Back to civilization.

The team flew out to Talkeetna yesterday evening when the weather finally cleared enough for the planes to find them in their camp on the Pika Glacier. They spent Wednesday night in Talkeetna and John entertained the team and the locals alike at the local Pizza place singing hits from the 80's. It sounds like they all had a really great trip.

They are fishing on the Talkeetna river this evening, and plan to drive back to Anchorage tonight.

Rope work

We got a call from the team this evening and it sounds like it was a fun filled day of rope work. They traveled out of camp to find a place to rappel, ascend a rope and practice their crevasse rescue skills. It was a full day with a big curry dinner at the finish line. The group is scheduled to fly out tomorrow, so lets cross our fingers for a weather window big enough to land some planes.

Fun Crevasse Rescue Practice

They found a crevasse that they could access easily today to practice crevasse rescue techniques and do a bit of rappelling. It was a really nice day again, a few clouds, but overall they are enjoying some really good conditions.

Here's the evening call from the Pika Glacier,

A Ski Day

Sonja called this evening from the Pika glacier to give us the update for the crew. The weather wasn't perfect, but they were still able to get out and go for a ski tour today. They've picked out a great spot to do some ice climbing, so hope to be able to get a nice day for climbing tomorrow. They are having a great trip so far, and have been able to get out and have some fun in the mountains.

Here's the evening podcast, the sat phone gets a bit garbled at the end, but it's pretty fun anyway.

A beautiful day on the Pika Glacier

They had a really nice day in the mountains! Kevin called this afternoon as they returned from a ski tour up the glacier. It was a beautiful day and they were thrilled to be in the mountains.

Here's the evening call from James, checking in from the Pika Glacier.

Into the Alaska Range!

The team drove to Talkeetna this morning from Anchorage, checked into Denali National Park at the Talkeetna Ranger Station, and flew into the Alaska Range. They flew into the range in a plane called an "Otter" equipped with skis for landing on the snow. The flight takes about 35 minutes to go from Talkeetna at under 400 ft above sea level to the Pika glacier where they landed in the middle of the Alaska Range at over 5,600 ft. They will be living on the glacier in the snow for the next 5-6 days.

The area we chose this year for the trip is know as "Little Switzerland" and provides many different opportunities for glacier travel, maybe a bit of skiing, and some climbing. They should be able to find fun for all.

They'll be calling in nightly for the rest of the trip to update their days adventures and we'll pass it on through this blog, so keep watching.

Welcome to the Alaska Adaptive Adventure!

Thanks for joining us as we follow the adventures of the second annual Mountain Trip/Telluride Adaptive Sports Program "Alaska Adaptive Adventure!"