May 1, 2017

Paul Claus’s Twin Otter On the Glacier (George Dunn)

Expedition leader Aaron Mainer called in yesterday to report that the team summited Mt. Jarvis and is now safely back at their base camp. Congratulations to the team for a 100% successful climb!

Aaron reports that on April 29 they had a decent break in the weather and were able to go for the summit of Mt. Jarvis. At around 12,000 feet they lost visibility in the clouds, but were able to continue to the top. Just before descending the weather cleared and they were able to enjoy the view and descend in clear skies. The team reached camp just before 5pm and spent the night. The next morning, April 30, the team moved back to base camp. Given the few remaining days left to the expedition, the team determined there was not time for a second ascent, and now they are waiting for a clearing in the weather and an opportunity for the bush pilot to come and pick them up.

Update, Team is flown off the mountain!

As I was composing this blog update, Aaron Mainer called at 11:15pm PDT today, May 1 to report the team is safely back in Chitina. The bush pilot was able to pick up the entire team and drop them at the airstrip. The bad news is the transportation van will not reach them until tomorrow, so they’ll hopefully walk into the very small outpost of Chitina for a dinner and then spend the night camping at the airstrip until their pickup in the morning.

Congratulations to the team for a successful climb of Mt. Jarvis, a peak that is seldom climbed, and a safe and happy end to their time on the remote glaciers of Wrangell/St Elias National Park.

George Dunn

April 27, 2017

Lead guide Aaron Mainer called in from Camp 1 at 5pm PDT on April 26. All is well, the team made the move to Camp 1 in good weather today.  If the weather is good tomorrow the team will make a push up on the mountain to check the route and conditions for a potential summit climb. If conditions are good and they can summit Mt. Jarvis early, then they can turn their sights on another objective, such as Mt. Wrangell. They don’t want to count their chickens before they hatch, though. First things first, they’ll focus on Mt. Jarvis until they get a good weather window and can go for the summit.

George Dunn

April 25, 2017

Our Mt. Sanford team gathered in Anchorage on May 21 without issue other than a set of delayed bags. The team traveled early on Sunday morning to bush pilot Paul Claus’ pickup site at the Chitina airstrip. After aerial reconnaissance of the Sheep Glacier on Mt. Sanford, Paul made the determination that it was not safe to land the team on Mt. Sanford. The conditions were poor for a ski equipped plane landing, with wind blasted, blue ice showing and low snow coverage.  The nice part about visiting the Wrangell Mountains is there is always a plan B. This worked out well and Paul was able to deposit the team at about 9000′ on the Nebesna plateau between Mt. Jarvis and Mt. Wrangell.

Lead guide Aaron Mainer called in today at 5:30pm PDT with an update.  All is well with the team. Today they did a carry across the plateau at 9,000 feet to the base of the south side of Mt Jarvis at approximately 9,700 feet. This will become Camp 1. The group is doing well and all are healthy. The carry was well timed. As the group returned to base camp at the landing site, the weather started to cloud in and the winds increased. The group will have a good rest tonight and then let the weather determine tomorrow’s itinerary. The weather forecast is for light snow and low winds through Tuesday.

George Dunn