Surprise....the team is on the move

Hello Climbers,

According to the last voicemail the team was going to stay put due to the snow in the forcast.  The weather conditions must have cleared enough for a climb.  At 5:10PM EDT the climbers are on the move currently at 15300ft.  The is the Headwall that leads to the ridge.  According to the itinerary they will go up, cache supplies and descend back to 14200ft camp.  This day will be a tough day of climbing because at the altitude the air starts to thin out.  At 6pm EDT they are at 15600ft.

You have to wonder what happened at this point in the climb.  I thought that they were descending....then they started climbing again.  Anyone have any ideas?

Here is a link to a map of the route they are taking.  I also posted it under important links called West Buttress Route Map.  LINK

Here is some information about this area of the climb:
At this part of the climb, teams usually take supplies / food / equipment up to 16800 ft to cache and then descend back to 14200 camp.  Which maybe answers why the team started back up again.  The route is pretty tough.  Going up the fixed lines is very steep and with a heavy pack and thinning air makes it ones of the most strenuous climbs on the trip.

Here are some links from You Tube that I found about this particular leg of the trip.  Enjoy.

Mt McKinley at Head Wall

Mt McKinley Between Headwall and Washburn

Top of the Fix Lines 



The park is a bit behind on their climbing stats. Here is what the page stated today.

Climbing Statistics as of June 28, 2013	Mt. McKinley	Mt. Foraker
Number of Registered Climbers	1,126	12
Climbers Currently On Mountain	288	0
Completed Climbs	831	12
Number of Summits	633	6
Summit Percentage	76%	50%

Current Weather:

...7 THOUSAND FEET TO 14 THOUSAND FEET... ...WIND SPEEDS LESS THAN 20 MPH ARE NOT INCLUDED... .TUESDAY...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 6 INCHES. HIGH AT 14 THOUSAND FEET...15 ABOVE. .TUESDAY NIGHT...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 6 INCHES. LOW AT 14 THOUSAND FEET...5 ABOVE. .WEDNESDAY...CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGH AT 14 THOUSAND FEET...15 ABOVE. ...ABOVE 14 THOUSAND FEET... .TUESDAY...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 6 INCHES. HIGH AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...ZERO. WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTH 15 MPH. .TUESDAY NIGHT...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 6 INCHES. LOW AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...5 BELOW. WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTH 10 MPH. .WEDNESDAY...CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGH AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...ZERO. WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTH 15 MPH. .OUTLOOK THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. SUMMIT WINDS SOUTH 20 MPH OR LESS.