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Reconstructing the Past Climate of Central Alaska

Hi Ken and Team (or Janet and Sarah),

This is Jamie's IB Environmental Systems class! We are curious about the weather conditions on the mountain now.

How cold is it???

Thanks and we hope to hear from you guys soon! Good luck up there!

Jamie

Tue, 05/21/2013 - 10:36

Ken Williams

Hi There IB Environmental,I was shocked by the temperature extremes on the glacier. It never really went above freezing but with the reflectivity of the snow it actually felt warm during the day and if the wind wasn't blowing then a short sleeve tee shirt was in order. You needed to be careful, though, and apply sunscreen on both the top and underside of your arms. I also applied SPF 70 on my face regularly including up my nostrils.
When the sun went down it got cold immediately with plunging temperatures. We sort of determined temperature by consensus as, if you can believe it, not one scientist had a thermometer on the climb to 14,000 feet. The coldest night, at Camp 11,000 was at lease 20 below F which meant that camping was cold. Lots of time was spent melting snow for warm drinks and food.
Most mornings people did not move out of their tents until the sun hit them, about 9:30 or 10:00. If it wasn't cloudy then it warmed up quickly, but you needed your cold weather gear on. Proper gear was critical and sunglasses never came off. I was putting sunscreen on my face, and my glasses were off, then I kept my eyes shut as it was too bright to focus.
I hope this helps.
Take care,
Ken