Denali Expedition: Bond Girls Survive another Day at 14k
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,200'
June 17, 2023 11:04 PM PT
Day 12 of our Denali climb.
Today we had a sleep in at Camp 3 and woke up in beautiful sunshine and 15cm (6 inches) of fresh powdery snow. We looked at all the climbers who went up the fixed lines to get to 17k camp for a summit push on Sunday, but we all agreed the night before that we need more time at 14k camp before our summit push. We hope for another weather window at the end of next week (fingers crossed). No worries, big strong Andy still has two pounds of cheese left and will be safe.
Instead of climbing, we hired lovely Lenhardt for an intense yoga session to get mentally and physically ready for this mountain. After that railroad, Jeff improved our eating tent to make it comfier for the following days and Katherine worked hard to make Joey's long hair cut more functional and fashionable for the mountain.
The focus of the afternoon was listening to music, chill outside, eat snacks and hydrate, and let our bodies adjust to the new altitude. We also improved our sleeping tents, so the polar bear can sleep well at night and doesn't attack his tent mates. In the evening, Heidi gave us a call to come to the edge of the world for the first round of Denali's Next Top Model. We stretched our legs and walked over to this stunning place where the mountain drops 7,000 feet to the northeast fork of Kahiltna. We had great views of Mount Foraker and the valley. We had a good photoshoot, and all the Bond girls made it to the second round. Heidi was very proud of us. When we came back to our camp, Mr. Bond had already prepared a nice dinner for us.
To finish the day, a short German "th" joke for you . The captain of a boat is calling the German coast guard "Help, we are sinking, we are sinking". The German coast answers "Ok, no worries, what are you thinking about?".
Stephan Schiffer aka Polar Bear
Comments (4)
Wow! You are going to summit soon!! What a thrill and what an amazing achievement - so proud of you!
Posted by: Mary McKinley on
Praying y’all get good weather for your next push! 17K! I can’t believe it! Good luck guys! Stay safe y’all!
Keep killing it Mikayla!!
Posted by: Mack Thompson on
Hehehe… good one. I’m so impressed with ya’ll! Praying hard for your window to summit!
Mikayla, Pop got your Father’s Day love.
Posted by: Michelle DeMers on
A bit of humor to help loosen the Bond Girls up for the next 3,000 ’ ?
Posted by: Roger Coffey on