My friend Mike is on Denali right now.  He is carrying a SPOT with him, so you can follow his progress.   

Click on “Satellite” and zoom in.  You can see the route across the Kahiltna Glacier and how the route snakes around crevasses. 

It looks like Mike landed at basecamp around 2:45p yesterday and it took about 7hrs to reach Camp 1, which is around 7800ft and located at the base of Ski Hill.  Right now he is beneath the shadow of Mt Crosson on his left and is looking up the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna on his right.   I remember looking up the NE fork, knowing that the fork was the approach route to classic climbs like the Cassin Ridge and the West Rib.   Where the fork meets the Kahiltna proper, there is a huge nasty icefall.  Also, the NE Fork is much narrower than the Kahiltna so avalanches that slide off the surrounding peaks will sometimes reach from one side of the glacier to the other — prompting climbers to call this area the “valley of death.” 

The West Buttress route on Denali (the route I climbed and that Mike is climbing) avoids these dangers by following the Kahiltna up Ski Hill and through Windy Corner.