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TODAY'S STATS - 6/7/24 |
Denali |
Mt. Foraker |
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Registered Climbers |
973 |
26 |
|
Climbers Currently On Mountain |
412 |
2 |
|
Completed Climbs |
374 |
24 |
|
Number of Summits |
145 |
0 |
|
Summit Percentage |
38% |
0% |
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The Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station also maintains an almost daily automated statistics phone line, so if this blog is lagging behind and you need up-to-date registration numbers, call (907) 733-9127. |
Mountain Weather
Fresh snow the past few days, particularly on the lower and middle mountain. Winds have generally subsided, and clouds are in and out this morning, though generally on a clearing trend.
Weather station telemetry data from 7K and 14K are transmitted hourly to the MesoWest website, including temperatures, wind speed, wind direction, snowfall, and solar radiation.
MountainWeather.com compiles a Denali Weather page, complete with links to the MesoWest data, the NWS Denali Climbing Forecasts, as well as links to FAA webcams.
The National Weather Service publishes their mountain-specific forecast here: Denali Climbing Forecast
Conditions Report
Hearing reports of deep new snow on the lower half of the mountain.
Search and Rescue Report
The patrol team(s) at 14,200 feet have tended to a steady stream of sick or injured climbers in the medical tent this past week. Patient ailments at 14K since Monday include: HACE, severe frostbite on hands and toes, a medical complication relative to a pre-existing condition, and more frostbite. Three of these patients were evacuated from 14K on Tuesday night, with one awaiting evacuation at press time. Additionally, early this morning, rangers were contacted by a team at 10,500 feet with a teammate with a probable blood clot in the leg. Both patients (14K and 10.5K) will be evacuated when conditions allow.
A bird's eye view of the 14,200-foot camp in the middle ground, Mount Foraker in the distance, taken last weekend from the upper mountain. (NPS Photo/C. Oken)
Ranger Reports
14K Patrol #3 (Oken) Chrissie's patrol was scheduled to fly out yesterday (Thursday), but the weather wasn't flyable at basecamp. They are on deck to fly out this morning, after a heavy rotation of SAR response, followed by the requisite gear/cache cleanups belonging to patients flown out early.
14K Patrol #4 (Bomba) As mentioned above, Chelsea's team has been keeping extra busy in the med tent this past week. Now that Travis and Jake's team #5 has gotten situated at 14,200 feet, and the recent high winds subside, the plan is to ascend to high camp.
14K Patrol #5 (Baldwin-Kayes) Patrol #5 ascended to 14K the evening of June 5, and are now relieving patrol #4 of some of the med tent workload.
14K Patrol #6 (Dossin) Flying in today (one day overdue) from Talkeetna is the next-to-last West Buttress patrol, led by Ranger Galen Dossin. His patrol includes two returning VIP's Christopher Andersen and Bryan Feinstein (returning this time as an MD!), as well as two first time volunteers Dean Einerson and Max Strotbeck. Meet the crew:
Ranger Galen Dossin (far right) is clearly in charge of maintaining the rhythm of this patrol. His talented back-up singers inlcude, from left to right: Max Strotbeck, Dean Einerson, Bryan Feinstein, and Chris Andersen. (NPS Photo)
7K Patrol #4 (Ramos-Leon) Kakiko, Devin, and Anthony welcomed Ranger Chrissie Oken and her crew down from the upper mountain, just in time to celebrate Chrissie's birthday. The team has been helpful in coordinating the evac traffic thru 7K.
Denali Rescue Volunteers
Rumor on the street that former basecamp manager and current DRV board member Lisa Roderick has rounded up an impressive array of door prizes for the DRV fundraiser!
This coming Saturday, the annual Denali Rescue Volunteers fundraiser, a collaboration with the Denali Arts Council, will be held on June 8. This year, DRV and DAC presents the Vanccouver International Mountain Film Festival at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar in downtown Talkeetna. DRV Board President Steve Mock has even wrangled his talented brother 'Doc Mock' to provide live musical entertainment during the event. For more information and tickets, go to the DAC events webpage.
Learn more about Denali Rescue Volunteers, an organization that helps make Denali National Park and Preserve's mountaineering operations whole! Thank you for all that you do each season, from helping equipping our volunteers, housing them before and after patrols, and supporting our recruitment process!
Mid-Season Update on University of Tasmania Wilderness Study on Denali
(submitted by Dr. Daniel Hackett, Univ. of Tasmania)
Mid-season Denali mountaineer and backcountry research update – Climbers and mountaineers, we need your help!
Readers of Denali Dispatches would have read about the research being conducted in the Denali wilderness and backcountry this season. Chances are you’ve even seen the research surveys while checking-out or returning CMC’s to the ranger station in Talkeetna.
Now is the critical point in the research: getting responses from this season’s wilderness and backcountry users. All overnight users including climbers, mountaineers, guides, rangers and mountain professionals (over the age of 18) are eligible, and we are after a diversity of responses and perspectives. We need 5-10 minutes of your help now, by completing the anonymous survey below!
Survey responses are coming in slowly, but we need 100 more responses. If you’ve had a Denali backcountry or wilderness experience this season, or have just returned and are reading this, then you’re invited to participate in the surveys.
If you want to step-up and lead the way by completing the voluntary survey, then please follow this link to the University of Tasmania survey.
About the research team:
The project is being led by the University of Tasmania, in collaboration with Penn State. Daniel Hackett of the University of Tasmania, travelled 8000 miles to Talkeetna during late April, and launched the surveys in May as part of Fulbright Scholarship.
At the same time as the surveys were launched, Daniel installed an acoustic recorder at Kahiltna basecamp to provide additional quantitative soundscape data to inform the research project (you can read more about this on the May 14 Denali Dispatch Field Report.)
A goal is to use the data collected to benefit future wilderness and backcountry users in Tasmania, New Zealand, Antarctica and Denali.
Photo of the Day
In this shot, from what must feel like a lifetime ago, Ranger Chelsea's Bomba's WB Patrol #4 partakes in a game of ultimate frisbee on the Kahiltna Basecamp airstrip. (NPS Photo)