June 20, 2012
Good news from Liberty Ridge!
Camp at Thumb Rock
Justin Merle called in this afternoon at 2pm PDT. The team is doing well. They spent last night on lower Curtis Ridge at  7,000’ and got an early start this morning, walking by 6am. They made good progress climbing the Carbon Glacier to the foot of Liberty Ridge at 8,500’ , reaching that point at 8:30am. The team climbed up the west side of the ridge in good firm sun cupped snow, then bumped to the east side after 500 feet, continuing up in more sloppy, wet snow but with good step kicking conditions. Justin reported that they had been in camp for a couple of hours already. He and guide Aaron Mainer were planning to climb a bit higher this afternoon to kick in steps for the following morning.
The plan is to depart even earlier tomorrow, with a 3 or 4am departure, heading for the summit.
The team plans to climb up over the summit and descend via the Camp Muir, Disappointment Cleaver route down the south side of the mountain. They’ll likely spend a final night somewhere down near Camp Muir.
We’ll hope to be able to report the team’s success tomorrow!
George Dunn