Moving to 17,000 camp

Well it looks as if the West Rib team has shifted gears and is going to attempt to summit via the West Buttress.  They moved up to high camp today, and will probably take a rest day before a summit attempt, unless they are all feeling good, and the weather is too nice to pass up.  

We hope to hear from them again tonight.

14,000 ft Camp

The West Rib team is in good company at 14,000 feet on the W. Buttress route.  The wind has been blowing hard for the couple of days, but is expected to settle this evening.  We have 3 Mountain Trip groups hanging out drinking coffee, and watching the wind together at 14k right now.  They hope to be able to get back to the task of climbing a big mountain tomorrow.

14,000 ft Camp

The West Rib team was able to move on up to the 14,000 ft camp yesterday as the weather has settled down a bit in the Alaska Range.  They moved from 11k to 14k in about 4 hours, which is a really strong pace, and what we'd like to see in a team attempting the more difficult West Rib.  They lost a couple of days to the storm that just passed thru, but they seem to be very strong, and in position to do great.  

Another Night at 11,000 feet

They are going to spend another night at 11,000 tonight.  They tried yesterday to move to 14,000 in some pretty high winds, and had to turn around when the sleds began to fly behind them in the wind.  Today brought much the same weather, but it's looking better tonight, and they have high hopes for tomorrow.  

Still at 11,000 feet

Well they weren't able to make the move to 14,000, and are still at 11,000 ft.   The winds are blowing pretty hard right now, with reports of 60mph winds at the 14,000 camp.  They are ready to move on up as soon as this storm blows thru, which could be another day or so...

Moving to 14,000 today

The West Rib team is moving right along, and will be at 14,000 on the West Buttress today.  They'll spend a few nights here to acclimate, and put a cache in up at their high camp on the Rib before descending back to the bottom of the West Rib to begin the real climbing.  

The team is moving to Camp 2

The West Rib climbers are off and running. They landed on the glacier on May 17th and quickly moved five miles up the Kahiltna Glacier to establish their Camp 1 at 7,800 feet. Yesterday they carried loads about 4.5 miles up glacier to Camp 2 at 11,200 feet and buried their supplies in a deep hole in the snow, which we call "making a cache." They then returned to Camp 1 to spend the night. This process of moving high and sleeping low is a great way to acclimatize as well as move the large amount of supplies needed for a mountain like Denali.

Today they are moving up to Camp 2 at 11,200'. This camp is located in a beautiful glaciated bowl, surrounded by ice cliffs ans steep snow slopes. The views to the west and south are stunning with Mount Foraker and Kahiltna Dome dominating the horizon.

Tomorrow they will carry loads up a moderate snow slope called Motorcycle Hill and make a cache around another notorious feature called Windy Corner. Windy Corner can sure live up to its name some days!

Welcome to Mountain Trip's 2008 West Rib Expedition

The West Rib of Denali rises over 8,000 feet from the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier as a steep, sweeping ridge. It is a beautiful line and a very challenging climb. Since its first ascent in June of 1959, climbers attempting this route have been faced with hard work and exposed climbing with big drop offs to either side. Few attempt this endeavor, but for those who do, the rewards are tremendous.

Mountain Trip is proud to welcome three climbers from around the world to join two of our guides on an attempt of the West Rib.

Climbers: James Neville from the UK
Tom Briggs from the UK
Patrick Hollingworth from Australia

Guides:

Christian Kerrick from Salmon Beach, Washington
Constantine Sevaris from Telluride, Colorado

We will post updates as they are available, however due to weather and the big mountains surrounding the team for much of the climb, communications with the team may not occur on a daily basis. Please keep in mind the axiom of "no news is good news."

We can not guarantee that any comments posted to this blog will reach the climbers on the mountain. If you do wish to pass along any news, please call or email the Mountain Trip Office at info@mountaintrip.com or +1-970-369-1153.