We moved a large group of mountaineers onto the ice above 5500′. I think it took 15 trips, but with two Super Cubs working non-stop, and only 40 minutes per round trip, we were done by early afternoon. Unfortunately, this climbing team ended up spending 7 out of 10 days laying in their tents waiting out a massive summer storm high on the glacier.
We’ve found an increasing ignorance of the reality of true wilderness and wild weather. It’s not uncommon for clients to call in the middle of a raging storm and tell us they are fed-up with bad weather and ready to come out. They’ve forgotten that even though they have an iPod in their pocket and a sat-phone in their hand, even NASA would be greatly challenged to extract them. When the ground is white, the sky is whiter, snow is falling 1 foot per hour, and the winds are blowing 70+ MPH, there is very little anyone can do except dig-in, play cards, and drink gin. Even July, in Alaska, can be a threat when it comes to the high glacier country. The weather has no limits, and we always hope our clients understand that a Super Cub does.