Field Report, July 13

July 13, 2015 Posted by: Maureen Gualtieri

TODAY'S STATS	Mt. McKinley	Mt. Foraker
Registered Climbers	1,089	15
Climbers Currently On Mountain	21	0
Completed Climbs	1,066	15
Number of Summits	614	6
Summit Percentage	58%	40%

The Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station also maintains a daily automated statistics phone line, so if this blog is lagging behind and you need up-to-date registration numbers, call [phone]. 

Weather Report

NPS daily weather observations are done for the season.

FAA Kahiltna Glacier webcam

National Weather Service forecast  

Ranger Update

Rangers Chris Erickson and Dan Corn are flying into the Alaska Range in the park helicopter today to begin a six-day clean-up patrol. Today they will be looking for and collecting any trash found on the popular camping and landing sites, including the Tokositna, Buckskin, Eldridge, and Ruth Glaciers.  Then they will be dropped off at the Mountain House and will ski, hike, and packraft back to Talkeetna.  

Otherwise, rangers, with tremendous help from YCC student Nick Pedersen, continue cleaning, packing, drying, inventorying, and replenishing camp supplies.

Route Conditions

West Buttress - Groups just coming off the West Buttress reported a lot of fresh snow on the upper mountain in the last week or two, both between 11k and 14k, as well as above high camp. Once the snow stopped falling, the weather turned beautiful, but climbing was slow going with arduous trail-breaking. The pickets on the autobahn were well-buried and somewhat difficult to find. Nevertheless, teams with time and stamina were successful in reaching the summit. 

Muldrow Glacier - The NOLS team that climbed via the Muldrow Glacier Route returned this weekend. Sounds like the same storm that dumped snow on the West Buttress was intensified on the north side of the range. Significant snowfall and wind drifts up to 8 feet were reported.  Large, naturally occurring avalanches were observed on all aspects.      

Photo of the Day

Photo taken from a training exercise on the Radio Tower several years ago...not sure who took it, though!