“We’re fine, bored and anxious to get going” reports Dave Pellegrini, hoarse and husky voiced from 8 days at altitude, who called in yesterday at 6:30 pm to report that TZT was still camped at 14,200 ft. due to snow and high winds. A trend toward better slightly weather is anticipated.

 

No new teams arrived at camp, and those already there are doing their best to fend off boredom in the cold, windy and overcast conditions. One group challenged a rival team to an ice ax contest, and park rangers gave an ice climbing demonstration. Chris learned how to ‘skateboard’ -- a combination skateboard and snowboard setup on a course that the rangers had built.

 

The team emptied out their tents and moved them to new, hard packed snow as body warmth had created depressions below the old site. “My sleeping bag felt like a lawn chair,” says Dave P.

 

TZT will today attempt to move to the higher camp at 17,200 ft.. “We gotta do something” observes Dave, reminding the team that they’ve been up against harsh and challenging conditions before at Muir Camp on Rainier. “We’re running out of time.”