Alpine Team Hunger Force at 7'800 Feet

We got a spot update last night from Team Hunger Force and it appears they are back at Ski Hill.  Some refer to this area as the "Northeast Fork."  My guess is that the Cassin Ridge was not in condition for climbing safely, and since it is early in the season and that route only has about 10% success rate, I wouldn't be surprised.  Richard (James' father) made a very good point that often times on the internet people only report of their successes, not their failures.  It's important to realize, and I know Scott and James do, that the game of mountaineering is one of suffering.  Slogging, enduring wretched storms, eating less than ideal meals,   all to get MAYBE a chance at climbing is the essence of mountaineering and really, life.  

I have NO clue what they will do next, but I'll keep updating with any info I get!

Ski Hill Camp - SPOT Location "OK"

Ski Hill Camp - SPOT Location "OK"

Having made it to the base of the Cassin, this would be the route to the top.

Scott and James made it to the base of the Cassin Ridge to see if it would go.

More Video From AK on the Cassin

Video of Base of Cassin (not Scott's)

In Route!

I haven't had a chance to figure out exactly where they are at on the route, but I got a SPOT "OK" last night from Alpine Team Hunger Force!

http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=C8F20/63.04610N/151.04082W

I'll get some things figured out and get it update with more useful beta.

Summit Push!

Scotty called Saturday afternoon to say he and James had gotten some solid information from another team about the weather and it appeared they had the window they've been waiting for!

I think the plan was to leave on Sunday to head over to the Cassin Ridge.  There are a few ways to get over to the base of the climb, I'm not exactly sure which they'll be taking but it would take at least a day.  There is a pretty good chance they'll do the Seattle 72 Ramp.

If they get the weather window and get up the climb there is a chance they'll be out early.  According to the climbing guide, climbing time  is 3-7 days up, and 1-2 days down.

Here is a complete description of the route.

Cassin Ridge

Even better, here's Colin Haley's blog about it.

I'll be sure to update with any news I get!   Go Scott (and James!) Go!

3 Minutes and 15 seconds

Scott got ahold of a satellite phone the other day and gave me a shout! It was a speedy conversation but an amazing one! He said they'd made 14K camp on the 9th and would continue to stay there getting ready to head over toward the Cassin if/when they get a weather window.  Needless to say it was awesome to hear his voice and he sends his love to all our friends and family! 

14 Camp!

I got the SPOT update last night that Scott and James have reached 14,000 ft camp. From here they will spend some days acclimatizing by climbing higher while sleeping at the 14 camp. One guide book suggests acclimatizing by making trips to the summit or to 17,000 foot camp on the standard West Buttress route before attempting the Cassin or the West Rib. They may also move their gear up the West Rib Cut-off or to the proposed high camp on the rib. Either way when the fellas take off for either of these routes they may take the West Rib cut-off and then descend down the West Rib route to the start of either route as both the Cassin and the West Rib starts are very close together. It will be hard to know what route they choose until we get SPOT check-ins.

11,000 Camp Check-in!

A few nights ago we got another spot update from James and Scott from the mountain.

From what I could map out, they've made 11,000 ft camp.  From standard climbing procedures they probably are taking a rest day and will be shuttling their gear up to 14,000 ft camp.  We won't know what route they are attempting until they are past 14 camp and even then we won't know if they are attempting the West Rib or the Cassin until after that!  I love the SPOT updates!

Scott and James' SPOT Location as of  05/07/2013 17:37:41 PDT

A different view of where they are.

Alpine Team Huger Force UPdate!

Nell got a call with word from Lisa at base camp yesterday.   Scott and James apparently stayed around base camp for a week during which they were able to climb Mt. Francis.  They headed out and up a couple days ago!

Mt. Francis

If you feel like digging through some pretty cool pictures here's a link of a trip report that also shows a picture of the minimoonflower route which Scott wanted to get on. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/846703/1

Mo' Beta

I keep receiving notes and packages from Scott that he prepped before he left because he wanted me to know he was with me, even though not physically but "in spirit."   Scott and James are not alone on the mountain.   Their support team of friends and family are with them every step of the way.  Even though we don't have much communication, their home team has been doing research on Denali perhaps in part to pass the time that we spend worrying about them but mostly because we want to understand as much as we can when they tell their stories that make them who they are.

Nell sent a few more links worth passing on.

The first is a link from the National Weather Service for the weather forecast up on the mountain.  She also included other links including a radio broadcast on the history of the mountain.  

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2013/04/19/denali-climbing-season-begins/

 http://alaskamountaineeringschool.blogspot.com/

Here is a link to the Alpine Institute's guided Cassin Ridge trip.  Scott and James were really looking to try to get on the Cassin.  

http://www.alpineinstitute.com/catalog/denali-expedition-cassin-ridge/  

The following picture shows three routes of interest for Scotty and James.  Scott and his friend Phil climbed the West Buttress route a few years ago.  The Cassin was the main objective for this expedition although they may end up on the West Rib route.

Updates from Achorage

James' mother, Nell sent an email with a recap of Talkeetna as well as some pictures!  Thanks Nell!  She also included some websites for information on weather and a webcam of Denali.

http://www.talkeetnaair.com/web-cam

http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-McKinley/forecasts/2500

Glacier Geography

Waldo is easy to locate compared to Scotty. While I'm usually the one sending out the spot signal I am loving getting the updates on Team AHF.

The following photos show their whereabouts and what I especially like is the map image of a couple of their first objectives.

My dad bought me a couple books for my ACL recovery and one of them is on Denali which of course I've begun reading again with a different perspective. Fact: The climbing permits allowed on Denali per year are limited to 1500, yet they've never had to turn down anyone. All time summit success rates are around 52 percent.  I thought Scott being gone maybe I'd get around to reading other books, it's starting to look like I was wrong.

I'm not sure how many people know this but I too have aspirations of climbing "The Tall One" and so I've actually been enjoying the process of collecting info on the mountain and I've always been a pretty solid arm chair mountaineer. It's not easy having Scotty be gone and I've been a total chick about it, but in reality I'm a little jealous of his adventure. The combination of my own infatuation with the mountain and my relationship with Scott is probably resulting with a bit of an obsession in a quest for knowledge about the mountain, thus this blog but Scotty's also put a lot on the line to make this climb and follow his dreams and I'm proud of him for it.

The Mixed Master is Up and AWAY!

I just talked to Scott and he signed off ready to embark out on the lower glacier!  The winds are still a howling up there but all systems go!  He and James will be spending some time on the lower glacier and are going to be doing some climbing there before making their way to 16 camp (16,000 ft) probably sometime during the first week of May!  Their objective climbs for the first week or so is Mt. Francis and the Kahiltna Queen.  The Mini Moonflower wasn't looking like it would be in shape for them to climb, but I know that's been on his list.

He sends his love and will probably be checking back in a few weeks.   I'll gather some beta on the climbs he has planned and post it intermittently to keep us occupied until we here more!

Waiting To Fly

The latest update from AK is that the winds were too strong to get out on the glacier today but Team Alpine Hungerforce is ready to go when the weather window opens, hopefully tomorrow. I know Scott is definitely itching to get out there and get some climbing in. The temperature report out there right now is a blazing -30.

Scotty and James have a SPOT they'll be sending out periodic check-ins that even give a link that will map out their location on google maps.

Scott Matz now has his very own blog.

This is is folks.  The day that Scotty gets a blog.  Scott called early (alpine start early) to let me know he'd landed in Anchorage and all his bags had made it.  He and James have some serious errands to run to get all their last minute items they didn't want to have to haul with them to AK.  Fortunately, James is from Alaska so his mom is there to help chauffeur them around. Yay for moms!

I'll be holding this down till Scott returns and will be relaying any info I get off the glacier!  Scott's in for the climb of his life, (until the next one) climb your ass off Scott!

- Mel