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Traffic Jam on the Kahiltna
Team 6: Talkeetna - Friday, May 31, 2002
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Hey, this is Eric Larson with Alpine Ascents expedition number six. It's May 31 and its about four o'clock in Talkeetna in the afternoon. We've had rough weather, its been beautiful in Talkeetna but the air strip in the Kahiltna glacier has been socked in with clouds so planes can't land so there's been a big traffic jam, I'd say, with climbers going in and climbers coming out.

"The air strip in the Kahiltna glacier has been socked in with clouds so planes can't land so there's been a big traffic jam, I'd say..."

I'd like to take this time right now to introduce my team. I'll be working with Doug Workman, good last name to have to be a guide, Workman, and then we got a Canadian woman, her name is Peggy Foster, she's going to be trying to be the first woman from Canada to summit all seven high points of the world, and then we have Jeff Bohl, and then Marshall Warren, Jay Yambert, Todd Hellman and Bob Baker and we'd like to say welcome and say hi to all family and loved ones and we're going to be leaving this evening, hopefully if the weather improves, and get on the Kahiltna glacier.

We're going to be going through the lower Kahiltna glacier in the evening that night when it's cold and frozen so we have a better chance to stay away from crevasse falls and any other objective hazards. [Noise of plane flying by] Plane going by. We're going to be camping at the base camp at 7200 feet. We'll take off about 2 am in the morning and travel to the bottom of the ski hill. It's about 5.5, 6 miles and it's a good, hard, heavy pull and we're going to be trying to do it in one lap so we don't have to go back up heart-break hill, which is famous for breaking hearts cause we don't want to climb anymore. But we'll be in touch with you guys and I hope everyone is well. This is Eric Larson signing out for Alpine Ascents expedition six and we'll see you on the other side. Bye.

Eric Larson, Alpine Ascents International Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent