May 20, 2013

Hurry up and wait.

The Mt. Bona team met in Anchorage this Saturday afternoon for the start of their program. All the team members’ baggage finally arrived in time for them to depart early Sunday morning on the 4 ½ hour drive to Chitina for pickup by bush pilot Paul Claus.

Unfortunately, cloudy weather prohibited them from being flown onto the Klutlan Glacier at the base of Mt. Bona. Instead, they were delivered to the Claus family facility at an inholding in Wrangell/St Elias National Park on the Chitina River. They spent the night as guests there and hopefully were flown onto the mountain early this morning. Guide Sheldon Kerr will call in by satellite phone tonight with an update. We wish them good success!

George Dunn

May 15, 2013

Today George Dunn is getting his Mt. Bona guides Austin Shannon and Sheldon Kerr dialed for their upcoming Mt. Bona trip.

Looks like they’re off to a good start!

Tye Chapman

May 29, 2012

After 100% success to the top of Mt. Bona on May 26, the entire team descended the mountain on May 27. They had hoped to summit nearby Mt. Churchill before descending, but whiteout conditions prevented them from an attempt. Instead, they descended to their base camp and were flown off the mountain the very next morning. Talk about a quick trip down the mountain! I’ve been in touch with trip leader Sheldon Kerr who is flying home from Anchorage today, and will look forward to hearing her full report on the trip.

My congratulations to the entire team for a job very well done!

George Dunn

May 24, 2012

Mt. Bona

*7:30 pm PDT, May 23 - Lead guide Sheldon Kerr called in for a brief check-in yesterday evening to let us know the team was continuing right on schedule as they moved up the mountain. They made a carry to high camp at 14,000 yesterday, and were planning to either take a rest day or move to high camp today.

All continue to do well and the team is enjoying very good weather to this point.

Nice job, team!

May 22, 2012

Hauling sleds up to Camp 1 (photo: James Tichenor)

Expedition Leader Sheldon Kerr called in at 10am PDT today to report on the team’s progress.

All is going well with the entire team. The weather is beautiful.  The team flew in on schedule, landing on the Klutlan Glacier Sunday afternoon, May 20.  The guides conducted team training and the team carried to Camp 1 at 11,600 feet on Monday, May 21.

The entire team will move to Camp 1 today. All are in great spirits and the team is on the earliest possible schedule, so kudos to them!

George Dunn

May 1, 2012

George just called in from Alaska, where the team has arrived safely back to Chitina and getting on the van to head back to Anchorage.  They’ll make a stop for showers and a hot meal along the way.

Everyone is doing well, family and friends can expect a call from them as soon as cell phones are charged & in range.

Becky Kjorvestad

April 30, 2012

Tent time is a popular pastime in Alaska.

George called in from Bona Base Camp where the team is patiently waiting for a weather window big enough for bush pilot, Paul Klaus, to fly in and scoop them off the glacier.

The current weather is pretty good, but they’re in and out of the clouds preventing good enough visibility for Paul to land.

Everybody is doing great and the team has plenty of food and supplies.

Tye Chapman

April 28, 2012

George just checked in via sat phone… the team is now back at camp after a successful day on the upper mountain of Mt. Bona. They didn’t quite tag the top, but all members of the team had a great day climbing on the 16,421ft. extinct/dormant shield volcano in Wrangell/St. Elias National Park.

They turned a few hundred feet shy of the summit, and to quote George: “It was the right decision at the right time. We’re all back at camp now, tired and 100% happy with our decision. We’ll head back down to the ‘landing strip’ [read flat glacier] tomorrow and if all goes as planned we’ll fly off shortly thereafter.”

Tye Chapman