Our climbers made it safely down the mountain and by Tuesday at 4pm were all relaxing in Talkeetna and preparing for the drive back to Fairbanks. They made it to Base Camp around 7pm on Monday but had to wait until the next morning for good flying weather. One of the group skiied down from the summit ahead of the rest, he was the first to arrive in Talkeetna on Sunday. Welcome back Tohru and Gleb!

The weather station is transmitting and data will be available soon on the Mt. McKinley Weather Station website.

This photo was taken by IARC Director Syun-Ichi Akasofu on Saturday June 24 as he was flying up from Anchorage. Stay tuned for more photos in a week or two.

Saturday June 24 1:46pm

Our climbers left the weather station on Friday at around 4pm after a successful installation. They headed towards the summit eventually making it at around 8:45. It took a little longer than usual because there were a few groups of climbers coming down through a narrow trail and they had to wait before continuing upward. The weather was beautiful above the clouds with a temperature of -8°C (18°F) and the wind was 4 m/s. They made it down to High Camp around 1:00 am Saturday morning. They were planning on packing up the old weather station to give to rangers and head down to Medical Camp in the afternoon.

photo by Tohru Saito in 2004, view of Mt. Foraker from Mt. McKinley summit

Friday June 23 2:57pm

The climbers made it to the weather station today and successfully installed the new equipment. It appears to be transmitting information properly. There is a glitch in the seismology lab that will hopefully be fixed by Monday however. Today is the first completely sunny day they have had, winds are 6m/s. There are a number of groups waiting to summit and our group is near the end, they will call this evening with an update if possible – the phone batteries were running low. Their plan is to go back down to Medical Camp on Saturday and make it back to Talkeena by Monday and on to Fairbanks Monday evening if all goes well.

Thursday June 22, 1:48pm

Strong wind continues to affect progress and the group remains at High Camp today. People are feeling increasingly tired because of the altitude, so if they are unable to set up the weather station in the next couple days, they will need to return to Medical Camp and re-think their strategy. They estimate winds higher up to be around 20-30 m/s (45-68 mph).

The population density at High Camp has decreased to about 7 groups total. Some groups left without summiting and for one group the round-trip journey to the summit took 18 hours – normally it takes about 11 hours.

The skies are currently clear at High Camp and the temperature is about -10°C (14°F), winds are 5-7 m/s. The group leader said that this year has some of the foulest weather he has ever seen in his 15 years of experience climbing Denali.

Wednesday June 21, 5:14pm

High winds and snow prevented the climbers from reaching the weather station. They cached the equipment instead at Denali Pass (about 5,600 m/18,372 ft) with intentions to try again on Thursday June 22. The wind was blowing out of the North at around 15m/s (34mph) on Denali Pass and was quite cold, visibility was low. At high this high elevation, most of the climbers were feeling very tired. They returned to High Camp to rest for the remainder of the day.

Tuesday June 20 10:08 pm
The climbers made it safely to High Camp at around 7 pm despite blowing snow and low visibility. The weather at High Camp seems to be improving but winds are still strong higher up. They are hoping to work on the weather station on Wednesday and possibly attempt a summit.

Tuesday 11:19am
The climbers are readying to move from Medical Camp to High Camp. The weather does not look like it will improve so they have decided not to wait any longer. The temperature is –5°C (23°F) with light snow, no wind, and a patchy sky. After resting for two days, they are eager to get started again.

High Camp is still crowded with people waiting the weather out in order to summit but our climbers said that they have seen about ten people come through who had been at High Camp and had successful summits in the last couple days.

The climbers are still hopeful that they will be able to attempt the weather station tomorrow.

2004 Photo by Tohru Saito 

The latest update is from Medical Camp where the whole group is resting and waiting for better weather before the final climb to High Camp, which is still very crowded. The weather has not been good above High Camp but was pleasant at 14,000 ft with light snow and had warmed to 0°C (32°F) from the morning temperature of -20°C (-4°F). They are hoping to move up the mountain on Tuesday and, weather permitting, continue on Wednesday to the weather station and possibly the summit.

5:30pm High Camp. A smaller group of climbers carried the weather station equipment from Medical Camp to High Camp on Saturday, leaving at 10:30am and arriving back to Medical Camp at 5:30pm. They found High Camp to be crowded and when they first arrived no one had summited for the past two days due to foul weather and high winds around the summit. By the time they left however a  group of 5 people were returning from a successful summit and the weather seemed a bit better although it was still snowing. Sunday was a rest day for the other climbers and they will wait a little longer with hopes for improving weather. The climbers that hauled the equipment to High Camp returned to Medical Camp and are waiting for better weather and for High Camp to become less crowded before taking the whole group up.

The climbers reached Medical Camp yesterday. They report that all of the equipment for the new weather station has arrived. Today is a rest day. Some of the crew may hike down to their supply cache at 13,700 ft and carry supplies up to Medical Camp today or tomorrow. The temperature is 3°C (37°F), up from -5°C (23°F) this morning. Weather permitting, the climbers will try to move up the mountain on Saturday, although they report that very bad weather has been predicted for the next four days.

Medical Camp in 2005 – Photo by Tohru Saito