Summit Reached
For the first time in nine days, the air was still and only a few
clouds lay suspended over the lesser peaks in the distance. Rivers,
like silver ribbons against the dark tundra, could be seen: bold
strokes of snowmelt flowing in indirect routes toward the Bering
Sea.
Climbing conditions were finally perfect, and our summit team, led
by Expedition Leader
Colby Coombs, reached
the summit and returned to High Camp at 17,200 feet in an astounding
eight hours. Accompanying Coombs were our high-altitude cameraman,
Kent Harvey, and assistant guides, Sassan Mossanen and Johnny
Soderstrom. The team of four left High Camp at 10:30 a.m., reached
Denali's 20,320-foot summit at 3:00 p.m., and returned to Camp at
6:00 p.m.
"In my mind, it was the first reasonable summit day in 20 days,"
said Coombs. "It was the first time a window opened up to climb
Denali and safely return." The team had waited out marginal weather
for nine days while other teams were attempting the summit with
limited results. Only a few people reached the summit this past week
and several climbers with frostbite came down to the medical tent at
14,200 feet. Another group waited for ten days and then decided to
go down the mountain without a summit attempt.
"We've had unusually cold temperatures for June, which limited our
window to daylight hours because once the sun goes down it's too
cold," Coombs said this morning. The team made one summit attempt
earlier this week but was turned around at 18,200-foot Denali Pass
due to the extreme cold.
"I was really surprised how cold it was,"
Caitlin Palmer
reported when she came down with astronaut
John Grunsfeld. The
two descended from High Camp the day before the weather cleared.
All of our climbers are safely down at 14,200 feet, and tomorrow we
make our final move down to 7,000-foot Base Camp on the Kahiltna
Glacier, where ski planes will be able to fly us out. We'll hike
through the night to avoid crevasse falls. Colder night temperatures
help to firm up the ice bridges over the ever-widening cracks on the
lower glacier.
Voices drift across our campsite from the cook tent. It's the last
night our team will gather together in warm down parkas to eat a
meal before falling into our tents for much-needed sleep. The sun
has drifted behind the West Buttress, and our toes and fingers begin
to feel that familiar sense of creeping cold.
Location: Fourteen Medical
Altitude: 14,200 feet
Air Temp: 7°F
Windspeed: 0 mph
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