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!