Rest Day at High Camp

Climbers on the Autobahn a couple of weeks ago with Mount Foraker rising above the clouds in the distance. You can just make out high camp at the edge of the snowy plateau in the center of the photo.

I received word that yesterday the team took a rest/acclimatization day at high camp. The day spent moving up to camp is huge, so most teams plan on taking a rest day before attempting the summit.

I just looked at the TAT webcam (http://www.talkeetnaair.com/webcam/index.html) and it sure looks like a summit day! My guess is that they are making their way up the Autobahn as I type. The Autobahn is a long rising traverse which leads from high camp to Denali Pass at just over 18,000 feet. The name comes from some dark humor and refers to a German team which slipped while descending the traverse. Don't worry, our team will clip their ropes to a whole lot of snow pickets to avoid any such misshaps.