Training
Training consisted of a routine working out four to five days a week with durations lasting up to several hours.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Equipment
Denali requires specialized gear for traversing glaciers and high altitude climbing in subzero temperatures. Clothing basically consists of four layers. The first layer is the base layer which is a material that wicks perspiration away and dries quickly. The second layer is a thermal layer of long underwear made from wool or capilene. It too has the same qualities of the base layer, but with added warmth. Protecting us from wind and other elements is the shell layer made of a Gor-Tex material. This is the work horse of all the layers and worn much of the time. A final layer that is worn on extremely cold days or nights, and especially for summit day is the puffy down layer. We will be wearing a chest and waist harness, either tethered onto each other or attached to fixed rope higher on the mountain. Each of us will have various climbing hardware such as carabiners, tiblocs, and Petzl ascenders to assist our climb. On the lower part of the mountain we will use snowshoes and poles for glacier travel, and crampons with an ice axe when it becomes steeper.
General Info
Located near the Arctic Circle, Denali can experience some extreme weather patterns. Denali is 20,320 feet making it the highest mountain in North America.
SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2007
On the Mountain...."click to ask questions or get updated info via our satellite phone"
Team Members
- Don Adams, USA
- Wes Lemberg, USA
- Larry Legault, USA
- Paul Shippey, USA
- Jesus Mena, Spain
- Sofia Tvaradze, Russia
- Dave Goddard, UK
- Bill Colson, UK
Guides
- Heidi Kloos, USA
- Rob Durnell, USA
- Pablo Puruncajas, Ecuador
TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2007
May 1, 2007 - UPDATE
Valorie and Wendy are back from their trip to Alaska and it is time to update everyone on the status of Don and Wes' trek up Denali. Valorie and I were fortunate to be able to scout out base camp for the guys. We booked a flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna on Sunday. We went up as "cargo handlers" with three climbers to base camp. This is very rare for the average tourist to do. We were able to land on the Kalhitna Glacier where base camp is located. It is a very beautiful spot about 7,000 to 7,500 feet high. It is surrounded by mountains including Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter. It was a very sunny day up there and cold. It was 15 degrees when we were there. The base camp was just being set up on the day we went up (Sunday). There were more park rangers than climbers at base camp on that day. We were lucky to even be able to fly that day. The planes and climbers had been grounded the previous three days because of weather. We also went to the ranger station in Talkeetna and as of Sunday, April 29th, there were 1,035 registered climbers for the 2007 climbing season, 18 on the mountain at that time (including park rangers), and 2 climbers from Italy had already summited the previous week. The summit success rate was 100% as of that day - the Italians were the only ones that have tried to summit so far.
Wes and Don left for Talkeetna on Monday, April 30th. We were able to meet the group of climbers and their guides. It looks like a good group of people. They were to drive to Talkeetna on Monday and see if they could fly out to base camp that same day. They called us at 8:45 pm Monday night and let us know that they had made it to base camp! They had arrived at base camp at 4 pm. They said they saw three bears running along as they were flying in. They also said it was minus 10 degrees that night. They were wearing all of their clothes and were in their sleeping bags and still were cold. Wes mentioned that they were going to do some crevasse safety training on Tuesday morning.
Hopefully we will get more updates from Wes and Don and will be able to fill you in, too! It is so cold up there that the satellite phone froze so we can only get updates when the phone is working! More later!
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2007
May 2, 2007 - UPDATE
A very short update today. As of Tuesday, May 1, Don and Wes were still at base camp. They had to spend the day there getting oriented to crevasse safety and sled techniques. They are supposed to move up to the next camp today (Wednesday).
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2007
May 3, 2007 - UPDATE
Yesterday (Wednesday) the group climbed from base camp to Base Camp I. The elevation is 7,800 feet. The excitement of the day was that Wes fell into a crevasse up to his waist. Another member of the group fell into a crevasse up to his chest. Both were pulled up and are uninjured. After that the group put on their snowshoes to continue the trek up to Base Camp I. The weather was overcast with light snow flurries. The team may continue on to Camp II today depending on how they all feel. The updates are short as we only have about 40 seconds to talk before the phone cuts out.
FRIDAY, MAY 4, 2007
May 4, 2007 - UPDATE
Yesterday (Thursday) the team moved up to 9,000 feet. They cached half their gear there to use at a later time. They climbed back down to Camp I where they spent the night. It was 25 degrees below zero at night. No one fell into any crevasses and everyone is doing well. Today they are moving up to 11,000 feet. They plan to spend about two to three days at that camp. They will use the time to make short climbs and acclimate to the higher elevation. The updates now will only be every other day as the batteries on the satellite phone are going quickly.
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2007
May 5, 2007 - UPDATE
We got a surprise call last night from Wes and Don. They hiked for seven hours yesterday (Friday) and made it to what is technically Camp III. However, they are calling it Camp II. It seems they skipped a camp on the way up. The elevation is 11,300 feet. They are at cloud level. Wes said there was a lot of moisture in the air and when he looked toward the sun the little drops of moisture looked like diamonds. They have a great view of Mt. Foraker. They plan to be at this camp for three days. Today they are going to climb back down to 9,000 feet to retrieve the gear that they cached. They will bring that gear back up to "Camp II." They may do some short climbs while staying at this camp. They will probably rest for a day, also. Everyone is still doing well. Their next camp will be at 14,000 feet. That is the medical camp. Next update will be in about two or three days when they call.
SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2007
May 6, 2007 - UPDATE #2
Just received a call from Wes and Don. They are still at Camp II - around 11,000 feet. Yesterday (Saturday) they climbed back down to 9,200 and retrieved their cache. It was a hard day as they had to climb back up 2,000 feet. Everyone is tired but doing well. They all got a good night's sleep. It snowed three to four feet last night. They also heard an avalanche above them - said it sounded pretty cool! They are not sure what the plan is for today. The team may climb up to 13,000 feet and drop off another cache of gear and then go back down to Camp II for the night. However, the rangers are also at their camp and are watching the snow conditions. Everyone may have to stay in camp today due to the threat of avalanches. Wes said the sun is just starting to peek out. Stay tuned...
May 10, 2007 - UPDATE
We have not heard from Wes and Don since Sunday. The batteries on their satellite phone may be depleted or the cold conditions are interfering with the phone's ability to make calls. I will continue the updates once we hear from them.
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007
May 10, 2007 - UPDATE #2
We received a surprise tonight and heard from Wes and Don. Finally! They are currently at the medical camp at 14, 200 feet. They arrived there yesterday (Wednesday). On Monday they took a cache up to 13,500 feet to "Windy Corner." They went back down to their camp at 11,200 on Monday night. Today (Thursday) they picked up their cache at 13,500 and brought it back up to their camp at 14,200. Tomorrow the team plans to take a cache up to 16,000 feet. They are also going to check out the fixed lines that start around 15,000 feet. They will then return to their camp at 14,200 and spend the night. On Saturday the plan is to move up to the next camp at 17,000 feet. Wes said that he felt sick yesterday (Wednesday) but got a good night's sleep and feels good today. Don feels great and is going strong. No frostbite for either of them. Wes said the sun was out and it was between 5 and 10 degrees above zero. They were getting ready to settle in with a hot drink. They will call again in a few days.
SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2007
May 12, 2007 - UPDATE
The team is still at 14, 200 (medical camp) . Yesterday (Friday) they went up to 16,000 feet and dropped off a cache. Wes said it was pretty cool. It took them four hours to climb to 16,000 feet. They had to go up the fixed lines and it was very steep. It only took them two hours to climb back down. When climbing down they did "one wrap around the rope" (I guess this means they wrapped the rope around their waist once?) and went face first. Each person was tied in with about three other climbers and a guide in back who was in charge of the brake on the rope. The team will be staying at 14,200 for the next couple of days due to weather. It has been very windy and they are expecting a snowstorm to hit at anytime. On Monday they plan to move up to 17,000 feet (if the weather is good). Once at 17,000 it can be any day that they make their summit push. Wes said the summit has been about 35 degrees below zero lately. The team is looking pretty ragged but everyone is doing well. Don's fingers are slit from the cold and altitude and have to be taped up. Both Wes and Don have grown beards. That will be a sight to see! They have been drinking plenty of water and eating a lot. During their down time they spend a lot of time in their sleeping bags or hanging in the camp with the other team members. Wes mentioned that for every 1,000 feet they climb the temperature drops about three degrees. The sun does not go down until 11:30 p.m. Both of their cameras are working and they have been able to get some amazing shots. More later...
SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2007
May 13, 2007 - UPDATE
Wes and Don were both able to call their moms today and wish them a Happy Mother's Day. The team will stay at 14,200 (medical camp) for a while longer as the weather is still bad.
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2007
May 14, 2007 - UPDATE
The team is still at 14,200. They were unable to move up today due to weather. They will try again tomorrow to move to 17,000 feet. They are awaiting a big storm right now. It is supposed to snow six to eight inches tonight with 50 mph winds. Right now it is zero degrees. It will be about minus five degrees tonight. The last "up and down day" is Thursday. The team will either be moving up to the next camp or coming down off the mountain on that day. Currently there are two teams at 17,000 feet that are unaccounted for. They have not been heard from for five days. It may be that they just are not able to communicate with their base camp. To Priscilla, Ed is doing well. He had a big nap today and let one of his water bottles freeze up. Everyone on the team is fine. Interesting tidbit from Wes: one of their team members, Noel, has climbed Everest. If he summits Denali he will try to hike from the summit all the way down to the coast. One more note - please keep your comments clean. This site is for everyone to enjoy. Thank you.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2007
May 16, 2007 - UPDATE
The team climbed to the top of the headwall today at 16,200 feet to retrieve their cache. Two of the team members, Don and Jesus became sick from the altitude. Don, Wes, Jesus and their guide Pablo came back down to 14,200 medical camp. The rest of the team has gone up to 17,000 feet. Both Don and Jesus are fine. Don said he is exhausted and feels sick but is doing okay. The four of them will probably come off the mountain on Friday or Saturday. They aren't sure yet. I think it depends on what the rest of the team is doing and what the weather is like. They will have about a 16 hour hike out so they need to get their rest and strength back. There is another big snowstorm coming in tonight. Wes said two nights ago it hit 35 below zero with 40 mph winds. It was 50 below on the summit with 80 to 100 mph winds. The two teams that were unaccounted for at 17,000 feet have come back down. They were at 17,000 for seven days and were never able to attempt the summit because of the snowstorms. The weather has been really bad. Denali only received three inches of snow all winter. Since Wes and Don have been on the mountain there has been approximately 15 feet of new snow. No one has been able to summit in the last two weeks. The last people to summit were three French guys. They are now paying the price. All have frostbite and will be losing some of their fingers. One of the guys is going to lose his foot. We are thankful that no one has frostbite on the team. This has been a wonderful adventure for everyone. We are all looking forward to Wes and Don coming back safely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
