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

Dispatch #1: May 11

Guide Aidan Loehr called in with the first dispatch from the second Denali expedition:

"We're at K2 Aviation waiting to fly in. Unfortunately, one of our team members had to return home. Kevin, who recently finished an Alaska Range Alpine Mountaineering program with flying colors, has had to return home to South Africa because of a family emergency. We will miss his company and his strength. He is a lot of fun, and we know his great fitness level would have helped propel our expedition. We miss him and wish him well.

So we're at a very strong seven climbers. This is one of the strongest teams I've had. Everyone seems to be very fit and very well prepared.

Right now, the flight onto the glacier looks a little 'iffy' because the weather keeps closing down then opening up again, then closing in. It's 2:15pm now, and if we get in soon, we'll be able to set up Base Camp have dinner and get to bed early. If that happens, we'll get an early start in the morning and move up the 7800-foot camp. So we're predicting the fist move higher will be either Monday or Tuesday morning.

I don't want to climb tomorrow morning if we get in too late, because I want to be sure that everyone is well rested. If we end up flying in this evening, we'll just change the plan. Whenever it is that we make our first move, if it is clear and warm on the glacier, we'll want to head up at 2:00am or so - to get the benefit of firm conditions. That's definite if it's hot. If it's overcast and snowy, we'll probably leave later so we can see better.

Everyone is psyched to get on the glacier and get started with the ascent. Two climbers have been on the mountain before - as far as the 17,000-foot high camp, and they are well aware of what's coming - that's Mike and Elaine. They're both excited on one level, but also relaxed in general because they are familiar with the plan and the terrain.

Rob, Chas, and Brooke are all buddies and they've done quite a bit of climbing together in Colorado and elsewhere. Ed showed up late last night, after taking an exam at school yesterday morning - I think it was in finance, but I'm not sure. He said he finished just in time to make his flight to Alaska. Tom from the Air Force (Security Forces) rounds out the team - he is extremely eager to get on the ice. This is going to be a great team. Oh yeah, I should report that my fellow guides Richard Riquelme and Ben Traxler are holding up very well through the rigors of city life in Anchorage and here in somewhat less urban Talkeetna.

Well, I better get back to the team and see what's going on with the weather and flights. I will try to call again tomorrow. Everyone says 'hello' to friends and family."

Dispatch #2: May 11

Short update: Team 2 began their flights onto the glacier this evening around 5:30pm. The first flight took off, and the team's plan was to load up three more planes and settle into basecamp Sunday night.

Dispatch #3: May 12

An archived image of Camp 1: Guide Erik Johnson teaches crevasse rescue and glacier travel skills

AAI Guide Ben Traxler called yesteray evening to report Team 2's success in getting onto the glacier:

"We are very happy to be settled into Camp 1 at 7,800'. We filled our bellies with hearty burritos on Sunday, and were finally able to part ways with the airstrip.

Although it is currently blowing snow, everyone is faithful that things are going to clear up for today's carry up to 9,800'. After we do that carry, we will return to 7,800' to camp. In another couple days, we'll be headed for Camp 2 at 11,200'.

Dispatch #4: May 12

Team 2 reports another successful day:

Guide Ben Traxler reports that "Today was a good day. There were snowy conditions in the morning at Camp 1, and we thought we might be held in camp. Luckily, the weather cleared up and we were able to make a cache at 10,000'.

The frigid temperatures made for a difficult cache dig, and it took us over an hour to dig the hole for our food. Once we completed this task, the team headed down to camp through very windy conditions, making it back to the relative comfort of our tents by 5:00pm. Richard, in all his culinary prowess, cooked everyone a delicious salmon and pasta dinner followed by cookies for dessert. After this hearty meal we all boiled water and everyone was asleep in their tents pretty shortly after.

An archived image of late evening light at Camp 1

The most exciting part of the day was the view of the Denali summit - spirits are definitely high for tomorrow! In the morning, we plan to break camp and head up to Camp 2 at 11,200 ft."

Dispatch #5: May 14

Richard, AAI Guide for Team 2, reports on the group's progress:

I am happy to say that we are all doing great at Camp 2. Everyone is feeling stupendous, and we had great weather today. The weather is cold and overcast now. Tomorrow the plan is to travel down to 10,200' to pick up the cache and then it's back to camp. The day after tomorrow the team will move up to 14,000' and make a new cache. It is wonderful to be here working with Aidan, he's a very competent and companionable guy and we are having a fun time with the team."

Dispatch #6: May 15

Aidan called with an update:

"Right now (it's 9:30pm), we are hanging out in our tents, avoiding the cold storm outside at Camp 2. Despite the messy weather all day, the team was still able to get a carry in, and we're keeping on schedule. Back in camp, Richard and I set the team loose on building snow walls - and we are excited to find that this particular team is very adept at snow wall building. Before long, the team had built snow walls halfway across camp! Tomorrow they will try to get a carry in around Windy Corner, but it is looking a little unlikely because of the weather. Everyone has their fingers crossed that the sky will clear up, but if not a rest day is warranted."

Dispatch #7: May 16

"We are still hanging out at Camp 2. This morning, we woke up to blistering cold wind and snow, but as soon as we'd had breakfast the weather cleared and we enjoyed sunny skies all day. We've all got bright red faces from the sun!

We carried up to 13,800' and made a cache today. Along the way, Aidan led the group through four different layering systems to help teach the team how to maintain a good, comfortable body temperature. The good weather really has people psyched which is good, because tomorrow the plan is to wake up early and move camp to 14,000 if the nice weather holds."

Dispatch #8: May 17

Team 2 reports another successful day:

Guide Ben Traxler reports that "we are feeling very lucky to have such a strong team. We got up at 8:00am this morning, and it was very cold. This afternoon, we hiked up motorcycle hill with ease because all the crevasses are currently filled in. When we got to Camp 3 at 14,200' at 2:30pm, we started work on building snow walls. After a delicious pesto and chicken pasta dinner, we all melted water and went to bed.

The plan for tomorrow is to get the cache at 13,800' and then return to tend camp and take a needed rest day."

Dispatch #9: May 18

"Today was a leisurely day with an easy decent to the cache at 13,800'. The weather is beautiful and everyone is thinking of Denali Team 1 and their possible summit attempt today. We have been monitoring the radio so as not to miss a report from guide Paul Ivaska, but as of yet, we haven't heard anything. The team has continued to build more snow walls, and really worked to fortify camp, and make it as windproof as possible. It will be an early night into the sleeping bags tonight, because frigid temperatures are expected. Tomorrow will be an early wake up followed by an ascent to 15,200' to practice fixed lines. and then a possible hike to the 'edge of the world' (see photo below).

An archived image of Guide Erik Johnson sitting on the 'Edge of the World,' a beautiful spot at Camp 3.

Dispatch #10: May 19

"Today we went up to practice on the fixed lines, and then returned to camp. Tomorrow, we will most likely take a cache up to 17,000 and then return to Camp 3. Hopefully we'll head up to High Camp on Wednesday."

"The forcast for the next couple days is somewhat grim, but so far the weather reports have been wrong anyways, so I think things are actually looking pretty good. It has been very hot during the day, and very cold at night. Everyone is still doing exceptional, and acclimating very well. We are all pretty stoked because we had our Thanksgiving meal tonight, which was a fun thing to do after a hard day on the lines."

Dispatch #11: May 21

Ben called this afternoon with an update on Team 2:

"It was another beautiful day on Denali. The team has been lucky to have an awesome weather trend, more blue skies, very little wind, and few clouds. The whole team made a cash at 16,800 (below Washburn's Thumb), but the 'Colorado boys' - three of the guys on the trip are from Colorado - went up with Aidan to do an additional cash at 17,200."

"Now everyone is sitting pretty at Camp 3 today taking the time to rest and acclimatize. Some team members are going to the notch on the West Rib, others will visit the 'edge of the world' viewpoint. There are many folks at camp right now, 75 people at least, maybe 100. Everyone is enjoying playing hacky sack, Frisbee and cribbage while enjoying each other's company. The whole group is acclimatizing well, and everyone is super strong and psyched to move up to High Camp."

Dispatch #12: May 22

"Well, we are still hanging out at Camp 3. I would like to say we are enjoying our rest day, but to be honest we are all getting a little antsy and are eager to get up higher on the mountain. But the weather reports are keeping us from that right now. The forcasts are for continued high winds on Friday and Saturday. So we are just hoping for a good weather report, and will use our best judgment to decide when to move higher."

"I know there are a lot of folks up at High Camp as well, and we'd like to hear from them about the weather. We spent the day cleaning up and organizing, just trying to be prepared as possible for any chance to move. Richard and Ben took the team to the 'Edge of the World,' but they apparently weren't able to see much because of the whiteout. The one thing we can't complain much about is that it is fairly warm outside."

Dispatch #13: May 25

"We continue to hold out at Camp 3, and we have been busy today building more snow walls to protect us from the 60 mph winds. We now have a double wall system here. Up at High Camp, the wind has been blowing at 100 mph. We'll call again as soon as possible, but the phone signal has started to get really patchy and weak."

Dispatch #14: May 26

"The team is camped at 17,000, at High Camp. We are in position for a summit attempt soon, and we are very ready after having been waiting out the weather at Camp 3 for quite a few days. There have been consistently high winds, but luckily they died down yesterday morning and we were able to make an early 5:00am departure from Camp 3. We made it to High Camp by 3:00pm and found a bunch of snow walls that were already built. We also found many tattered tents from the high 100mph winds, and we were happy that we had spent those stormy days down lower on the mountain."

Dispatch #15: May 27

Ben called with an update on Team 2's position at High Camp:

"We are up at High Camp. As of now, we are hoping to make our summit bid tonight or tomorrow. We are all feeling good, though we are feeling the effects of the altitude a bit here and there. We arrived at 17,000' yesterday at 3:00pm, and it took us about six hours from Camp 3. It was a really nice day yesterday, and we hear that the winds die down a lot during the night. Because of the weather stalling all the teams up here, there was sort of a mass exodus of climbers heading up to High Camp yesterday. I counted more than 60 people around us. We are still on track to summit, and are now just playing the waiting game hoping for that perfect weather window. We will call as soon as we can and let you know if we've made it."

Dispatch #16: May 29

Richard called late yesterday evening with a report on Team 2's first summit attempt:

"Hello Hello Helloooo, this is Richard calling from High Camp on Denali!. Today we started at 12:30pm for the summit, but we were forced to turn back at Denali Pass because of high winds. The wind was bitter and it wasn't long before the team started getting very cold. The days have been beautiful except for the persistent wind. As usual, everyone is in good spirits and the forecast says that there may be a weather window for another summit attempt on Saturday or Sunday. People are keeping their fingers crossed that this window will come. The temperatures have been very cold at night, dropping to -20 and the high hovering around 5 degrees."

Dispatch #17: June 2

After returning safely back to Talkeetna, we heard from Aidan, who reported a successful summit for Team 2:

"I am happy to report that we are back in Talkeetna. On Friday, our team went for our second summit bid. It was very windy, about 40-50mph, but fairly warm. Around 19,000', the group split in to separate teams, and five of the climbers continued on to the summit with me."

"When we reached Knife Ridge, just past Pig Hill, we found that we could not continue on the ridge due to the high winds. So we descended back down 100 feet and traversed into the ridge to reach the summit."

"We arrived at the summit of Denali at 4:00pm on Friday, May 30. It was a gorgeous clear day with amazing views in all directions! We then made our initial descent down to High Camp. Next came the infamous 'denali slog' all the way down to the airstrip. We spent one day at the airstrip waiting for the weather to break and the storm to pass. That evening we all flew out off the glacier."

"Now we are all back in Talkeetna and everyone is going out for breakfast. I am going to hang up so we can get some tasty grub and some hot drinks. I know everyone is looking forward to getting back to their families, and we'll send in some photos soon."

Dispatch #18: June 4

Below are photos of Team 2, while they were waiting at the airstrip to be picked up on their way back home. Congratulations to the team on their summit!