|
TODAY'S STATS - 5/11/22 |
Denali |
Mt. Foraker |
|
Registered Climbers |
1.062 |
17 |
|
Climbers Currently On Mountain |
99 |
7 |
|
Completed Climbs |
7 |
0 |
|
Number of Summits |
0 |
0 |
|
Summit Percentage |
0% |
0% |
|
The Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station also maintains an almost daily automated statistics phone line, so if this blog is lagging behind and you need up-to-date registration numbers, call (907) 733-9127. |
As of May 11, there are 74 backcountry users exploring the Alaska Range:
- 22 in Upper Kahiltna
- 21 in the Upper Ruth
- 10 on Mount Hunter
- 3 on the Tokositna Glacier
- 16 in Little Switzerland
- 2 on the Lower Kahiltna
Mountain Weather
Wednesday, May 11, 8:00 AM observation from ranger Chrissie Oken: Calm and clear at base camp. Sunny on the Kahiltna. Caps on Hunter, Foraker, Denali; 14K looks totally socked in, but seems to be clearing.
Rangers Galen and Alan at 14K at 8:00 am today report clear skies, winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to 20 mph out of the north. They can see down the Kahiltna, with a few clouds here and there.
Weather station telemetry data from 7K and 14K are transmitted hourly to the MesoWest website, including temperatures, wind speed, wind direction, snowfall, and solar radiation. MountainWeather.com compiles a Denali Weather page, complete with links to the MesoWest data, the NWS Denali Climbing Forecasts, as well as links to FAA webcams.
Click here for the National Weather Service Denali Climbing Forecast
The FAA webcam on the Kahiltna Glacier has not been installed yet due to a combination of weather and scheduling, but it will get installed as soon as feasible.
Conditions Reports
A team of six made it up the headwall on Denali in the last week, but turned around due in part to the windstorm currently sitting on Denali. They encountered the standard early season conditions:
- Windy Corner was blue ice
- Headwall had blue ice. They freed some of the fixed lines from ice, though not all sections.
- Squirrel Hill was better travelling on the way down than on the way up.
A new climber report from May 7, Mount Huntington, West Face Couloir: Snow on the approach was decent, though a bit think in places. Ice was good on the mixed pitches. Snow was decent until confluence with Harvard Route.
And some updated info from Conditions binder on the Moose’s Tooth/Root Canal:
MOST RECENT (5/10/22) Ham & Eggs received 2 feet + of snow over the last 3 days. Route is buried with snow sliding down regularly. Wait a few more solar cycles before attempting.
(5/5/22) Ham & Eggs – fun climbing. P3 is technical crux with short steep mixed step over rotten ice mushroom. “Guidebook crux” ice section in decent shape with some rotten ice; a leader in another party took a fall here. Funky ice chimney/fin on next pitch was also cruxy. Good ice/snow to the col.
(5/7) Shaken Not Stirred. P1 all dry. P3 thin, protection difficult. Other pitches climbing well. We climbed as the snow mentioned above started, and bailed below the narrows and sprindrift got bad. Got rope stuck on very last rappel and decided cut it as truckloads of spindrift came down..
COVID Update
The 2021 Denali climbing community got lucky last year with no reported COVID cases during the mountaineering season. This season, with more contagious variants and fewer prevention protocols in place internationally, COVID has begun to make its mark in the Alaska Range.
Following reports in the past several days of climbers returning from the mountains to Talkeetna with signs and symptoms of COVID, Denali NP rangers strongly encourage preventative measures to ensure climbers don’t contract the virus before their flight into the Alaska Range. These measures include the CDC recommendations:
- Staying up-to-date on vaccinations and boosters;
- Wearing a mask when indoors
- Staying 6 feet away from others
- Avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces
- Washing hands frequently.
These precautions are especially important in the two weeks before your expedition start date and during your time in Talkeetna! You have likely invested a great deal of money, time (months? years?), and energy into planning this expedition. Don't let COVID-19 ruin that investment.
Although optional COVID testing is now available daily in downtown Talkeetna by the non-profit partner Denali Education Center (click for more info), testing does not take the place of prevention. The virus, particularly with the current variants, is not always detectable in asymptomatic individuals.
Search and Rescue
On Monday evening May 9, two injured climbers were evacuated from an area of the Lower West Rib route known as the Chicken Couloir. An independent party of two was swept in a 1,000-foot avalanche. They survived the avalanche, but both climbers incurred multiple injuries. The team contacted Lisa at Basecamp via FRS radio to request a rescue.
The park’s high altitude helicopter pilot and two mountaineering rangers launched from Talkeetna and flew straight to the team’s location on the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. The rangers did a medical assessment and flew the two climbers back to Talkeetna where local EMS providers took over care and transport.
Ranger Reports
NPS 14K Patrol #1 (Dossin, Davis) Patrol #1 is rejoicing at 14,200 feet now that all camp infrastructure and netloads have made their way to the basin, which happened as of Wednesday afternoon. Now the team will proceed with setting up the medical and communications tents, assuming that weather permits. Today’s flights took advantage of a brief window in a blustery forecast – moderate winds this morning died down enough to work the flights in, but the forecast suggests a windy few days to follow.
NPS 14K Patrol #2 (Oken) Ranger Chrissie Oken and her crew flew into the Kahiltna Basecamp on Tuesday, May 10, waving hello and goodbye to the departing Basecamp Patrol (Chelsea, Mariel, and Taylor). Today, they spend the day reviewing crevasse rescue skills uphill from Basecamp. They will remain at basecamp another day or two before starting their journey to 14K.
The Sanctity of Space
This Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14, Denali Rescue Volunteers and Denali Arts Council are teaming up to present the Alaska premiere of the Sanctity of Space on the big screen in downtown Talkeetna, Alaska. "Inspired by the photography of legendary explorer Brad Washburn, three friends traverse some of Alaska's most challenging peaks." Showtime is 7:00 PM each night at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar. Rumor has it that filmmaker and climber Freddie Wilkinson will be on hand to introduce the film, and there are exciting and valuable door prizes to be won – flights, gear, clothing, etc.
Learn more about Denali Rescue Volunteers, an organization that helps make Denali National Park and Preserve's mountaineering operations whole! Thank you for all that you do each season, from helping equipping our volunteers, housing them before and after patrols, and supporting our recruitment process!
Photo of the Day
NPS Volunteers Mariel Terry and Taylor Guetschow take a snack and stretch break before ascending the col to gain the ridgeline of Radio Tower. NPS Photo/Chelsie Bomba.