"The 14 hang"

Sean reported in last night, our group backcarried from 14k camp in a snowstorm yesterday and plan to carry up to the ridge above the fixed lines today, Sean said they were 'feelin fine'.

The fixed lines are put up by the National Park Service in conjunction with various guide services to help safeguard a notoriously icy section of the route; climbing them involves using a rope ascender to clip into the lines and using lots of mountain technique (rest-stepping and pressure breathing). Climbers don't use the ropes to directly aid their descent, they are more used as a redundancy if someone loses their footing.

Many teams cache their gear immediately at the top of the fixed lines, but most of the time Mt. Trip groups carry up a little higher to avoid the masses and get a better view. We'll see what our team does, but I know a few days laying low in weather has made this expedition excited to move up higher.

Spending time at 14k camp is important- it is high enough to have climbers acclimatize adequately but not so high that they are getting weaker. Many expeditions spend 4 to 5 nights at 14k in order to get strong for the upper mountain and stage the expedition for the move to 17.