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

Dispatch #1: May 25

Guide Kurt Hicks called in with the first dispatch for Team 4 today:

"We are a bit delayed by weather here in Talkeetna. We were hoping to fly out to the glacier today, but the weather has really been in and out. It should be improving, and we've had a good time getting to know each other in Anchorage. We ate at the Bear's Tooth, and had mexican food, burgers, and Southwest burgers which was a 'fitting tribute.' "

"The team is prepared and ready to go into the mountains. They all have lots of experience and are all strong. Tonight we will stay at the hostel in town, and hopefully will get out tomorrow and will be able to report from Base Camp or Camp 1."

Dispatch #2: May 27

Kurt has called in with an update on Team 4's progress:

"We waited all day Sunday to fly out, and didn't have any luck because the weather was fairly bad. However, things turned around, and we were able to fly out yesterday. We arrived at Base Camp at noon, took a quick nap, ate some cinnamon buns, and reviewed procedures and our itinerary for the trip. Mike, one of the guides, always told us that he didn't like cinnamon rolls, but he ate 3 1/2 at camp - we all thought that was pretty funny."

"After a hearty lunch and dinner (burritos - yum!), we moved up to Camp 1. We arrived at 11:45pm, and it ended up being about a 3 1/2 hour hike for us - not bad at all. The weather is beautiful up here, only one little cloud in the sky. It is still windy up high on the mountain, but things are fine where we're at. As usual, we are busy, but everyone seems to be in great shape. Tomorrow we plan on making a cache at 10,500' and then moving up to Camp 2 soon."

Dispatch #3: May 28

Guide Kurt just called in with an update on Team 4:

"We are at Camp 1 right now. Yesterday, the weather was nice - clear skies until clouds formed on the summit later in the afternoon. We made a cache at 10,200'. We actually didn't get back into camp until 2:30am, because we left at 9:30pm to make the climb. And of course, everyone went promptly to bed after their return. The team was strong and quick - this is by far the fastest cache I've ever seen!"

"Today the weather is clear with really good visibility. The team is planning to move up to Camp 2 this evening. Here's a funny little thing that happened to me today - while I was taking a nap, I was greeted by a bird that flew into my tent, landed, checked things out for a few moments, and then went on its way. It was a treat to be around wildlife that high on a glacier."

Dispatch #4: May 29

Kurt just called at 12:00pm today with the following dispatch:

"Hello from Camp 2! The team has arrived at 11, 200 in good spirits."

"It has been very hot on the lower glacier on this trip. We hung out at Camp 1 yesterday avoiding the heat. It was so hot that we were sweating while we were napping in our tents with just our base layers on and the tent doors open."

"Last night the team had an early dinner around 5:30pm. We packed up and left camp around 6:30pm. We moved up ski hill in windy conditions, but it cleared up as we approached Kahiltna pass. It was a beautiful sunset as we looked through the pass, and there was an amazing alpine glow on the glacier. We were above the clouds and it was nice that the wind had died down. Around midnight we arrived at Camp 2. Everyone was strong and did a great job. We were lucky enough to find an established campsite so we settled in and everyone was in bed by 2:00am."

"We woke up around 10:00am and are working to fortify camp and are busy setting up the cook tent. There is an lenticular cloud up high that has descended a few thousand feet in the last half hour so we are going to keep an eye on that. However, it won't effect our plans for the day. We plan to back carry to 10,000 feet, pick up the rest of our supplies, and return to camp."

"Everything is going really well, the Alpine glow has been the most beautiful that I have ever seen on a Denali trip. The birds visited us again yesterday. One actually landed on my head and landed on GabeÕs head before flying away!"

Dispatch #5: May 30

Here is a short update from Kurt at Camp 2:

"We are still hanging around Camp 2. Yesterday was mostly a rest day, though we went a picked up a cache at 10,500. The weather was beautiful and warm. Today, we will most likely head for Windy Corner. Afterwards, we'll return back to Camp 2 tonight, and head for Camp 3 tomorrow. It has been a pretty amazing view from here recently - we can see the tundra and I think this will be the last time we see any green."

Dispatch #6: June 2

Guide Kurt called in today with an update from Camp 3:

"Yesterday, we enjoyed a rest day at Camp 3. We built snow walls, and had the time to acclimatize. Today, we went to cache at 16,200' and tomorrow we will most likely back carry to 13,500'. The weather patterns are good right now, and everything and everyone is pretty calm."

Dispatch #7: June 2

Here is your daily report from Kurt Hicks:

"This is your friendly neighborhood mountain guide Kurt calling from Camp 3 at 14,000'!"

"The team established a cache at 16,200' on top of the fixed lines. The round trip only took us six hours, which is a very good pace. Right now, our favorite 'kiwi' mountain guide Mike is cooking everyone a delicious burrito dinner. Tomorrow, we will back carry to 13,500' to get rest of the stuff that was left below. We hope to move up to high camp relatively soon, when weather allows it. All is well, and we wish everyone the best."

Dispatch #8: June 3

Kurt's latest report on the speedy Team 4:

"We are hanging out at Camp 3. It is currently snowing a bit, and there are light clouds. Today we picked up a cache from 13,500', and again, the team was really fast. We are really settling into camp now, but would like to move up to high camp tomorrow. It all depends on the weather. The food has been pretty good today - we had some excellent biscuits and gravy that Gabe made this morning for breakfast, and tonight we are going to have chicken curried rice."

Dispatch #9: June 4

Here is Kurt's dispatch on Team 4's 'Operation Relaxation' at Camp 3:

"We are in 'Operation Relaxation' at Camp 3. It is snowing very lightly, but not enough to cause any trouble. The only real work we did today was to dig a cache deep enough to swallow a man! We didn't play chess, though we plan to bring the game up to high camp. We are all reading - Gabe is currently reading a book called 'Mountains Beyond Mountains' which I've heard is not actually about mountains. He says it is about a doctor, who is currently in Haiti."

"The other item worth mentioning is that the rescue that was occuring on the fixed lines ridge is over. The person involved is safe, and there was a fair amount of activity in camp with that going on." If you would like to read more information on the incident, please see the AAI Blog.

Dispatch #10: June 5

We received a call from Kurt this morning, and Teams 3 (the Ice Agers) and Team 4 will be joining forces up at High Camp:

"The Ice Agers have already moved from Camp 3 up to High Camp. We (Team 4) are leaving in about 10 minutes for High Camp. Once up at 17,000', we will all join together and share meals, food, and gear. This is going to be a very safe and solid group."

"There are several updates on the Ice Ager Team. Joseph and Alasdair are on their way down the mountain, with climbers Art Huseonica and Jack Strickland. Mike Triller from Team 4 will also be going down the mountain with this group. We expect that Joseph, Art, Jack and Mike will arrive at the airstrip late tonight, and will fly back to Talkeetna on Friday. Guide Mike Madden from Team 4 will continue up the mountain to High Camp with the remaining Ice Agers from Team 3."

"The exciting news is that the Ice Ager group that is at High Camp will most likely try for the Summit on Friday or Saturday. Team 4, lead by myself and Gabe, will also be headed for the Summit on Saturday, as the weather is looking fairly calm for the next couple days."

Dispatch #11: June 5

Kurt called with a second dispatch today, letting everyone know that they arrived at High Camp safely at 5:00pm:

"The weather was good today. It was overcast with occasional snow showers, but as we got higher we climbed out of the clouds and had great views of Foraker and Hunter. Later we got, and still have, a thin haze of clouds above us. The climb from 14,000 feet took us only eight hours - pretty good time - and we were the first team to arrive at 17,000 today (the Ice Agers arrived yesterday)."

"We're going to take a rest day tomorrow and hope for a Summit on Saturday. The forecast is for another day like today for tomorrow, Friday - patchy clouds, and then clear and cold on Saturday. Then on Sunday they are predicting higher winds, so we want to be up and down before that."

"There are eleven of us here, with five climbers from Team 4 and three Ice Agers. Everybody is doing fine. There are a few mild headaches, ' but we're working on setting camp and getting dinner rolling and we plan on drinking lots of water. Everyone did great today, but the rest day on Friday will be perfect and put us in a great position for the summit bid. We'll call again when there is more news. Everyone says 'Hi to family and friends back home'."

Dispatch #12: June 6

Guide Kurt called with a quick update from High Camp:

"I am laying in my sleeping bag, staying warm and sleeping in. Today will be a rest day for Team 4, but Team 3 - the Ice Agers - is currently headed for the Summit. The weather is good enough for summmit bids, and a few other teams have headed up as well. Today we will lay around, eat a lot of food, drink lots of water, fortify camp with snow blocks. Around 8:00pm we will check the forecast, and if things are still looking decent, we will depart for the summit tomorrow morning."

Dispatch #13: June 9

We have heard from both Teams 3 and 4, and they both summited! Team 3 - the Ice Agers - summited on Friday evening June 6th, and Team 4 reached the top on Saturday, June 7th! Read below for dispatches from Kurt and Mike:

Mike reporting for Team 3: "We left for the summit at 11:00am on Friday, in pretty resonable weather so we decided to give it a look. We climbed under blue sky and the weather was fairly nice, but as we moved on to the summit ridge we were hammered by high winds and snow. The team worked hard to reach the summit and in spite of the wind, we made it! After we reached the summit we turned right around to get back to High Camp! We got back at 2:30am in the morning and the team was very happy. After drinking lots of water, the team went to bed. We will be heading to rest at Camp 3, and then moving down the mountain and hopefully flying off the glacier on Sunday."

Kurt reporting for Team 4: "We left High Camp at 10:00am on Saturday. The weather was warm, except it was cold in the shade of Denali pass for the first two hours of the climb. Then, it felt like the temperature warmed up even though it was minus 15 degrees out! Our team moved steadily and efficiently up the mountain. We took a break when we reached the football field. Then we powered on up it, and saw friends and other guide services on the route. Everyone worked together to get everyone to the top. At 6:00pm we reached the summit! There was a light breeze with a few clouds but we had beautiful views of Mt. Foraker and other surrounding peaks. We didn't stay on the summit for long. Our group did not want to get held up on the ridge with a lot of other climbers, which is often the case on this part of the route. So we descended down the route, and it took about two hours to get back down Denali pass - which it took us six hours to get up! All was fine all the way down to High Camp. The plan is to get up early on Sunday and power down to Camp 3 and rest. We will then make the long hike down to base camp and wait to fly out!"

We have just heard (as of 12:00pm on Monday) that Team 3 was able to fly off the glacier late Sunday evening. Team 4 will hopefully be able to fly off the glacier soon, and they are currently hanging out at Base Camp. We will post a dispatch as soon as we hear that Team 4 has arrived safely back in Talkeetna.

Dispatch #14: June 9

Kurt and Team 4 have made it back to Talkeetna:

"Hello from Talkeetna! We are back on the ground and the flowers are blooming. We descended the mountain all through last night. We left high camp at 10:00am and arrived at base camp at 2:00am this morning pausing to pick up caches and eat long the way. The weather was beautiful throughout the descent and there was no wind. Upon arriving in base camp, we ate and drank and had to sleep for a few hours. This morning, we met up with Team 6 and the current ARAM course. The weather was socked in at that point, but was progressively improving. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we flew out around 2:00pm today. Are plan now is to dry out our equipment and head to the Rib for dinner. Tomorrow, people will start to head out their separate ways! It was an excellent expedition and I wish everyone the best in their future adventures."