back to Camp ONe

Team Staeheli has descended to at least at Camp One, perhaps even Base Camp.

coming down

Lead Mountain Trip guide Dave Staeheli has made the call to descend without a summit. They sure stuck it out at High Camp for a long time, waiting for a good window to safely head up; it just never opened . With over twenty years of guiding experience, we are confident that Dave made the right call. Safety is our number one concern. Period.

Still waiting on the wind...

The news is that there is no news. They are still at High Camp waiting out the wind. It's been pretty ferocious up there, and today was deemed the day to either go up, or come down. I'll update this blog again when I know what transpired. That could be later tonight.
Check back in a few hours, or tomorrow for the report.

Waiting at High Camp

The team is bidding their time at high camp. Fairly strong winds thwarted a summit attempt today but everyone is ready to go for tomorrow. Near future weather models show for a little bit of unsettled weather the next few days but I personally think that forecasters are often times more wrong than right in their Denali weather prognostications.

Moving to High Camp!

I received word from the team yesterday. Actually, I received two messages, but I was traveling to Alaska and missed a day of communication.

The team called on the 23rd to say that everyone is doing well. They made a carry to 16,400 feet on the ridge. Everyone did well and took a rest day on May 24th.

On the 23rd, Jim and Ross wanted to say that they are "having good times" and Miles wanted to give a "shout out to the kids."

Yesterday, Miles wanted to get thr following message out to Kerry and Max: "I'm having a great expedition. My pulse and oxygen saturation levels are high. I have no symptoms of AMS and am going for high camp at 17,200 feet tomorrow. Missing you!"

From Chris to Julie and Jasmine: "We're heading up to high camp tomorrow and will hopefully summit in three days. I'm missing you both and will be home as soon as I can. Give my little girl a big kiss from her daddy."

The plan is to move to high camp today, probably take a rest day tomorrow and them head to the top when the weather allows.

Keep you fingers crossed and think good weather thoughts!

The team is at 11,200 feet

I heard this morning that the team was at Camp 2 at 11,200' I think they are going to round Windy Corner today to establish Camp 3 at 14,200 feet.

I should hear from them later today and will post as soon as I know anything else.

Official News of Fatal Climbing Fall

We just received an NPS Press Release. Apparently the rumor mill mixed up a couple of things, so I have pasted the release in its entirety:

Two climbers died as a result of a 1,900-foot fall during a descent of Mt.
McKinley on Thursday evening May 17. Mizuki Takahashi, a 36-year-old
woman from Lake Forest Park, Washington was pronounced dead shortly after the fall. Her partner, 27-year-old Brian Massey from North Bend, Washington remained unconscious throughout the night, but succumbed to his injuries Friday morning.

Takahashi and Massey had left the 14,200-foot camp on Tuesday morning for an ascent of the Upper West Rib route of Mt. McKinley. A third team member stayed behind at the 14,200-foot camp. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening, a mountaineering ranger patrol staged at the mountain’s 17,200-foot High Camp witnessed the fall, which began from an elevation just below 19,000-feet near the Messner Couloir. The roped pair fell to a point just below High Camp.

A hasty team comprised of the ranger patrol and two climbing guides traversed to the team, and confirmed that Takahashi was deceased. The rescue team performed an initial assessment of Massey, who was immediately carried back to the ranger tent for emergency medical treatment for severe injuries. Massey never regained consciousness, and he died Friday morning at 8:30 a.m.

Cloud cover and darkness prevented a medical evacuation overnight. The remains of the two climbers will be flown down to Talkeetna when flying conditions permit.