Steve called at 9:30. They are hunkered down at 14,00 feet in the high winds. Weather has warmed today form 20 bleow yesterday to about zero. Tomorrow's high expected to be 15 degrees. The prediction is for several more days of high winds. High winds at 14,000 mean even higher winds at 17,000 feet. So they are likely at this camp for a few more days, which is appropriate given the schedule and need to acclimate.
Steve and Ben went to 13,200 feet to retreive the cache they had left there. Andy stayed in camp today. He did go to the medical tent and flirted with the nurse as well as being checked out. He is safe. The back is better and apparently fine; the knee is swollen and may not be fine. At this point, there are several days to determine plans for Andy and the rest of the team. One day at a time. R&R day tomorow.
Sally
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Denali 2008 climb by Steve Evans, Ben Barlin and Andy Ginsburg
ORCA is short for Oregon (Andy and Steve) and California (Ben). To add a comment on a post, double click that post.
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2008
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May
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- 17,000 foot camp
- The team splits
- May 29th update delayed blog entry
- The Steve Vortex
- Hanging out in camp
- There is something to be said for youth!
- Except for the cold, the weather is unpredictable.
- Playing Cards at 14,200 ft.
- May 23, 2008
- Thursday- up to 14,000 feet
- Hill climbing with sleds
- Election Day- May 20, 2008
- Hiking to Camp 2
- Sunday May 18, 2008, 9 pm
- Pictures
- They are on the glacier!
- Anchorage
- The trip starts tomorrow!
- Current conditions on the mountain
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May
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3 comments:
Friends and teammates are very important ! I am glad that we have so many good people in the climbing community. Whenever I venture out into the mountains the people I meet are more healthy, happy, fit, motivated and fun to be around than anywhere else. Take care of each other. Thanks for the update.
Kerry K.
I understand that ORCA is communicating via a satellite phone. I was just wondering what the phone's battery life is. Are they carrying extra batteries or do they have a (solar?) recharger? Also, care to share the per minute cost? I realize that it is priceless. Thanks for the updates!
Bob W
Bob, the phone battery lasted for a couple of weeks, and we had 3 batteries. Lithium batteries are amazing - the key is to warm them up before using them. We also used lithium batteries to recharge the iPods and for the radios, and we brought several replacement batteries for the cameras. All in all, the batteries lasted much longer than I thought they would. Other teams used solar chargers, which also work well, but you can only charge during sunny days (which could be days you want to move).
Andy
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