Homayoun Jalali Heads to the Top of North America

Alrighty, so everyone is sort of waiting on weather. It is fairly clear and sunny but it is also pretty windy and cold up there with a lenticular cloud sort of hoovering like a UFO over the summit, which usually means bad weather is on the way.

There was a successful carry to the 6th line today. Climbing was a little strenuous today due to icy conditions so the party will take a well deserved rest day tomorrow before continuing on.

The expedition is spending another night acclimating and enjoying the beautiful veiws from the 14,000 foot camp. As one of the first expeditions of the season they will have the priveledge of digging out the "Fixed Lines". These are ropes that are anchored in the snow and ice and help climbers ascend the steeper terrain to the ridge at 16,200ft. There are about 700 feet of this fixed rope and the first teams(Guides) of the season have the job of clearing the snow and getting them ready to use. The plan from this camp is to carry a load of food and fuel to the ridge at 16,000ft, and then return to camp at 14,000 to rest for a day. After that they will be ready to move to high camp at 17,200 feet as soon as the weather looks good. Wish them luck with the weather, and we will update as soon as we get some new news.

We recieved a call this evening, the expedition did a carry up to the ridge, tomorrow they hope to move up to 17,000ft.

That bad weather has passed. . hopefully the good stuff is here to stay. Our esteemed informants notified us that everyone is fantastic and that they are doing a back carry and then heading up to 14,000ft.

We got a call this afternoon from Homi and the team. They carried a load from the 11,000 ft camp to 13,500 ft and left their cache above Windy Corner. Tommorow if the weather cooperates they will be moving up to 14,000 feet. Homi said he is doing great. They spent a couple of days waiting out the weather in camp at 11,000ft, but hope that weather is past and they can keep moving up.

Homi and company are in the no call zone where their cell phones won't get a signal. They should be to the 14,000ft camp on Sunday, and we hope to get a call from them at that time. For now no news is good news.

We'll update the blog as soon as we hear something.

The view to the West, looking down the S.E. Fork of the Kahiltna at Mount Foraker.

After a long flight, Homi has arrived in Alaska and is making the final preparations for his attempt to climb to the summit of North America. His equipment looked great at the gear check where he met his guides: Heidi Kloos, Dave Ahrens, and Kevin Wright.

Tonight they hope to eat at the delicious Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage and then get some sleep before heading up to Talkeetna in the morning. They will need to register with the National Park Sevice before they can fly to the glacier. They are currently scheduled to fly at noon! We'll keep our fingers crossed!