Chris called in this afternoon and said it's been a beautiful day. They had a relatively relaxing day today, doing what is called a "back carry". Two days ago they carried a load from Camp 1 at 7,800 ft up to about 10,500 ft near Kahiltna Pass. Yesterday they passed this cache of gear on their way up to Camp 2 at 11,200 ft. Today's job was to go back down the hill and pick up the gear. It usually takes about 15-20 minutes to walk down to the cache, and about 1-1.5 hrs to carry it all back up the hill. We use this strategy to break up the big load carrying days into 2 smaller days, and it allows the climbers to acclimate to the increasingly higher altitudes. A back carry day is really an acclimitization day with a bit of activity.
Everyone is doing great up there, and passed on a hello to Kate who is probably home by now.
Here's the evening update called in by Lance. The sat phone cut's out a bit for the last part of the call, but you can get the idea.
Hi Paul! We're thinking of you! Bean says "Paul...Paul!" Wishing you and the rest of the group luck in your climb. ~ Laura, Josh, Bean & Baci
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