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

Dispatch 1, July 25: Guides Dylan Taylor and Joey Elton called today at 1pm to say that all members of the second expedition to the Waddington Range were successfully flown onto the Bravo Glacier earlier today. Team members include Chris Petersen (Wayne, NJ), Wade Johnson (Arden Hills, MN), Hazen Wilson (Washington, DC), and Sean Robbins (Calabasas,CA). Each are participating in this trip as Part 3 of AAI's three-part Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership program.

Dylan reported, "Conditions are awesome! There are no sketchy snow bridges in sight. In all, the glacier looks far better than it did last year." The team has already climbed 1,500 feet above the helicopter landing zone where they were dropped off this morning, and plans to continue on to 8,500 feet where they will make their first camp. Stay tuned for more news from Mt. Waddington!

Dispatch 2, July 27: Dylan called in yesterday evening (July 26, 6:30pm) from 10,600 feet on the Bravo Glacier. He said, "It's really nice up here - conditions are very good. I remember an intimidating bergschrund from last year that is quite mellow this year. That said, there appears to be a fair amount of rime ice accumulated on the summit. Unfortunately, the same early-season snowfall that made for such nice conditions on the lower part of the mountain is mostly likely accountable for the rime ice on the upper mountain."

Dylan said the weather has been very favorable. "Today was the first day we had any sort of weather - just some wind and a few high clouds, nothing serious. Everyone is enjoying themselves and for the most part feeling pretty good. The views have been spectacular."

Dispatch 3, July 27: Dylan called today at 4pm with great news. Today, the team made a successful summit of Spearman Peak, an 11,057-foot mountain that sits less than a mile to the southeast of Mt. Waddington. Dylan said, "It was a beautiful climb that consisted of a frozen face ascent and a dramatic knife-edge ridge traverse which called for lots of up and down-climbing. It was a great warm up for Waddington."

The group is currently camped on the Spearman-Waddington Col at around 10,600 feet. Dylan said the weather picked up a bit today, with more clouds and wind than yesterday. The forecast shows conditions possibly worsening tomorrow but getting better on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He hopes to move to high camp tomorrow at 12,000 feet but cautions that they won't move up if conditions don't allow it. Dylan said, "High Camp on Waddington is a rough place to be if in high winds. We'll wait for the right conditions."

Dispatch 4, July 28: Guide Joey Elton called today from high camp on Mt. Waddington (12,300 feet!). The group left this morning from their previous camp on the col at 8am and were at high camp within three hours. Joey said, "The summit looks to be pretty rimey, more so than last year. It could be a stout climb, though snow conditions are definitely getting better the higher up we go on the mountain. The cooler temperatures up here are definitely working in our favor."

The route to Waddington's summit from the top of the Bravo Glacier involves a handful of rock and mixed pitches in a narrow gully system on the summit tower. Due to the narrow nature of this chimney system, the route can only safely accommodate a small number of climbers at one time (to avoid one party kicking loose rock and ice on a lower party). Because of this, the group has decided to split up, and tomorrow one guide will take two climbers to the main summit of Waddington while the other will take two climbers to the beautiful spire of the mountain's northwest summit. If the weather holds, the group will flip-flop the next day (Saturday). The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies tomorrow, getting cloudier on Saturday, and worsening Sunday.

Dispatch 5, July 29: In midst of howling winds and flapping tent walls, Dylan called today at 3:15pm to report his team's successful climb to the top of Mt. Waddington's northwest summit. He said, "We got to the summit at 8:50am in swirling fog and had some elusive views of the surrounding mountains, including a couple quick glimpses of Mt. Waddington's true summit. It was a very interesting climb with lots of features to negotiate. We had to navigate around a large bergschrund, climb a long couloir, and execute several hundred feet of running belays on the last traverse before the summit - and all of this amidst some very extreme exposure. At one point we looked 6,000 mind-boggling feet down to the valley glacier below! The weather wasn't that great, so we were glad to summit and return to camp to climb in our tents for the rest of the day."

The other team, which consisted of guide Joey Elton and two climbers, attempted Mt. Waddington's true summit today but unfortunately had to turn around due to the high winds. Depending on the weather, they will make an attempt on Waddington's northwest summit in the next day or two, while Dylan's group will go for the true summit. Dylan said, "We're just going to wait it out and climb when we can."

Dispatch 6, August 1: After a few days of silence from the Waddington team, we received a call from Dylan this morning at 11am. With relief in his voice, he recounted the weekend's events:

"This morning we woke to sunny skies and literally jumped for joy. The weather over the weekend was some of the worst I have ever seen. We were literally stuck in our tents from Friday afternoon when we got down from the mountain until this morning. The storm brought winds up to seventy mph, with gusts up to 78mph, and really thick, constant snow that required us to dig out our tents frequently."

"Every time we stepped out of our tents to dig or use the restroom, we were blasted by heavy, wind-flung snow and ice that froze our eyelids shut and pelted us violently in the face. It was like having a huge fire hose loaded with ice crystals aimed at our camp for two-and-a-half days. Then at 1am last night, suddenly, the storm just stopped and it grew clear."

The team plans to spend today digging out their tents and gear. "Despite all our digging in the night, when we woke up this morning our tents were mostly buried," Dylan said. "We're going to need all day to find all of our food and gear we had in camp, which is now under several feet of snow, and to dry everything out to the point that it is usable." Dylan said the sunny weather is supposed to hold through today and tomorrow. After making their preparations today, the group will leave early tomorrow morning and descend all the way down to the helicopter landing zone, where they plan to fly out tomorrow evening (Tuesday).

Dispatch 7, August 5: Yesterday brought an end to the second Waddington Expedition as the team rolled into AAI's Bellingham office late in the afternoon. The four climbers and two guides looked relaxed, tanned, and happy as they poured out of the van and into the sun. After unloading their gear, Chris, Wade, Hazen, and Sean sprawled on the lawn in from of the office. Chris exclaimed, "Ahhh, this feels so good! Warm, dry grass! Sun!" The others heartily agreed.

As planned, the group used all of Monday (August 1) to dig out their tents and equipment from under several feet of fresh snow and to dry their gear out in the sun. The next morning, Tuesday, the team woke early and begun the descent to the helicopter landing zone. On the way down they stopped to dig out a couple caches that they had placed on the way to high camp. "It was very nearly impossible to locate the exact spot where the caches were with all the fresh snow," Dylan said. "The wands that we had placed to mark the caches were of course buried as well in all the new snow. Instead what we had to do was look for large lumps on the surface of the snow as we approached the cache areas. Then we just started digging through and under the lumps. Some of them just turned out to be raised spots in the snow, but we persevered and in the end we found our stuff."

The group made it down to the landing zone by 4pm. The first thing they did was dig up the food cache that they had buried just in case they had to wait through several days of bad weather before flying out. "We ate about four meals each," Hazen said. "We didn't realize how hungry we were until we saw all that food, and then we just dug in!"

The helicopter came as scheduled that evening, arriving around 6:30pm. After two trips of forty-five minutes each, the entire team was safely off the glacier and back at home base. That night, the group camped nearby and fell asleep almost immediately. "We were all just so glad to be on dry ground and out of the storm," Chris said. "I had the best shower of my life and then we zonked out with relief and exhaustion."

The next morning, the team enjoyed a hearty meal - "dozens" of pancakes, sausages, and coffee at the ranch house. Taking their time, they leisurely packed up took the remainder of the day to drive the 9 hours west to Squamish, where they set up at a campground and planned to do a half-day of cragging the next morning.

On Thursday, the group enjoyed some warm-weather top-roping and a few trad pitches at Squamish's Smoke Bluffs, and then drove the remaining two hours back to Bellingham.

"The whole trip was really quite an experience," Hazen remarked, once back at AAI. "Even the storm, which was pretty dire in the midst of it, was an experience I'll never forget. I'm sure I'll be telling that story to my friends for my whole life! I can't believe it's the end of the thirty-six days..." Hazen was referring to the three twelve day sections of AAI's Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership program (Parts 1, 2, and 3) which he just completed with this expedition. "I quit my job on the East Coast intending to move out west to learn to climb mountains. And that's what I've done! After Part 1, 2, and 3, I feel self-sufficient and able to make my own safe choices on the mountain. I'm definitely going to go do my own climbs now."

Hazen isn't the only one who plans to take his newfound knowledge back to the mountains - all of the climbers either have climbs on the near horizon or have climbing goals brewing in their minds.