Denali - McKinley

The leader of the Denali expedition, group guide Lyudmila Korobeshko sends from Alaska:

 July 2. Greetings to everyone from Alaska from the "Orange Men" group from the Ranger camp at an altitude of 4300m! That's all. Yesterday we made the final decision - today we are descending. Unfortunately, without the summit. The route above 5200 is very dangerous for avalanches. For about two weeks, no one has climbed to the summit. And there is no chance that the route will improve. According to the forecast, strong winds will arrive by evening. So we will try to descend as soon as possible. We are one of the last ones on the Mountain now. There are only 1-2 groups nearby. They are also planning to descend.

It is very sad to leave without the summit...

Two guys in our team planned to close the "7 Summits" project with this Mountain. The rest had one more mountain to climb besides Denali before the project was completed...

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Alaska:

We turned around from the Assault Camp at 17,000 feet. The mountain slopes are very dangerous for avalanches, and not a single group went to storm the summit of Denali. We went down the ridge and then came to the 14,000 camp. Here our second team, the "Orange Men," led by Lyudmila Korobeshko, was waiting for us. We went down and walked all night. We arrived at the Airfield. But because of the clouds, the planes are not flying. We are waiting.

The leader of the Denali expedition, the guide Lyudmila Korobeshko sends from Alaska:

 June 30. Greetings from Alaska to everyone from the "Orange Men" group! From the Ranger Camp at an altitude of 4300m. We have been here for two days already. We came here the day before yesterday. Yesterday we went to get supplies. Today we are resting and practicing technical skills.

 The situation on the Mountain is difficult - no one has climbed to the summit for almost two weeks. After the last snowfall, the slopes above 5300 on the "autobahn" have become very avalanche-prone. Over the past three days, about ten groups have turned around and gone down without the summit. We are still waiting and hoping. But even today our first group turned around on this section. Today Abramov's group will descend to us. We will decide what to do next.

The President of the 7 Summits Club, Alexander Abramov, reports from Alaska:

Our team is in Camp 5 at 17,000 feet. We have one day to the summit. But the slope is avalanche-prone. Today, two teams went down, only reaching the base of the slope. They left without the summit. We are still planning to assault the summit of Denali tomorrow. But it is not yet clear how to cross the avalanche-prone slope. We are thinking.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Alaska:

Abramov's team is spending the night today in assault camp No. 5 (altitude about 5240 meters). Tomorrow we will have a day of rest. The day after tomorrow - assault of Summit.

Today we climbed on foot with heavy backpacks from Camp 14 (Rangers) to the assault camp. Many people went with us today, about 80 people. They accumulated. The weather window opened after several days of bad weather.

The leader of the expedition to Denali, the guide Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Alaska:

 June 28. Greetings to everyone from Alaska from the "Orange Men" group! Today we finally broke free from the snow captivity and moved to the Ranger Camp at an altitude of 4300m. The climb was not easy for us - very heavy backpacks and deep snow. But the main thing is that we reached it!!! We set up camp here. We are resting. Tomorrow we will go for supplies.

The president of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Alaska:

It snowed all day. Avalanche danger is high. Tomorrow morning, we leave for the assault camp. Minimum things. Extreme overnight stay and the day after tomorrow assault on the summit. There is a three-day window. We pray. The temperature at the summit is about minus 30 degrees. The team is charged with success. I think we will get through. All participants feel well.

The leader of the Denali expedition, super-guide Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Alaska:

June 26. Greetings from Alaska from the "Orange Men" group! From Camp Eleven at 3400m.

Yes, we are still here. Yesterday it started snowing at lunchtime, by evening it had accumulated about 20 cm. At night the snowfall intensified. We had to leave our tents every two hours and dig ourselves out. The neighboring expedition slept all night, and in the morning their tent poles broke under the weight of the snow. Now it is almost evening. The snowfall does not stop. We dig ourselves out every hour. We are sitting in camp, waiting for the weather to improve.

Message from 7 Summits Club President Alexander Abramov from the slopes of Mount Denali in Alaska:

 Yesterday evening we moved from Camp 3 to Camp 4. Now we are at an altitude of 14,000 feet or 4,200 meters. This is the so-called "Rangers Camp". Today we had training in moving along fixed ropes with jumars. And tomorrow morning we will go and make a supply run to the assault camp. There is hope to ascend to the summit of Denali in 3-4 days. The weather is windless, but snow is falling. The team feels great!

The leader of the expedition to Denali, the guide Lyudmila Korobeshko sends from Alaska:

 June 25. Greetings to everyone from Alaska from the "Orange Men" group. From the Camp Eleven at 3400 m.

 Yesterday we picked up our supplies from below. And today we made a new supply under the Ranger Camp. We switched to a new way of moving - without sleds and snowshoes. Now we walk in crampons and carry all the loads in backpacks. And we also walk with ice axes - we have become real mountaineers! If the weather permits, then tomorrow we will move to the Ranger Camp at 4400.

June 23. Greetings from Alaska to everyone from the "Orange Men" group! Today we climbed to Camp 3 or Camp Eleven, at an altitude of 3400. We woke up to the sounds of snowfall. We hoped that it would stop, but on the contrary, it only got stronger. As a result, we walked under snowfall for all 6 hours. At Eleven, we met our Group #1 with Alex Abramov. They are cheerful and happy. Today, the guys did not go up because of the snowfall. They decided to rest. They helped us a lot with setting up camp in difficult winter conditions.

Tomorrow, the first group will go up to the Rangers Camp. And we have a descent for supplies and a day of rest at Eleven Camp.

Denali expedition leader Lyudmila Korobeshko.

From video messages of the President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov:

 The team of the 7 Summits Club makes a drop-off at Camp 14 (14,000 feet). We are going great, the weather is great, a little breeze. We will succeed.

 That's it! We are approaching Camp 14. The drop-off point where we will leave everything is already visible. Today is a good day. We make a drop-off at Camp 14. This is the so-called Ranger Camp. From there we will wait for the weather and go to the upper camp. Well, here are such beautiful views...

The 7 Summits Club guide Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Alaska:

June 22. Alaska Group #2 is in touch. We are still spending the night at Camp 1 at 2500m. Yesterday we went out to make a drop-off. But we had to turn around, because it suddenly turned out that one of the participants urgently needed to return home for personal reasons. But you can't walk alone or even in pairs on the Kahiltna glacier (according to the rules of the local rangers), so we all turned around - we are the team! We returned to the camp and tried to have as much fun as possible. At night, Sergey went down with another team, and we reached the drop-off point early this morning. And we made it to 3000. We were a bit battered by the wind and cold, but now we are already in the camp. Let's sunbathe and relax.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Alaska:

 We slept well at Camp 3 at 11,000 feet. A little tired, because we have been walking at night for three days already. We get up at one or two in the morning. A hamburger for breakfast and harness ourselves to the sleds. And we drag, drag, drag our luggage up the mountain. Food and fuel for 20 days. And all the things, and snacks. A load of 60 kg for each.

Today we held classes on the technique of walking on crampons. And also on self-arrest with an ice ax. Tomorrow there will be dangerous traverses on steep slopes.

The 7 Summits Club group started from the overnight camp site "Upper Kahiltna Glacier" (9,600 feet, 2,900 m). Participants and guides were divided into four groups and went one after another. The climb was quite steep and difficult. The weather began to deteriorate, it became colder and the wind appeared. The final point of the climb was the camp at 11,000 feet (3,350 meters). This is the area of the so-called Motorcycle Hill. As they say, this is the place where the approaches end and the actual climb begins.

June 20. Alaska. 7 Summits Club group on Denali #2 is in touch. Yesterday we arrived in Talkeetna. On the way we were thinking up a name for the group. There are several options. We are still deciding. At 13:00 we were briefed by rangers and then flew to the Kahiltna Glacier. After landing, we slept a little and at 4:00 a.m. we moved on to Camp 1. By 10 a.m. we arrived at Camp 1 at an altitude of 2500. Along the way, we lost toilet tanks a couple of times. We set up camp, rested and sunbathed (very active sun). The views are beautiful, avalanches constantly come down from neighboring slopes - everything we like.

Head of the Denali expedition Lyudmila Korobeshko.

The 7 Summits Club President Alexander Abramov reports from Alaska:

 We walk at night. And we sleep during the day. It is very hot in the lower camps. And the snow melts and turns into mush. That is why we usually leave at 2 am. We have now moved from Camp 1 (8,000 feet) to Camp 2 (10,000 feet). It is 9 am now. Let's go and sleep.

The 7 Summits Club President Alexander Abramov reports from Alaska:

Our team has moved with sleds and all the gear to Camp 1 ("Fork"). The altitude is 7800 feet (approximately 2380 meters). The weather is perfect. I wish it would last until the summit push! We have satellite Internet with us. Thanks to the 7 Summits Club company for the opportunity to always stay in touch! No other team that is currently climbing Denali has this.

Tonight, with all the gear, approximately 60 kg per person, we are moving to Camp 2 - "Upper Kahiltna Glacier" (9600 feet, 2900 m).

June 19. Alaska in touch. Yesterday, June 18, we had a busy day in Anchorage. In the morning, having fortified ourselves with crabs, we checked our gear. Then we went shopping. And in the evening, we won a decisive victory - we got hold of Zhamilya's missing luggage.

Today we are moving to Talkeetna, going to the rangers and after that we will try to fly to the glacier. We have not yet come up with a name for our international group (Russia, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Romania). But we are working on it.

Leader of the Denali expedition of group #2 of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko.

The flight went well. There was good visibility, which allowed us to take panoramic photos. The plane landed safely on the glacier surface and a new stage of the expedition began for the group. Thanks to the use of Starlink, we can now receive operational information from the slopes of Mount Denali-McKinley.