|
TODAY'S STATS |
Mt. McKinley |
Mt. Foraker |
|
Registered Climbers |
833 |
11 |
|
Climbers Currently On Mountain |
53 |
2 |
|
Completed Climbs |
2 |
2 |
|
Number of Summits |
1 |
2 |
|
Summit Percentage |
50% |
100% |
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 (907) 733-9127.
Weather Report
Clear blue skies over the Alaska Range this morning, though last night the sky was overcast to 8,000-feet and Basecamp received a light dusting of snow. At 8:00 am, winds at 7,200 feet were out of the East at 4 mph. The temperature was 12 F (-11 C).
In the last 24 hours at 7,200-feet:
Low temp: 11 F (-12 C)
High temp: 20 F (-7 C)
Winds calm, with occasional gusts to 6 mph from the East
National Weather Service forecast
Ranger Update
NPS Denali Patrol #1 (Erickson, Westman, 2 PJ's, 4 VIPs) camped last night at 11,000-feet on the West Buttress, and will remain camped there tonight. They report evidence of a large serac that released sometime over the winter to the southeast of 11k camp. Additionally, yesterday the patrol clearly excavated and marked a deep crevasse designated for human waste disposal approximately 100 yards south of the 7,800-foot camp.
Rangers Chenoweth and Weber flew off yesterday afternoon from a successful patrol of the Sultana Ridge of Mt. Foraker, stay tuned for their patrol observations and photos.
Route Conditions
The lower glacier is good shape, with typical spring snowpack. Looking at higher elevations, rangers estimate the upper mountain appears snowier than in recent years. Though time will tell, bands that are normally covered in blue ice are covered in snow this year.
NPS staff fielded a phone call yesterday from an early season team that reached the 14,200-foot camp. As is not wholly uncommon for the first teams of the season, they reported multiple crevasse falls (involving multiple teams) between Windy Corner and the cache site just above Windy Corner. The falls ranged from just punching through to the waist, on up to a 40-foot free-hanging fall. All parties were extricated by teammates, with no injuries reported.
Photo of the Day
Ranger Roger Robinson designed a new sticker that will adorn all Clean Mountain Cans (CMCs), reminding climbers it is their duty to keep Denali clean of human waste. Read here for more on the park's Clean Climbing program. (NPS Photo/Roger Robinson.)