Pics from the Kahiltna

I happened to be camped near Camp 1 on The Kahiltna Glacier when this troop of climbers came by. I managed to waylay them for a little while and snapped a few photos before they took off up glacier. Sorry it has taken me a little while to publish them.

Team TT moving up the Kahiltna, across from the East fork of the Kahiltna and the Northwest Ridge of Mt Francis.

Geoff Booras, way too happy for having just humped a huge load 4.5 miles up a glacier!

David Kaufmann, looking fit and psyched at being in the Great White North!

The irrepressible John Mosler, sitting on one of the biggest packs I'd seen whilst on the glacier!

Catching up a bit

So the team has been busy since John had to leave... they moved up to 14,000 camp a couple of days ago, and for the last 2 days have been trying to break trail up to the 16,5000 ft level where they join the West Rib route.  There has been a lot of new snow which not only makes the trail breaking more difficult, but makes it more dangerous as new snow avalanches are more likely.  They have been poking around towards the W. Rib, but due to the snow and avalanche conditions they have decided not to go up that route, but to attempt to reach the summit via the West Buttress.  They are a bit disappointed no to be able to climb the more difficult route, but should have a good shot at summitting on the West Buttress.  

They plan to move to high camp at 17,000 ft tomorrow.

At 11,000

The remainder of the team is at 11,000 ft camp tonight, and ready to move up to their next camp at 14k as soon as tomorrow.   The weather has been a bit unsettled, but tomorrow is expected to be reasonable, so everyone still on Denali is excited to move.

Tough Luck on a Tough Mountain

We have some disappointing news to break. John Mosler, the instigator and driving force behind Team TT suffered an injury to a calf muscle and was forced to descend to Base Camp.

While moving to Camp 2 a few days ago, John felt a disconcerting "pop" in his right calf and the associated pain and instability left him with no other choice but to return to Base Camp. One of the ethical codes amongst climbers is that they take care of their own, and true to the indomitable spirit of mountaineers, the entire Team TT assisted John as he limped the 8 miles back to the airstrip.

David and Geoff have returned to Camp 2 at 11,200 feet with Chris and Michael. They made a carry around Windy Corner to about 13,500' today. Camp 2 is located in a glaciated bowl with huge seracs (ice cliffs) flanking the south side of camp. The route from the tents climbs a slope known as Motorcycle Hill to the windswept terrain leading up to the notorious Windy Corner.

Tomorrow they plan to move camp around Windy Corner to the well supplied Camp 3 at 14,200 feet.

John's calf muscle worsened after flying off the mountain and he has returned home. This is one of those "no-brainer" decisions that are painful to make, but have no other option. I have a feeling that John will be back up on the snowy glaciers of Alaska before too long. We're all sorry that your calf blew out, but we enjoyed your company and contagious energy. Geoff and David- you go boys!

11,000 feet

The team moved on up to the 11,000 ft camp yesterday.  They are doing great and cruising right along on schedule.  

Base Camp!

The team left Anchorage this morning, and has now flown into basecamp on Denali.  They are enjoying beautiful weather in the Alaska range to start their trip.   

One change to the guide lineup.  Mike Burmeister is taking Kevin Koprek's place on this trip.   Mike has done many Denali trips, and this will be his second time up the Upper West Rib route that this group will be climbing.

Welcome to Team T T's Denali Expedition Dispatch Page

On June 18, 2008 a team of climbers will meet in Anchorage, Alaska in order to attempt to climb to the top of North America.

The summit of Denali (Mount McKinley) is the one of the famed Seven Summits and soars 20.320 feet above sea level. This team will spend up to three weeks working their way up the mountain from a base camp located at 7,200'. Due to it's proximity to the Arctic Circle, Denali is notorious for its ferocious weather and extreme cold. For many climbers, it is the challenge of a lifetime.

"Team TT" is comprised of three friends from the Northeast of the US, who have chosen their expedition monniker as a tribute to the American ceramic artist Toshiko Takaezu. All three climbers have worked under Toshiko Takaezu, who began her career making functional wheel thrown vessels and has more recently switched to making abstract sculptures with freely applied poured and painted glazes.

The team will include:

John Mosler
David Kaufmann
Geoff Boooras

Mountain Trip guides for the expedition will be Christian Kerrick from Salmon Beach, Washington and Kevin Koprek from Ouray, 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.