Heading home!

The weather cleared and the team has been descending rapidly. It seems they are heading home quite quickly, here's a quick update from IMG blog:

After several days at High Camp, IMG Partner Phil Ershler called in to let us know that he and his team summitted! They were at 14,000ft on their way down when he called. IMG Guide Greg Vernovage’s team tagged the top alongside Phil’s team.

Phil said there was rough weather on summit day but it all worked out.

They are all heading to the NE Fork tonight hoping to get flown out tomorrow in a small window of forecasted high pressure.

Nice work everybody – the few extra days at High Camp were worth it!

George Dunn

Waiting game...

According to the Alaska Mountaineering blog there are strong winds up on the mountain and that keeps Heli and the team grounded at High Camp at 17,000 feet at least for now. It seems they were really lucky in being able to summit yesterday as the weather has turned worse since then. Well, better this way.

Summit!

Congrats to Heli and the team! It seems based on the satellite tracker they summited just a moment ago! Woohooo!

On the way to the highest mountain in North America!

We suddenly got another blip Heli's tracker indicating they are now on their way to the summit! It could be that the device is just too deep inside Heli's pack. Great news anyways, let's keep our eyes open for the tracker to say they are on the top later tonight! :-)

Waiting game at High Camp at 17,000 feet...

We only received one ping from Heli's satellite tracker today and it is not moving, so it appears the team is hunkered down at Camp V at 17,000. They are most likely just waiting for the weather to improve.

Next up - the summit?

Great news, the team has moved into Camp V at 17,000 feet today. I must assume they are now waiting for the weather window to make the summit bid. Here's what the mountain weather forecast says:

...ABOVE 14 THOUSAND FEET...
.FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY.
LOW AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...NEAR 5 BELOW.
WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTHEAST 20 TO 30 MPH.
.SATURDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY.
HIGH AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...NEAR 10 ABOVE.
WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTHEAST AROUND 30 MPH.
.OUTLOOK SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...
LOW PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE
MOUNTAIN THROUGH TUESDAY. AREAS OF MOISTURE WILL ROTATE AROUND THE
LOW AND PRODUCE A CHANCE OF SNOW AT TIMES. SUMMIT WINDS...MAINLY
SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST 20 TO 30 MPH.

Rest day at 14,000 feet

The Alaska Mountaineering blog (http://alaskamountaineeringschool.blogspot.com/) that Heli's group is taking a day off from climbing and resting at Camp IV at 14,000 feet. I was a bit worried when Heli's tracker too a significant side step earlier today but I guess they were "sightseeing in the neighborhood" :-) The last update is from the Camp IV area again, so all seems to be well!

Up and down

Quite a lot of progress over the past couple of days. Looks like the team is now going up & down the mountain to haul gear up gradually, and also executing on the old rule - climb high, sleep low. The really good news is that we are now getting good amount of data from Heli's tracker and can keep a good eye on their progress :-)

There is a brief mention on the AMS blog about Heli's group (look for reference to Phil who is the lead guide) when they were hovering around 11,000 feet: http://alaskamountaineeringschool.blogspot.com/

No mention on IMG's (Phil's company) website yet, but let's keep an eye on that one as well: http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/

Almost Camp 3 - ascending fast!

Great progress on the mountain! Looks like they are going up fast, now almost at camp 3! We are now getting better (i.e. more frequent) data from Heli's tracker device as well.

Progress!

Looks like the team is making great progress. For some reason we are getting very sparse data from Heli's tracker device (supposed to be every 20 min or so when they are on the go). Well, at least we know they are on the move and approaching Camp I.

Journey is about to begin!

Good news, the weather has cleared up! Heli and the rest of the group are flying from Talkeetna to the Kahiltna glacier (basecamp) this morning. As soon as they touch down, they will get their gear organized and start heading up on snowshoes. Heli has about 110+ lbs of gear - 40 lbs in her pack and 70 lbs + on the sled she is pulling... The tracker should be on as soon as they start heading up the mountain!

How to Use the Map

Once you install the plug-in, the Google Earth map at the top of this blog will keep the currently reported position in view by automatically updating the camera angle. You can just leave the page open and let it do its thing if you like. The current position will be updated about every 15 minutes.

However, this 3D map is also fully interactive and tons of fun to play with!! Explore! Click on the track marks! They will show you interesting travel stats. Click and drag the map left and right or in and out with your mouse or use the navigation controls that appear on the upper right side of the map:

From top to bottom, these controls allow you to:

(circle with the 'eye' icon) change the view from the 'camera' including spinning about the compass. My favorite is to click on the 'N' which will cause the map to orient North up.

(circle with the 'hand' icon) move the camera around - left, right, in, out (same is click and dragging on the map).

(+ - slider) zoom in and zoom out of the map

Become a navigation expert (and impress your friends) by checking out the full user documentation on Navigating in Google Earth. It's worth a look!!

Have fun! If you have any questions or are interested in having a 3DGeoTrail for your own adventures, contact us at RainOn.