Howdy MountainZoners, this is Matt Szundy with Alp 10, calling from about 9,800' on Mt. McKinley. This is our first cybercast of the expedition, and we have come up with a team name: we are Da Fine Dieter (I think--ed.). Sort of an inside joke, but, you know, that's our name.

So we're group Da Fine Dieter, and we'll introduce the group. We have Sherri, Luis, Jay, Brian, Jim, and Adam. Eric Remza is my other guide, and we are having a blast in a complete whiteout up here. We got up to 9,800' camp by using GPS and a compass in a total whiteout. We got off the wanded route. This time of year there's 192 people on the mountain at this point and this time of year the mountain's pretty empty believe it or not and so the wands are thin, the trail is thin, and there's not a lot of impact up here, which is kind of nice...bit of a wilderness experience on the West Buttress.

Most of the 192 people are up at 14,2 camp or above on the upper mountain. We haven't seen anybody at all in our last two days of traveling. We moved in one push at night from Base Camp to Camp I. The team's looking really strong. Most everyone on the team has high-altitude experience, and four of the team members have climbed together on Aconcagua, so that's a big advantage for us. We've got wonderful team skills and team unity already.

We're having a really good time, and hopefully the weather will improve for us. We will still be able to move up to 11 camp in the next day or so, and based on the weather, to get around Kahiltna Pass. And we will sit there until Windy Corner allows us through to 14,2 camp.

So that's about it for now. Once again this is team Da Fine Dieter at 9,800 foot camp. Putting in a cache, and we're thinking about our friends and family and we'll talk to you soon. Take care.

— Matt Szundy, Alpine Ascents International Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent