Field Report, July 14, 2017

July 14, 2017 Posted by: Maureen Gualtieri

 

TODAY'S STATS	Denali	Mt. Foraker
Registered Climbers	1,189	11
Climbers Currently On Mountain	0	0
Completed Climbs	1,189	11
Number of Summits	495	0
Summit Percentage	42%	0%

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].

The 2017 Denali climbing season is DONE!  Today, the last team standing on Denali flew out to Talkeetna.  The finale was not without excitement thanks to the challenging glacier conditions. Readers of these Field Reports are well aware that crevasse danger was high this season on the lower glacier due to a low winter snowpack. As temperatures rose, crevasses became an increasing challenge.  This week was a particularly warm one in the Interior of Alaska, and the lower glacier did not freeze overnight for more than a week.  Early this morning, when the last team on the mountain was at approximately 7,800-feet, one of the guides fell about 20 feet into a crevasse, injuring a shoulder. The team, which was travelling roped together at the time of the fall, were able to quickly extract him from the crevasse, but the shoulder injury proved severe and debilitating. At around 5:30 am, two NPS rangers flew in on the NPS helicopter and med-evaced the injured guide, and subsequently shuttled the remaining teammates the final distance to the airstrip for their fixed wing flight back to Talkeetna.

In other parts of the Alaska Range, an NPS 'cleanup' patrol will be flying into the Ruth Glacier this afternoon. Ranger Melis Coady and VIP Dusty Eroh will do a sweep of the common glacier camps in the Ruth Gorge, cleaning up any melted out caches, garbage, and waste. And do a little touring and rock climbing if conditions are favorable.  

TEASER:  Though the Denali season might be over, stay tuned next week for photos and video of a unique celestial event witnessed at 14,200-foot camp in early July.  An event on par with the legendary Yosemite double rainbow!
 

Mountain Weather

Kahiltna and Ruth Webcams  http://avcams.faa.gov/ 

Weather observations from both the 7K and 14K camps have concluded for the season. In the next couple weeks, we will upload the entire season's data to the park website for those that want to take a closer look.
 

Photo of the Day

A view of the lower Kahiltna Glacier striped with late season crevasses as the surface snow melts. (NPS Photo/Dave Weber)