Saturday June 20 at 4:53 pm Alaska time, AAI guide Forest McBrian sent the following Denali dispatch via satellite telephone.
“Hello this is Forest calling from Denali. We’re still at 14,000 feet. There’s a low pressure system creeping through starting about now that should last a few days.
“As you know, guides Kurt and Lee went down to base camp yesterday because Lee wasn’t feeling well. Aidan had flown in yesterday to replace him, so they met at base camp and Aidan and Kurt climbed all the way up here last night in one push. They went all night and just showed up this morning. They were very tired, so after breakfast they went to bed.
“Everyone enjoyed a breakfast of piping hot French pressed coffee and breakfast burritos, and now the team is busy doing chores around camp. Everyone is in a good state of mind, just waiting for conditions to become favorable.
“I hope everyone at home is having a good time over the weekend. I will call again when there is more news to report.”
NOTE:
You can follow the progress of all AAI Denali expeditions on the dispatch page of AAI's website: www.aai.cc The URL for the specific page is: http://aai.cc/currentnews/ Use the drop down to find the team you want to follow.
Dispatches are posted Monday through Friday on the dispatch page. Aside from special events (e.g., summits, major storms, etc), they are posted on this blog only on the weekends. On Mondays they are moved to the dispatch page.
Lack of a current dispatch indicates that the team is really busy, that they have had a problem establishing an adequate satellite transmission, or that they haven't been able to use their solar panel to recharge batteries and are preserving their batteries for safety needs.
