Safe at Camp V (17,200 ft.)

Just a quick update from the guys - they descended safely from the summit (20,320 ft.) to Camp V (17,200 ft.) last night and left around noon today for Camp IV (14,200 ft.). They plan to spend the night there tonight and make it down to Base Camp by Friday. Once they reach Base Camp, they have to wait for good weather to fly from the Kahiltna Glacier back to Talkeetna. If the weather is good, they could catch a flight on Friday night or Saturday.

I can't believe they summited within 10 days of landing at Base Camp on May 6! Truly amazing.

I found a great website from PBS with a feature on Denali - great for kids to learn about mountain climbing and fun for adults, too! http://pbskids.org/nova/denali/where.html The "Body Breakdowns" link is great to see how the altitude and living outside in such harsh conditions during a climbing expedition on Denali takes its toll on you.

Just to give some context to what Aaron and Scott have just accomplished, this is a list of the highest points on each continent, commonly known as the "Seven Summits."

Excerpt from the PBS NOVA site:

"What are the "Seven Summits?"
The world has seven continents, each with its highest mountain peak. It is becoming more and more popular for climbers to try and climb all seven summits, which are also known as the Seven Sisters. Only a handful of people has succeeded. To reach the top of any of these is a huge achievement.

The continental Seven Summits are well known because of the popular challenge to conquer them all, but the world's highest peaks—those that reach 8,000+ meters (over 26,000 feet)—are all found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in the Himalayan and the Karakoram mountain ranges of Nepal and Pakistan."