Luckily, poor weather forecasts for this week did not pan out and we’ve had a surprisingly good couple of days. This has allowed a bunch of expeditions to fly into the range, and our team to get a bunch done, including inserting two patrols and installing a radio repeater on Mount Crosson.Going forward, we’re expecting unsettled weather through Thursday night and then have our fingers crossed for a nice weekend.There is still plenty of snow for wind transport after the last weeks’ storms. Teams heading up the West Buttress should expect to break trail and route find, and not rely on following teams in front of them.
14k Patrol #1
Rangers Ramos-Leon and Guetschow are installed at 11k’ with a handful of climbers. The early season trail breaking was a good teambuilding exercise but they are in good spirits and happy to be moving higher. The ranger team would like to remind everyone that if you’re taking a break along the trail, especially if there’s deep snow, it’s good courtesy to pull yourself and your sleds off to the side so others can pass you. Also, we do not have reserved campsites on the West Buttress and teams cannot hold an empty space without a tent for another team coming behind them.
14k Patrol #2
Ranger Jake Kayes flew in with four volunteers this morning. They will spend the next few days at Basecamp refreshing rigging and rescue skills, then start chasing Kakiko and Taylor up the Buttress.
Caption: Fanny packs are back in style. From left, VIP Ted Hoople, Ranger Jake Kayes, returning VIP Roz Reynolds, returning VIP Sean Smith, and Parajumper Caleb Kailey on orders from the 212th. (T. Chenoweth)
Caption: Basecamp on May 6, 2025, from the air. Basecamp can be quite the social hub! The larger grouping of camps on the left are expeditions climbing around basecamp. There is a wide variety of routes accessible from the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna, and climbers of all abilities tend to congregate here. You can see the “runway” horseshoe in the lower righthand corner of the photo. (S. Barrier)
Basecamp Patrol
Our plans to install the NPS basecamp last week were foiled by poor weather. Luckily, Ranger Chelsea Bomba and returning VIP Sammy Becker headed into basecamp Wednesday to set up camp. This task involves digging a very large hole to install the Basecamp comms tent in. This ensures that the tent doesn’t melt out as our season progresses through June and the beginning of July. This camp is a crucial piece of our West Buttress communications and resources puzzle as we work to keep climbers safe through the summer.
Caption: The Crosson repeater getting inserted on its lonely perch above the Kahiltna at 12,740’. Mt. Hunter can be seen on the left skyline. This repeater enables radio transmissions between the West Buttress and our incident command in Talkeetna throughout the season. Communications between our field teams and “town” are always a challenge, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief when the Crosson repeater is installed. (S. Barrier)
The National Weather Service issues a daily recreational climbing report which can be found here (note: the URL has changed from past years and the old one is no longer operational). Many other useful weather products including temperature, wind, and snowfall totals can be found through Mountain Weather.