We received a message from the SPOT device that April and Bobby are doing great!! According to the itinerary they will move from base camp at 7200 ft to camp 1 at 7800 feet. It is a moderate climb for 4.5 miles. Looking at the map its says they have to go up Heart Break Hill so I'm not sure how Bobby thinks that this will be a moderate climb. However, since they have been doing some hard core work outs....maybe this will be easy for them. It will be a good conditioning drill for what is to come in a few days!!
Check out this awesome link. A group that did this same climb video taped the plane landing on the glacier. Its pretty cool. Click here to watch The same group also has a website they post pictures on with some info. The pictures look amazing. http://www.aai.cc/lowerkahiltna.asp I hope April and Bobby are having as much fun as these people in the pictures are. They better have packed the camera. I don't think you can buy one on the mountain.
Current Climbing Stats. Looks like April and Bobby will be making a lot of new climbing friends.
The chart below shows the current numbers of registered climbers for Mt. McKinley and Mt. Foraker as of Friday, June 29, 2012. Source - http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/current-statistics.htm
Climbing Statistics the 2012 Season
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Mt. McKinley
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Mt. Foraker
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Number of Registered Climbers
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1,216
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6
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Climbers Currently On Mountain
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239
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0
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Completed Climbs
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960
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6
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Number of Summits
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403
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0
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Summit Percentage
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42%
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0%
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Current Weather:
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Looks like they made it to camp 1. Received message that they are doing great!
ReplyDeleteWe were at base camp when our flightseeing tour landed there Wednesday. It is absolutely FANTASTIC!! As we've traveled on to Denali NP, April and Bobby have been in our thoughts and prayers. So glad to be back on " cyber- civilization, so we can keep track of their progress.
ReplyDeleteLove to all the D's-- wherever they are!!
MER
Thanks Maryellen. I hope you are all enjoying your trip. Sounds like you braved the flight and enjoyed it. I'll bet it's breathtaking. We are enjoying watching April and Bobby's progress on SPOT. It's especially nice to receive their messages saying they are doing great. Makes my mother heart relax for a bit.
DeleteLinda --
DeleteApril is in an overwhelmingly beautiful and "powerful" place. Let your " mother heart" focus on that until her safe return -- if you can!
Thank you my friend. I will.
DeleteLooks like they are approaching 9500', having made a lot of progress today. We received another message about an hour ago that they are doing great. It's so hot today in CT; it's amazing to think that they are trudging through so much snow.
ReplyDelete