THE SHIFT

Denali Expedition Journal

JOURNEY TO THE TOP

➡️ ”It is hard up here. What day is it today?”
By Bernardo & Renata

Since our last update five days ago, I’ve stayed connected with Bernardo through his GPS tracker and regular updates from his wife, Roberta. The climb has intensified—he’s now fully in summit mode.

Here’s a raw and personal look into the journey from Camp 4, as told through his latest diary entry:

“We’re stuck in Camp 4. The wind is relentless. The cold is punishing. Half of the team has already given up. Yesterday, one of our teammates arrived at C4 vomiting. It’s hard up here—really hard.

We’re not sleeping well. The conditions won’t even allow us to leave the tent. We’ve been doing multiple trips between camps just to carry all our gear. At one point, a teammate fell ill, and I had to carry both his equipment and mine. Physically, I’m broken. But mentally—I’m still solid. That’s what’s keeping me going.

From here, our focus is the summit. That’s the goal. But the weather has to cooperate. We need a window, and we need rest.

To give you a sense of scale: yesterday we walked 8 hours to cover just 5 kilometers. We’re now at an altitude of 4,300 meters. When the day ends, the work doesn’t. We have to pitch the tent, melt snow, cook. I have to admit—I’m exhausted.

Still, where we are… it’s breathtaking. It’s wild. It’s beautiful.

This morning, I woke up at 5:30 AM. We got everything ready and left by 9. The climb was brutal—steep, exposed, and demanding. And just when we thought we were past the worst, another climb waited.

This time, along a sharp ridge . We finally stopped at 5 PM. It’s now 9 PM, and we’re still not done—we have to build a snow wall around the tent to protect us from the wind. There are four of us crammed inside the tent.

All our focus is now on reaching the summit. But the conditions are unforgiving. Even when the sun shines, the wind makes it almost impossible to move forward. So we wait.

To make things harder, the other group that was climbing with us had to turn back. Their guide got sick. My crampon broke—but I managed to fix it temporarily. Not ideal, but it’ll have to do. We were supposed to go for the summit this morning, but the wind made it impossible. So here we are, pinned down at Camp 4.

What’s next?
The summit. That’s all that matters now.”

In the next couple of days, we’ll be sharing more updates as Bernardo pushes toward the summit and begins his journey back home.

We’ll keep following every step—upward and homebound. Stay tuned.

FOLLOW THE JOURNEY FROM THE BEGINNING →

MEET BERNARDO HERE →

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