Summit Photos

                                           The Denali Vikings on the top of North America

                                                                Pontus on the summit

Back in Town

They are all back in town and on the way home after a great trip.  They had their final celebratory team dinner last night in Anchorage.

Congratulations

At 11,000 and coming down

I just talked to Kevin, and the whole team is at 11,000 ft, and getting ready to head to basecamp as the temps cool off this evening.   They'll be in basecamp tonight, and should fly out to Talkeetna tomorrow morning.  

On Top Right Now!

We just heard from high camp that Joe Butler and the rest of the team are on the summit right now.  It's 5:00 AK time.   They are doing great, and will be back down in camp to hot drinks and sleeping bags in just a few more hours.  

Congrat's to all!

Another Summit Day

Kevin was able to summit yesterday with Pontus, but the rest of the team turned around due to the difficult conditions and cold temps.  

They woke up to a beautiful day today, so Joe Butler(asst. Guide) is going up with the rest of the team today!  Kevin and Pontus will be in high camp to brew up some hot tea and soup for them when they return this evening.  

Summit!

Kevin led a team to the summit today in difficult conditions.  It sounds like they had a pretty windy, cold, challenging day.  

They joined up with several other Mt Trip teams to get to the top on a tough day, Congratulations!  

It will take a couple of days to get all the way to basecamp, but they'll all be down soon.

High Camp!

Kevin was hijacked yesterday to help with the rescue of a climber (not involved with Mt Trip) who fell from the ridge just below High Camp.   He along with another guide Bill Billmeier and Denali climbing rangers spent the day hauling the injured climber back up to the ridge, where he could then be lowered to the 14,000 foot camp where the Park Service maintains some simple facilities.  

They are still waiting for their summit day, hopefully tommorow...

High Camp!

Kevin called this evening from high camp.  they awoke to some pretty high winds, and crawled right back into their sleeping bags.  The winds settled down a bit during the day, but it was a good day to sit in camp and watch the clouds blow by.  

They have plenty of food and fuel to wait for several more days for a good summit day.

High Camp!

Kevin called from 17,000 ft last night, and they were just settling into their tents at high camp.  They were tired, but doing great and are going to take a rest day today before the summit push.   The weather forecasts look pretty reasonable for the next few days, so they are optimistic about getting a shot.  

Gerry is now at basecamp and ready to fly out to Talkeetna as soon as the planes can fly.

A Good Day

The team was able to carry a load of food and fuel up to the ridge at 16,400 feet today.  They get into some of the most entertaining climbing of the whole trip in this section, ascending fixed lines to the ridge, and then up thru rock and ice.   

Gerry has a bit of a cough that he can't seem to kick, and sat out today's activities.   We hope he'll feel better and be able to continue up the mountain with the team.

A windy night

Kevin just called, and they had a loud windy night at 14,000 camp.  The wind continued thru the day, so they drank the coffee and tea, and watched the weather blow thru.  They are waiting to get their cache up to the ridge still, but Kevin said the were all in great spirits, and sitting on a pile of food.  

Tomorrow is expected to be a nicer day, so hopefully they'll get to climb again soon.

14,000 ft Camp

The "Denali Vikings" are continuing to move on up the mountain.  They were able to make it to the 14,000 camp yesterday, and had a relatively relaxing day today.  They will spend a few nights at 14k acclimating, resting, and establishing a food/fuel cache up at 16,000 ft.  They are set up to move to high camp, and push to the summit in the next nice window of weather.  

Another night at 11,000 feet

The high winds continue to dominate the Alaska Range, and the team is patiently waiting at the 11,000 foot camp.  The winds have been blowing at 60mph + at the 14,000 camp for several days, and nobody is going anywhere until this settles down.    The weather looks more promising for tomorrow, so they hope to move up soon.

At 11,000 waiting out the storm

I talked to Kevin (Lead Guide) last night, and they were all doing great at the 11,000 ft camp.   Yesterday they went down to 10,500 feet for the cache that they had left there 2 days earlier.  Kevin said that the wind was pretty intense, and made for a challenging day.  It is a very short day, only 30 minutes down, and about 2 hours back up to camp, but the wind made for an interesting day.  The forecast is for some pretty strong winds at that altitude thruought today, so they will probably not be able to make their next carry up to 13,500 feet until the weather settles down.  They are in good company in camp right now, with 3 other Mountain Trip groups waiting out the weather with them.  

Camp 2

The team is at Camp 2 and everyone is doing good.  

They been moving right on schedule, we haven't heard a lot of details from this team, but they are doing great.  

The Denali Vikings!

The Denali Vikings at their equipment check in Anchorage, AK

On the Kahiltna Glacier

They are off to a good start, they flew to basecamp today on one of the nicest days of the summer.  They should all have some spectacular pictures from todays flight.   They'll spend their first night on the glacier tonight, and start the hard work early tomorrow morning.

Welcome to the expedition update blog for the DENALI VIKINGS!

On May 18, 2008 a team of climbers will meet in Anchorage, Alaska in order to attempt to climb to the top of North America. As three of these climbers hail from Sweden and Swedish blood runs in the veins of at least one of the others, this crew will be known from now on as the Denali Vikings!

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.

The team will include:

Caj Svensson from Sweden
Eva Gustavsson from Sweden
Gerry Doney from the US
Pontus Axelsson from Sweden
Daryl Harmon from the US

Mountain Trip guides for the expedition will be Kevin Koprek from Ouray, Colorado and Joe Butler from Anchorage, Alaska.

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.

Enjoy the posts!