Steve Evans-Special to The Daily Times
DENALI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska - "Hey, Steve. This is Keith ... calling ... from high camp. We're going to have to turn around. Kent is sick. Storm coming in ... projected 50 mile per hour winds ..." is all that was heard in a brief and garbled transmission from Keith McPheeters to Steve Evans at 9:30 p.m. Alaskan time on Friday.
Five climbers of the Cops on Top 1999 Denali Expedition: Keith McPheeters and Kent O'Donnell of Farmington; and Hank Bezema, Frank Stevelmans and Paul Kern of the Netherlands, are now in their 19th day of their assault on Denali.
McPheeters and O'Donnell provided more complete information to family members in calls made from the mountain Saturday. McPheeters and O'Donnell established high camp on Thursday. McPheeters said it is "the most god forsaken camp I've ever been to" due to the rigors of climbing "The Headwall" from 14,200 feet to 16,200 feet, and then negotiating the precarious ridgeline of the West Buttress to 17,200 feet.
The two men rested Friday to gather strength for a summit bid Saturday. They were hopeful as they watched a few climbers return to high camp after successfully reaching the summit, including one soloist who made the ascent from another route.
However, weather forecasts indicated a storm system from the Gulf of Alaska which was expected to bring snow to Denali late on Saturday. Temperatures above 17,000ft were anticpated to fall to at least 10 degrees below zero with winds increasing to 50 mph. The combination of these factors would produce wind chill temperatures of approximately -70 degrees. The storm could last as long as five days. Further, O'Donnell is suffering from severe headaches and nausea - both symptoms of altitude sickness.
McPheeters and O'Donnell decided to descend Saturday morning, since their window of opportunity for the summit closed primarily as a consequence of the weather, the altitude, and the team splitting up.
Meanwhile, Dutch climbers Henk Bezema, Frank Stevelmans and Paul Kern
arrived safely at base camp Saturday and were flown to Talkeetna where
they will await the return of the others.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Steve Evans lives in Utah and owns Cops on Top, Inc. in West Jordan, Utah.