at around 13,500 ft in preparation for the next big move up to Camp 3. It's been snowing a bit up there lately, so the ski conditions are improving every day. They were able to ski part of the route on the way down, and enjoyed the fresh powder.

Here's the evening call from Durny.

Camp 2, 11,000 ft

They moved on up to Camp 2 today at over 11,000 ft. It was another nice day in the Alaska Range with lot's of blue sky, and just a bit of clouds. This evening it did start to snow a bit, so maybe it is freshening up the powder a little for some good skiing. They plan to take a day off tomorrow and ski some of the terrain up out of the 11,000 ft camp. It should be fun!

Here's the call from Durny this afternoon.

A poem about the day

Heres today's call, they are back at Camp 1 for the night after carrying a load of gear up towards camp 2. This strategy allows them to get all of the food, fuel and gear that is required to spend 2-3 weeks on Denali up there, and gives them a chance to acclimate by climbing high and sleeping low.

Anyhow, it sounds like Melanie got creative with the call tonight so enjoy...

Camp 1, 7,800 ft

Moving right along! They are in Camp 1 tonight after an early morning start today. This time of year it can get pretty warm on the lower glacier so teams often travel at night/early morning to avoid the heat and the softening snow conditions.

Durny (our lead guide) said it was perfect travelling conditions today with the new snow of the last few weeks covering the crevasses, and cold night time temps freezing things up. They arrived in camp 1 by 9 am today, so had a good long nap this afternoon and will get up early tomorrow and carry a load up the mountain again.

The team flew into base camp on the SE fork of the Kahiltna glacier right on schedule today! They'll spend the afternoon getting organized in base camp, and plan to take off for camp 1 early in the morning.




Here's the pre trip photo. Mike Burmeister is the other guide on this trip and he is missing from the photo, he ran for a cup of coffee and missed the pic.




Here's one of the local characters, John Loomis (Loomie), one of our favorite Rangers at the Talkeetna Ranger Station in his flight suit. Loomie did the pre-trip check in and briefing for our team in this morning.

Welcome to our Denali Ski Expedition!

Coming Soon! Follow Mountain Trip's 2010 Denali Ski Expedition as they attempt to climb the highest peak in North America.

Our guides are:

Rob (Durny) Durnell from Girdwood, AK
Luke Smithwick from Girdwood, AK

Climbers:

Alex Long
Hugh Showe
Melanie Miller
Kazue Oshiro