Talkeetna Air Taxi

Lisa has arrived at her camp for the next 2 1/2 months, where she will be there to meet and greet climbers that come from all over the globe to climb Denali.  She and her troop of strong volunteers flew into the Kahiltna Glacier on Friday April 27th to shovel her tent spot for the season.  They dug down about 8 feet to provide shelter from the wind, cold temperatures and the inevitable meltage from the Alaskan midnight sun. 

 

TAT's Downtown Superstar Randi volunteered to help set up basecamp.  Here she is resting her back from shoveling while basking in the sun.  Seems like one of the first years that basecamp set up has happened without delays on a beautiful bluebird day.  Hopefully that weather trend will continue this summer with beautiful days of mountain flying and taking climbers to their next adventures.

TAT flew a group up to stay at the Mountain house in early April.  Matt, Amber and Ian shared with us their photo shoot of the Northern Lights, that they were so lucky to get a glimpse of and share with us. 

Looks like the Spring might be the new hot time to see Northern Lights.

 

The Ruth has been a busy landing strip the last few days after a fresh meter of snow.  Once the drizzle stopped in Talkeenta and the snow in the mountains TAT flew all over Alaska to drop climbers off for their adventures. We have groups in the Buckskin, Gorge, Pika Ruth glacier and even into the Kichatnas.  They all know that TAT will get you there, and pick you up!  Current conditions around the range appear good with average snow pack.  Looks like there has been little to no freeze thaw yet.

Currently in the range, over half of our climbers came all the way to Alaska from France.

Here is a photo from when we dropped a group of 9 French off in the Kichatna Mountains.

To start off the climbing season, John Frieh and Doug Sheperd pioneered a new route on the Northeast face of Mt. Dickey. 

 Check out their BLOG for some photos and hot info on Mt. Dickey.  

Thanks for the info John and Doug, happy climbing this season.

(2011 photo of Mt. Dickey in all it's glory)

 

So as climbing season is starting to gear up we have some pre-season condition reports while we are still awaiting our first groups to return with some good beta.
Snow fall in general has been above average, compared to the last five years, and the snow conditions appear to be stable.
It is starting to warm up in the range with temps of zero at night and up to a whopping 20 degrees during the day.
Looks like ice is starting to take shape. Stay tuned for reports as our groups get back.

Kahiltna and Ruth routes are looking good from the air, but no climber reports yet.

 Groups that have been into the Mountain House in March have been lucky to get spectacular shows of the Northern Lights.  But our day light is coming back at 6 minutes a day, and the sun is now setting at 9:00 pm.  Welcome to the midnight sun.

Here is a picture of the East face of the Moose's Tooth and the Bear tooth taken earlier this week.

   

Early season sneak preview of the Gorge......  ohh la la.  Conditions are looking good, reports should be coming in these next weeks.

Masa is still trying to get up Hunter. This photo was taken of him at basecamp on the 9th of January.

     

 

Lonnie is off the mountain! The wind and weather just did not cooperate during his 2nd winter McKinley summit attempt. He says that he will spend time accumulating a Greenlandic dog team and enjoy many long dog mushing trips in the future. Only time will tell if he comes back to try McKinley again. Photo was taken January 9th courtesy of Talkeetna Air Taxi.

Interested in flightseeing tours in 2012? Peruse through our e-brochure, or you can call or email to request a live copy of your very own. 

Call or email 7 days a week from 9-3 AST for questions or reservations. 

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Happy holidays.

 

 

 

 The tundra colors are amazing right now! It's wonderful to be able to see the dramatic scenery each season has to offer here at the base of the Alaska Range.

                                                                  

 These beautiful pictures are courtesy of our very own Tyler Westhoff.