Following is a series of dispatches received via satellite phone throughout the expedition:

Dispatch #1: May 5

We have the 2008 season's first Denali dispatch! Everything is going according to plan so far, and on Sunday, May 4, the team was able to fly onto the glacier and make it to Base Camp safely. They settled into their new surroundings, and were able to establish camp. The glacier is in good condition, with most of the crevasses filled in due to the heavy snowfall. They are currently moving towards Camp 1, and will call again soon!

Dispatch #2: May 7

Guide Paul Ivaska called this evening to report that the Denali Team 1 is doing great! They arrived yesterday, May 6, to Camp 1 at 7,800'. The weather was beautiful with clear, blue skies, and the hike up from Base Camp to Camp 1 took about three hours.

This morning the team left to make a gear cache at 10,000' and it was windy and snowing up on Kahiltna Pass. Everyone did great, and the team is enjoying a relaxing night tonight after hiking six miles today. Paul says that the team has been working great together and they are all enjoying each other's company. The weather is getting a bit cloudier tonight, and they expect that things will deteriorate somewhat in the next few days. Tomorrow they will head for Camp 2 at 11,000'.

Dispatch #3: May 9

"We are at Camp 2 today, taking a rest day. At some point today, we will go down to cache at 10,000, but return to Camp 2 for the evening. And tomorrow, we will head for Windy Corner and make another carry.

Everybody is doing excellent, and the team's spirits are high. The bad weather never came, and although it was overcast today, the skies have been blue and sunny. Yesterday we ate a hearty breakfast of cereal and bars, and had some pasta for dinner. The team worked like clockwork to put together camp last night, and we are completely on schedule. This morning, we really relaxed by cooking a big dish of eggs and hasbrowns, and we all slept in late.

Overall, the conditions are great here - the lower Kahiltna is in incredible shape, compared to last year when there were four serious crevasse falls. This year, the snow has really set up well on the glacier."

Dispatch #4: May 12

A quick update from Lauren - "A team member and I are headed off the glacier. One of the guys was experiencing some health-related problems, and we made the decision to leave as soon as we realized the issue wasn't subsiding. Paul and the other three climbers are heading for Windy Corner and should be caching today. I wish the rest of the team luck!"

Dispatch #5: May 12

Guide Paul Ivaska called with another update today:

"Lester and Lauren (the other AAI guide) made the call to return based on some health concerns. After resorting food and shuffling things around, the two headed down.

On Saturday, we picked up our cache at 10,500. And then yesterday morning, me and the rest of the group made our cache around Windy Corner at 13,500'. Later on, we moved up to Camp 3 at 14,000' in good weather. There are currently about 10 tents up here.

An archived image of Camp 3 showing the twilight on Mount Foraker in the distance

This morning we slept in, and relished a big breakfast. The fuel up was necessary, as today we are building the great wall of China around our campsite! The weather looks to be worsening a bit this week, and they are precdicting 50+ mph winds coming from the southwest. Many groups on Denali are poised for the move from Camp 2 at 11,200, but will probably get stuck there for a while."

Dispatch #6: May 15

Guide Paul Ivaska reports another successful day:

"We are taking a rest day at Camp 3 at 14,200'. Yesterday, the 14th, we all carried to 17,200' to cache. Normally we cache at 16,000' at this point, but everyone was feeling really strong, so we went ahead and climbed the extra distance to make things easier the next couple days.

The descent turned into an exciting ordeal as high winds and heavy snow came in, making the trip a four hour journey. Everyone kept a cool head (literally and figuratively) and made it back to camp with no problems. We also descended yesterday to bring up the cache from below to our current spot at Camp 3. During this trip, we had a good time practicing how to ascent fixed lines - this is something we will have to do to reach Camp 4. The summit is really coming into reach at this point, and we are all feeling healthy and happy."

An archived image of the summit over 6,000' above Camp 3

Dispatch #7: May 17

Guide Paul Ivaska calls with an update:

"We have made it to high camp, Camp 4, today. A few clouds have rolled in, but depending on how the weather holds out today, we may make a summit attempt tomorrow. As of now, conditions are looking favorable, and everyone is doing considerably well."

Dispatch #8: May 19

Summit success!

Guide Paul Ivaska called today with an exciting report: "Yesterday at 8:00am we summited! We started the day in clouds, and there were high winds (15 - 20mph) above Denali Pass, but once we rose above that, the weather was superb. As usual for this team, everyone did amazingly well, and we are all pretty happy. We can only complain a few sore toes and tired feet.

Today we are going to break camp at High Camp , and move down to Camp 3. Although we might try to pull an all-nighter and get to the airstrip late, we'll most likely rest at Camp 3 tonight and head for the runway tomorrow.

Dispatch #9: May 20

Guide Paul Ivaska called to let us know that Team 1 has made it back safely to Anchorage, and is still feeling great about their summit. "On Monday, we were able to leave High Camp around 3:00pm, and made a big push to pick up all our caches, and arrived at the airstrip at 10:00am on Tuesday morning. It was quite the all-night journey. We are very happy to be back in town, and everyone is looking forward to seeing their families soon."