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Denali climb update: Mills, Scott near 14,000 feet

By Randy Lefko Sports Editor
Posted 6/16/21

ANCHORAGE, AK - Megan Weinstein, of Fleming Island, has been providing updates on the Mills Weinstein, her 12 year old son, as he and his dad, Scott, and climbing expert Andrew Bunn of Jacksonville, …

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Denali climb update: Mills, Scott near 14,000 feet


Posted

ANCHORAGE, AK - Megan Weinstein, of Fleming Island, has been providing updates on the Mills Weinstein, her 12 year old son, as he and his dad, Scott, and climbing expert Andrew Bunn of Jacksonville, ascend up Mt. McKinley in Alaska; a 20,320 foot climb.

Weinstein is in communication with the trio along the way and has provided these periodic updates. The trio is presently near the 14,200 foot mark (Note graphic).

Denali - Day 9:

The guys are still based at Camp 2 (11,200 ft) and doing a lot of caching as they prepare to move up the mountain. On Day 7...they rested ??.

It’s daylight 24/7 so at the end of Day 7 and into Day 8, they backtracked to retrieve the gear they cached a couple of days before. Today, Day 9, they left to cache their gear at 13,500 ft. I just got word they reached 13,500 and are headed back to Camp 2 to rest. It took them about six hours to go from 11,200 to 13,500 ft. Going back to Camp 2 will be quicker but they can expect at least a 10 hour climbing day.

Once they are rested, they will tear down Camp 2 and will start the climb to Camp 3 at 14,200.

The weather will be a big factor the next couple of days. We are watching it closely. Please pray for the weather to clear and for the guys to remain safe, healthy and mentally strong. Thanks everyone, I will give more updates as I have them.

#KlimbingWithTheKid#TeamMills #Leavethenormal #Explorethepossible #Seeyouonthesummit#Denali #HighPoints #climbing #mountaineering

Denali - Day 6:

The guys just checked in and are safe at Camp 2 (11,200 ft). They had a long day. Andrew Bunn worked incredibly hard for the team today and broke the trail all the way up to Camp 2. Andrew is strong and this is hard work that was essential to today’s success and progress. We are grateful he’s a part of Mills’ team. We literally couldn’t do it without him.

They are all safe and feeling good but very tired. Even though it’s freezing (15-20 degrees) they work so hard that when the sun comes out they get overheated. Then when the clouds come, their sweat freezes and they get too cold.

Right now, as I type this, they are at Camp 2, lying in the snow to cool off, eating sandwiches, solar charging their communication devices and relaxing.

In my mind, it’s a mountain climber’s version of a spa day - although I’m sure the guys would say differently ??.

They will rest most of tomorrow and toward the end of the day will go down the mountain a bit to retrieve the “cache” they carried up the mountain a few days ago. They will bring it back up to Camp 2 and will rest a bit more while they acclimate.

Don’t know about you guys, but I’m tired just typing about it. Thanks for following their adventure! More to come soon...

#KlimbingWithTheKid #TeamMills #Leavethenormal #Explorethepossible #Seeyouonthesummit #Denali #HighPoints #climbing #mountaineering

Denali - Day 4:

The guys rested most of yesterday and today at Camp 1. Today they start something called “caching”. They carry some of their gear about 3 miles and will leave it (they bury it) and will return to Camp 1 for the night. Tomorrow they will most likely pack up Camp 1 and will head up to their buried gear to camp. This helps lighten the load and also helps them acclimate.

Most days I do a weather check for them so they can plan according to what’s ahead. Right now, where they are (7,800 ft), the weather is light snow, 5-10 mph winds and around 21-25 degrees. For comparison, today on the summit (20,300 ft), it is -15 degrees with a windchill of -40!

Denali - Day 2:

This is a map of what the next 28 days will look like. The guys left Base Camp this morning with today’s goal being to make it to at least 1/2 Camp (which is midway between Base Camp and Camp 1). Once they reached 1/2 Camp, they felt strong enough to keep going for a few more hours.

They’ve stopped for the night and set up camp a couple of hours short of Camp 1. Today was only 5 miles and about 500 feet in elevation but their gear is heavy and it took almost 12 hours. Tomorrow they will climb a couple of hours to Camp 1 and will rest for the day. Besides being tired, they are feeling pretty good. They are hunkering down for a night of rough weather but tomorrow should be an easy day.