I will be writing up a summary of the climb soon.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Picasa Pictures
I've put my pictures online on Picasa: https://picasaweb.google.com/106656227388681735760/Denali2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Team summitted yesterday
We haven't gotten a delorme text or facebook post lately, but I can tell from the tracker that the team made it to the summit of McKinley yesterday.
http://share.delorme.com/?MapId=8e219264ec32481b904abc794b44d115
They appear to have summitted around 11:10 AM. It looks like they got lots of exercise jumping from one side of the mountain to the other, but R says that could just be someone sitting on the backpack that held the delorme device. Also, it looks like the bowl just below McKinley doesn't have reception, since it doesn't show on the trek up or back.
I think they are currently resting at the 17K camp, and I hope that they get back down to the 14K camp soon. Once they are reunited, they will trek back to the airstrip, and I hope they get good weather to get back to Talkeetna in the next day or so.
Hoping to hear from them soon!
http://share.delorme.com/?MapId=8e219264ec32481b904abc794b44d115
They appear to have summitted around 11:10 AM. It looks like they got lots of exercise jumping from one side of the mountain to the other, but R says that could just be someone sitting on the backpack that held the delorme device. Also, it looks like the bowl just below McKinley doesn't have reception, since it doesn't show on the trek up or back.
I think they are currently resting at the 17K camp, and I hope that they get back down to the 14K camp soon. Once they are reunited, they will trek back to the airstrip, and I hope they get good weather to get back to Talkeetna in the next day or so.
Hoping to hear from them soon!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
On to the summit!
Message: Weather has cleared completely! Predicted calm conditions are finally here, so we're gonna climb to the top under the midnight sun. Expect summit around 5am.
http://dlor.me/Z67YSHB
http://dlor.me/Z67YSHB
From 17.2k camp
Message: At 17.2k camp waiting for winds to die down to assess our condition. Having stove issues and we're all 3 pretty tired. I'll update soon.
http://dlor.me/ODZLOAR
http://dlor.me/ODZLOAR
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Word from Phil
Stephen, Alex, Phil made it to 17.2k camp @ 7:30pm. Bitter cold & slow going but we're warm in the tent. Amazing views! Prepping for summit run tamarra!
http://dlor.me/F7NHAZJ
http://dlor.me/F7NHAZJ
Summit push Sunday
Cale confirmed that he is just exhausted, otherwise fine. Chris is good too, just headaches.
Alex, Stephen and Phillip will camp at 17K tonight, and plan to head for the summit tomorrow morning around 10 am. If all goes well, the guys could be back at the airstrip on Tuesday. If they can get out Tuesday, they plan to recharge in Talkeetna Wednesday, and then be in Anchorage Thursday.
http://dlor.me/JHGTFJZ
Summit team leaving 14k for 17k. Alex, Philip & Stephen. Chris & I stay at 14k. Should summit sunday afternoon.
Alex, Stephen and Phillip will camp at 17K tonight, and plan to head for the summit tomorrow morning around 10 am. If all goes well, the guys could be back at the airstrip on Tuesday. If they can get out Tuesday, they plan to recharge in Talkeetna Wednesday, and then be in Anchorage Thursday.
http://dlor.me/JHGTFJZ
Summit team leaving 14k for 17k. Alex, Philip & Stephen. Chris & I stay at 14k. Should summit sunday afternoon.
The guys are ok
A news story just hit the wire about an avalanche on Denali that killed a team this past Thursday, but it happened lower on the mountain than where the guys currently are. So, do not worry. :)
The air is thin
FYI, Cale isn't injured, he just got fatigued on the fixed ropes. (altitude?) Chris is also staying at the 14k camp.
Steve, Philip and Alex are continuing on, and Philip will make the delorme posts to Facebook (and texts, I hope, not sure how that device works).
Steve, Philip and Alex are continuing on, and Philip will make the delorme posts to Facebook (and texts, I hope, not sure how that device works).
Friday, June 15, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Weather window on the horizon
Last night they had a horrible storm. Not only was it freezing cold, but there was heavy snow, heavy winds, and no one really slept. They keep fighting with the kitchen tent because it collapses. It's working though, they still have lots of food, and are feeling pretty good.
The avalanche danger is high, and the route up to 17K is dangerous right now. Lots of the other folks on the mountain are leaving, they have waited too long to summit due to the weather at the top. No one is moving at 17K (for the last 11 days! RMS has had a team at 17K since Monday, 6/4, and they are running out of food.)
However, the weather is forecasted to get better and better until next Wednesday.
So, the guys are debating a couple plans right now, given the weather window that is expected to open up. The standard plan would be to put a cache up at 17K and then go back to 14K for the night, then take the rest to 17K and go for the summit on the next day after that. But, they are considering a plan to take a little as they can so they can go for a quick summit if the window opens as expected.
This means they would just take two tents (one of the bigger ones, and Cale's 2 person tent), a limited amount of food (4 days), and just one can of fuel (kitchen tent, other tent, extra food and fuel stays at 14K). This would be a great plan, but the question is how will the acclimatization affect them?
In short, the most likely summit day is Saturday, but they may try for Friday if they feel bold.
The avalanche danger is high, and the route up to 17K is dangerous right now. Lots of the other folks on the mountain are leaving, they have waited too long to summit due to the weather at the top. No one is moving at 17K (for the last 11 days! RMS has had a team at 17K since Monday, 6/4, and they are running out of food.)
However, the weather is forecasted to get better and better until next Wednesday.
So, the guys are debating a couple plans right now, given the weather window that is expected to open up. The standard plan would be to put a cache up at 17K and then go back to 14K for the night, then take the rest to 17K and go for the summit on the next day after that. But, they are considering a plan to take a little as they can so they can go for a quick summit if the window opens as expected.
This means they would just take two tents (one of the bigger ones, and Cale's 2 person tent), a limited amount of food (4 days), and just one can of fuel (kitchen tent, other tent, extra food and fuel stays at 14K). This would be a great plan, but the question is how will the acclimatization affect them?
In short, the most likely summit day is Saturday, but they may try for Friday if they feel bold.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Still holding
Still snowing. Maybe another foot or more since noon. Quiet rest in tents before digging out. http://dlor.me/IQSUU4J
Holding
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/KFIQVUJ
Woke up to bad storm. 18 in of snow... 40+ mph gusts. No climbing today. Lots of huge avalanches coming off the West Buttress. Staying in camp.
Woke up to bad storm. 18 in of snow... 40+ mph gusts. No climbing today. Lots of huge avalanches coming off the West Buttress. Staying in camp.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Beautiful sunny day at 14K
The guys had a great day building out the camp at 14,000 feet today, cutting blocks and building walls. In fact, it's such a nice sunny day, they think they can see the camp at 17,000 feet and even the summit! They've been watching folks go up the fixed ropes.
Yesterday was a really hard (and long) day. Cale and Steve were on a 2 man rope team and they got into camp at 6:45. The other rope team (Alex, Chris and Philip) were already there, digging out the cache when they arrived, but as it was they didn't get into their tents until after midnight.
It was "freaking" cold and they got 12 inches of snow last night. Several loud avalanches could be heard behind their camp, and some wondered if they would be in part of the clouds created by them.
Tonight they are hoping for nice weather, and tomorrow, they plan to put a cache up at 17000 feet.
IF they are REALLY LUCKY, and IF everything goes really well, they MAY try to tackle the summit on Thursday. There are a lot of IFs there... But it would be great... ;) One minor concern is that they have a lot of gear to take back down, and they left the sleds at the 11,000 foot camp.
Everyone is doing well, Cale's knee feels better and with the light backpacks that they will use from here on out, it should be more pleasant.
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/YE3IEWJ
Rest day at 14k means lots of digging and cutting ice blocks. We now have a fortress with three tents and kitchen. Cache at 17K tomorrow.
Yesterday was a really hard (and long) day. Cale and Steve were on a 2 man rope team and they got into camp at 6:45. The other rope team (Alex, Chris and Philip) were already there, digging out the cache when they arrived, but as it was they didn't get into their tents until after midnight.
It was "freaking" cold and they got 12 inches of snow last night. Several loud avalanches could be heard behind their camp, and some wondered if they would be in part of the clouds created by them.
Tonight they are hoping for nice weather, and tomorrow, they plan to put a cache up at 17000 feet.
IF they are REALLY LUCKY, and IF everything goes really well, they MAY try to tackle the summit on Thursday. There are a lot of IFs there... But it would be great... ;) One minor concern is that they have a lot of gear to take back down, and they left the sleds at the 11,000 foot camp.
Everyone is doing well, Cale's knee feels better and with the light backpacks that they will use from here on out, it should be more pleasant.
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/YE3IEWJ
Rest day at 14k means lots of digging and cutting ice blocks. We now have a fortress with three tents and kitchen. Cache at 17K tomorrow.
Camp at 14000 feet
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/7LLCCGR
Made it to 14k camp. Heavy packs and heavy snow. Rest day tomorrow.
DeLorme - Always inReach
Made it to 14k camp. Heavy packs and heavy snow. Rest day tomorrow.
DeLorme - Always inReach
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Cache placed at 14000 feet
They went from their camp at 11000 to windy corner to put a cache at 14000 feet. Tomorrow they plan to go back to 14000 feet. It was their first "real" day of climbing. The delorme device ran out of battery, but Cale will put in new batteries tonight and they will repeat the journey again tomorrow.
They went over some crevices as big as houses today...
Steve wrapped Cale's knee and he went with them today, looks like it just needed rest. He is icing it (with a bag of snow) right now.
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/PANAOPJ
Knee improving. Climbed thru Windy Corner and made cache at 14k. Moving camp to 14k tomorrow. All doing well.
They went over some crevices as big as houses today...
Steve wrapped Cale's knee and he went with them today, looks like it just needed rest. He is icing it (with a bag of snow) right now.
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/PANAOPJ
Knee improving. Climbed thru Windy Corner and made cache at 14k. Moving camp to 14k tomorrow. All doing well.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Cache express
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/M7VFVQB
Cache retrieved from 9600. Very fast... like 4hrs... Rested my knee... Trying for cache at 14k tomorrow... Built kitchen.
Cache retrieved from 9600. Very fast... like 4hrs... Rested my knee... Trying for cache at 14k tomorrow... Built kitchen.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Camp at 11000 ft
The guys are now resting at their 11000 ft camp. Although the weather is clear now, it looks like something interesting is coming in.
Tomorrow, the guys plan to go back down to get the cache they set at 9700 ft. However, Cale will take a rest day, he hopes it helps the knee that he injured today.I hope he can find some ice for it.
-----------------
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/5GRHTIZ
11K camp. Im suffering from knee injury. Will rest tomorrow. Others will go get cache from 9600.
Tomorrow, the guys plan to go back down to get the cache they set at 9700 ft. However, Cale will take a rest day, he hopes it helps the knee that he injured today.
-----------------
See Cale Hoopes's location: http://dlor.me/5GRHTIZ
11K camp. Im suffering from knee injury. Will rest tomorrow. Others will go get cache from 9600.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Cache set at 9700
The guys are sitting at camp watching avalanches. Don't worry, they are far away.
It was a better day for them.
From dlorme:
Locations
Many of the dlorme locations are posted to Facebook, but I gathered them here for those that aren't seeing them.
- For those of you who want to track my Denali team as we attempt the mountain starting June 4th, there will be dispatches at http://calehoopes.blogspot.com/ and you can look at our track at http://share.delorme.com/?MapId=8e219264ec32481b904abc794b44d115 - which will show our GPS track. Enjoy!
- At Anchorage Sheraton for shopping day... Team doing well. http://dlor.me/JDTTZBB
- Talkeetna airstrip. http://dlor.me/3CALIDB <Rah>in town</Rah>
- Talkeetna airstrip. http://dlor.me/ZZL2SUB <Rah>on the glacier</Rah>
- Resting finally at 7800 camp after a difficult day.... 9600 camp tomorrow. http://dlor.me/2N4NESZ
Camp at 7800 feet
The team is enjoying great weather and resting at camp tonight. They all had a challenging day, pulling those heavy sleds is hard work. Tomorrow, they plan to make camp at 9600 feet.
See their current progress at: http://dlor.me/LUYJTAB
See their current progress at: http://dlor.me/LUYJTAB
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Inside the Beaver
Flying out of Talkeetna. Cale says whoo hoo! Alex says, "Its gettin' real, baby!". Phil.. Trip of a lifetime starts now. Keep exploring! Yee haw! 
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)