Day 15- More contact and hopeful for progress

Well here we are at day 15 and a turning point into the final stretch for our men. They have been gone now for 2 weeks and are in the home stretch before finally returning home to us.
They have been stuck at 14,200 camp for 4 days now just waiting for the weather to turn and for the opportunity to make high camp and then summit. The boredom, cold and winds are beginning to wear on them all a bit and they deeply miss home and their families.
As the weather continues to stay in this holding pattern, more climbers are forced to go back down and miss their chance at the summit. However, because of the snow and winds, there have been no flights in or out of Talkeetna for 5 days now, so base camp on the glacier is getting a bit congested with climbers eagerly waiting to go home, and new ones stuck waiting to fly in.
As Sunday would have it, the Lords day, the weather looks to be turning around a bit and finally calming down. Praise God! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday look like relatively decent days at both 18 and 20,000'. So it is the hope of our group that they will attempt 17,200 tomorrow and establish high camp, and then wait for their window to summit. They have pushed their final window date to Wednesday instead of Friday due to the number of climbers at lower base camp waiting to fly out. Once they summit and head down, they may get stuck for a few days again to get back to Talkeetna. Their flights home from Anchorage are scheduled for Tuesday, so they have to get down and back to catch those!
They are all feeling good physcially and none have experienced any issues with the altitude or cold,, so another huge blessing!

Please keep the prayers coming, for weather, their safety and for them to feel the love and support that all of us at home are desperately sending to them. I told them that so many are following on here and leaving messages,, so don't let them down... comment away and let them  know you are here for them. You have no idea how much it means to them all to know that so many people are supporting them.

Oops,, as I am wrapping up here, and email from Belinda just came in that she was also able to speak with Clark!! Sweet!!! He added that the winds over the buttress were at 100mph today!! That alone would make me crazy!! The mental fortitude these guys have is amazing!!

So I don't know about you,, but those tiny specs in the background seem to have multiplied quite a bit in the last two days! That's a lot of climbers waiting for their moment! I'm beginning to wonder if this other blog is actually posting real time pictures? Not so sure on the 100mph winds in this pic?  hmmmm