jesselillis Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 (edited) Two friends and I are planning to climb the upper West Rib of Denali (West Buttress to 14K). We're not sure if we'll down climb the upper West Rib (and return to our high camp and then 14K), or do a carryover (climbing the upper West Rib with our high camp gear, descending back to 14K on the West Buttress). Conditions and our comfort en route may make the decision for us. I'd like to hear from anyone who has down climbed the upper West Rib. Feel free to post or PM me. Edited May 2, 2013 by jesselillis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 reckon they call it the orient express for a reason? would think acclimatizing on the w butt, maybe caching some goodies for a carry-over descent at 17, would be the ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielHarro Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Check pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaleHoopes Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 I agree with ivan. I think descent down the West Buttress will be your best option. If you did an acclimatization hike up to 17 and took some stuff and cached it, then you'd be golden to come back down the Buttress. If I was doing the rib that's what I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredSilly Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 You really should not need to cache anything at 17k on the West Butt. Going from balcony camp, to the summit, and down to 17k on the Butt is a reasonable but long day. If shit hits the fan at while on the cut off portion of the route just descend to 14k and try again. Further, going up the upper portion of the rib should be pretty light so carrying up and over is not a burden. All you need is a bit of food and fuel for 17k. And if something blows in at 17k and you spend a few days there you can always rob another cache as there will be plenty. One can climb the whole West Butt without food or fuel just rob old caches along the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 We carried over and descended the West Buttress after climbing the Cassin. While the West Rib isn't as technical it's nice to take a lower stress descent. There were fixed ropes on the upper portion of the West Buttress to clip into too. When acclimatizing we left some food at 16,000 on the WB. It was nice, but isn't too far to the flats at 14 from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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