AAI guides Richard Riquelme and Mary Harlan called at 1016am on Sunday morning with the good news that their team had summited Denali on Saturday, June 13 in a thirteen hour climb. They reported that the weather was really good all the way to the summit, and then as they started to descend the winds picked up and clouds started forming up below and then around them. They were able to make it back to their camp at 17,200’ in reasonable conditions.
As long as conditions are half-way decent, they will soon descend to the 14,000-foot camp (Camp 3) and probably continue on down to 11,000 (Camp 2), as they begin to make their rapid move off the mountain. They said everyone is feeling good and is really happy.
This fifth AAI Denali expedition is the fourth to summit this season. Team #1 missed by 400 feet when high winds forced them back.
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 follow the team you want.
