Day 17 - Move to High Camp 5 (Ha Ha) ?



For some reason I just don't feel that tired and so don't get to sleep until well after 2am. Oddly I don't feel that tired when I wake up at 04:45 am the next morning either. The skies are still and there are no tell tale snow spirals coming off the ridge as in prior days. It is though pretty cold which makes getting ready not particularly inviting - especially given the last minute cancellations of the past few days. This does not come however and I actually complete my packing and have an early breakfast. 

We are aiming to be the first ones off (as there are a lot of people heading up today) and quite surprisingly we manage that with a couple of private groups and our rivals following us out of camp within 10 or 15 minutes. We are leaving before the sun has come round so it is still very cold indeed but we should soon warm up once we start up the incline.

We head straight up the Headwall and unfortunately all the footsteps that had been so useful on our prior climb have melted away in the hot sun and / or been filled with the wind blown snow of the past few days. This makes the ascent much harder but a quick look down the slope at the large queues forming makes it all worthwhile. The clouds have completely cleared and we get some stunning views out over Alaska.

We head up to our cache and dig it out taking our deposits and leaving the remainder neatly arrayed for the others. The route from the cache to High Camp follows a long ridge with a 1,000m drop back to ABC on one side and en even bigger drop into a glacier that leads out of the mountains on the other side. It would certainly have been interesting (but doable) to have been up here in the winds earlier in the week.

View of the Headwall form the high ridge - with the path leading up from ABC

We are the first team to make it to the camp and it is great to see a place not full of other people. I need a bit of an extra walk at a decent pace as before to deal with the pace we have been walking at and then we dig a flat area and put up the tents and snow walls for the rest of the group as well as take in the spectacular views.

 

I really don't feel that I have acclimatised as well on this trip. The lack of any strain on the walks meant that my body never really got kicked into gear and forced to acclimatise. Something to remember for future trips.
Most people crash in the afternoon - a mix of tiredness from the day and lack of sleep the night before. At about 7:30 we meet for dinner and a chat over our summit day and then bed after a quick look at the start of our walk tomorrow.

We start on the right hand side heading up to the longest finger of rock and then an inclined traverse across to the shoulder in the middle of the picture. The problem with this is that it does not get the sun until later in the morning and so needs to be crossed when the ground is very hard and icy - a slip here can lead to a long slide down the slope with a big risk of cuts and sprained ankles from even a short fall as most people are roped together. This was named the autobahn after a few German climbers slipped to their deaths here - not the best way to name something for me.

Food:
Oatmeal / cereal and bagels
Freeze dried meal - Chilli Mac with Beef

Day 16 - Move to High Camp 4 (Ha Ha) ?

Forecast is for it to be windy today so I don't even bother packing or waking up early. Unsurprisingly, there is no call and the day is much the same as the others. Reading and doing bits of exercise to keep active.
The updated forecast now has Fri, Sat and Sun all with low winds so good for summiting. The camp continues to fill so the slopes are going to be absolutely packed on those days.

These pictures show the difference between the strong winds higher up and the clear sunny conditions in camp:

Strong winds blowing snow off the ridge

 

Hot sun and clear skies in camp

Interestingly, rumours are coming in of sustained bad weather from Sun night on. The big problem with this will be the delay in flying off the glacier and being stuck at base camp for a number of days just as we are here. There should be little backlog there as all groups ahead of us should be off the mountain having summited 4 days ago or so.

The plan for tomorrow is to start at about 5am - really need to get ahead of the other groups to set up camp and get some rest in advance of our summit attempt the day after. We are splitting into a fast group and a slower group so that we can get there early and get camp set up and hot drinks on for when the others arrive.
One of the team has not been on a mountain before and it has been decided that it is not going to be safe for her to come as she just does not have the experience in mountains or the technical skills required - I have probably been making light of the conditions as well as a number of guides here still seem to be concerned about them. I feel very sorry for her but do not know what conversations the company had with her about her lack of experience when she was booking. Right from the start I have been concerned about her (not so much on the fitness front) but all the small things you learn about looking after yourself on a mountain and which you can only learn from time spent in harsh conditions. What is right for one person is not right for another and unless you have learnt those things about yourself you put yourself in danger and the success of the expedition at risk. Denali, which is meant to be one of the toughest of the 7Summits, is not the right place to learn!!

At the same time, this should allow greater latitude with the weather so hopefully we should finally be setting off tomorrow. From chatting to a few other groups, it appears that a few people aren't going up from here - the short window and difficult conditions predicted for the descent and way out has been giving a number of guides and climbers food for thought.

If we don't go tomorrow, it looks as though our last option will be a one day charge on Saturday - bound to be an interesting conversation if we get to that!!

Food:
Pancakes, oatmeal and cereal
Quesadillas and noodles

Day 15 - Move to High Camp 3 (Ha Ha) ?

Same as prior days - up at 7am to prepare for departure but postponed at about 07:20 and then called off for the day at 11:00 am. Luckily the weather forecast is changing

and there appear to be low winds on Fri, Sat and Sun now so hopefully we will have a summit opportunity at some point this weekend. Along with a large number of other groups as probably 10 - 15 people arrive each day we wait.

I do a bit more ice sculpting and otherwise just general relaxing and chatting to other people at the camp.

 

A bit of a treat for supper tonight in that we have some fresh salmon (Alaska has excellent fish and this is the fishing season) which another group very kindly gave to us on their way down. Most groups bring up large quantities of food in case of prolonged delays on the mountain and then try to get rid of it when they have summited so as to lighten their load on the way out.

Weather forecast for tomorrow is very windy so no chance of us heading up unless the forecast is wrong, which it usually isn't for the  next day. Just hope it remains correct about the good weather at the weekend.

Food:
Oatmeal / cereal
Macaroni and salmon

Day 14 - Move to High Camp 2 (Ha Ha) ?

Again up at about 7am to get ready for the move and again the call is made to delay - but hopefully today just for a few hours. The conditions are good down here but look a little windy up high. This is getting a little frustrating as I have spent a lot of time in the mountains in much worse and windier conditions than this. I just hope that the weather window later in the week isn't a short one which we miss by being so conservative now.

11am - still windy up high so we have been postponed for another day. Down at camp we have clear blue skies and strong sun. Plan for the day (in addition to reading / relaxing etc) is to go for a bit of a walk around the camp (probably about 10 or 20 laps as it is pretty small) and do some glacier camp craft - building snow walls. I am in danger calling on my reserve treat which is watching Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln which I have on my iPad. The windy conditions are apparently here for a bit so I don't want to use this up too early!

Walked and read in the am and organised a build snow walk building session in the pm. Completely redid the wall round the sleeping tents as well as the mess tent. It is actually quite tiring work!

The weather forecast has now changed quite a bit with only one non-windy day out if the next five. If we can't get up to High Camp tomorrow and assuming the forecast is correct (which is a big if) the only way to summit would appear to be to go all the way from here on the non-windy day. I can't see the guides being happy with that but if it is that attempt or none at all we are going to have to have a pretty tough discussion. I have made informal arrangements to move onto the next group if this one can't summit so I have a bit of a backup if absolutely necessary - but conditions are so changeable that hopefully none of the above will be required but it is best to have thought about these issues in advance in case things don't improve.

Food:
Hash browns
Enchiladas

Day 13 - Move to High Camp (ha ha !)

Up early to be ready for the early start up to high camp - there is a bit of wind but nothing that I have not dealt with before. The sky is clear and it will warm up when the sun comes round the mountain. However, I get a bit concerned when there is no movement from the rest of the camp.

Sure enough, it is thought to be too windy and so we are not moving today. As feared, this means yet another boring day in the tents (there are crevasse fields all round us so not really much option for getting a bit of exercise by oneself) and also the concern over congestion higher up as other groups catch up with us. It turns our that there are likely to be about 50 people heading up tomorrow which is going to make it very slow painful progress!
Still this is part of what makes mountain climbing - it is amazing how many stories there are of individuals not summiting through sense of humour failures over such waits.
If anything, the weather gets worse as the day progresses and it gets pretty chilly in the mess tent when we are together as we are not moving around at all. As such people tend to retire to their tents and read / write where it is warmer. Here are some nice pictures to improve this post!

The problems are going to be difficulty sleeping tonight and getting a stiff / sore back and legs from having spent most of yet another day in bed.
We also hear that the Polish team who we were climbing with a few days ago decided rather sensibly to go the extra 200m to the High Camp that day and have now summited in the glorious weather yesterday and are making their way back down now. It really is important to make the most of good weather when you have it in the mountains! The problem is that the US companies take pretty much anyone in their expeditions and so there are people who could  not cope with the slightly tougher regime that that would require.

The weather forecast seems to be improving for Weds and Thurs now so if we can get up to High Camp tomorrow we should have pretty good conditions for summiting.

Food:
French toast with bacon and sausages.
Macaroni cheese with bits of sausage.

Day 12 - Rest Day at ABC

Pretty lazy morning so there is no need to get up early. Even so everyone waits for the sun to hit camp at about 09:30 to make it significantly warmer for getting out of the tents. We potter down to the mess tent for a long relaxed breakfast.

At about 11:30 we can see some clouds building in the distance so head over to a place called the Edge of the World for stunning views and photos before they arrive.

Could almost be the summit!

The afternoon is also a lazy one with people taking  refuge in their tents from the hot sun as well as getting organised for heading up to High Camp tomorrow. The forecast still has tomorrow being pretty miserable but hopefully not so bad that we can't move up. The next couple of days should be clear but are now predicted to be cold and windy. That combination can be pretty tricky to deal with!

 

Wind blowing the snow up on the ridge

Our plan now seems to include a rest day on the day after the move - the forecast is better on Weds than Tues so this should work ok. Problems will arise if the summit stays windy as we might have to retreat before having another go later.
Not only will this be difficult for group morale but this would also put us in a backlog of lots if other groups trying to summit at the same time which will make moving up to High Camp again and the summit day very congested. Anyway lets see how it goes.
Evening is a final chat to cover the plans and preparations for the next few days.

Food:
Pancakes and bacon
Quesadillas
Burritos

Day 11 - Ridge Cache (5,120 mtrs)

Today is our first proper mountaineering after what has more been trekking in the snow so far. There is a steep climb up the headwall near the camp to the ridge above ABC to cache supplies to pick up when we move to High Camp in preparation for our summit bid.

The slope is pretty steep in some sections and there is a fixed rope towards the top which significantly helps with the ascent. This is both from a technical and physical perspective - from those I have seen on the mountain so far, you would think that getting on for 80% or so would not be able to cope with the slope without it. The rope is anchored (fixed the ground) and you are clipped into it as you walk meaning that if you fall you should not go far. This really slows progress down as each team of 4 needs to come to a halt each time someone comes to an anchor.

View back down to ABC

Fixed ropes going up the slope

Top of the headwall

View from the ridge back to ABC

The ridge itself is petty exposed at times ( ie a long drop on one if not both sides) and so we clip the rope we are tied to into caribiners anchored to the mountain when things get really tricky.

There is a bit of wind up here, dropping the temperature significantly, not helped in my case by the fact that given the pace I am standing still for much of the time and therefore I have not managed to build up sufficient body temperature on the climb.  The cache is fairly painless, at the base of Washburn's Thumb at 5,120 mtrs. The very slow rate at which we are ascending the mountain means that there is really no issue with altitude. I can't work out if this is sensible or a little bit like cheating - surely it shouldn't be this easy!

On our descent it appears that our carabiners have all been 'collected' by a Polish team following us. Quite fortunately I am going first at his point and so get to enjoy the opportunity to re-fix parts of our route - jolly exciting with the rather large drops (1,000mtrs +) off to the side of the ridge.

Heading back down

We get back at about 17:30 and the rest of the evening is pretty relaxed - chatting and taking in the marvellous views.

We are not far from the summit how so weather forecasts are increasingly of interest. It seems that tomorrow (rest day) will be good but later on and Monday will be cloudy and snowy with a return to the current clear skies for the middle of the week. Our current plan is to move to High  Camp on Monday (which could now become a challenging day) rest at High Camp on Tues and summit on Weds which should be a good day - here's hoping!!

Food:
Oatmeal - quick and easy for early departure. 
Pizzas - same as before but still pretty good!