Denali in 2008

19,900 Feet Above North America

2008-06-19T20:27:00.006-06:00

Fathers' Day morning the sky was clear and the winds were almost non-existent at 17,200 feet. When I climbed out of the tent around 9 am (after a heavy carry the day before of all of our gear from our cache at 16,200 feet) I saw almost everyone in camp either on the route to the summit or preparing to do so.

Matt and I talked and decided that we felt good enough to give it a go. We called our families and then prepared to head up and join the throng of climbers. The first stretch of the summit climb is a long traverse to basically Denali Pass. It is about 800 feet of elevation gain on a steep side slope with a long runout to crevasses down below. Thankfully, there are fixed protection anchors that rope teams can clip into along the route.

About halfway up the traverse the weather started to change. The cloud ceiling lowered and the winds picked up. As we turned the corner at Denali Pass and headed up the route, the clouds thickened. Visibility at this point was probably about 20 feet. We could hear flightseeing planes flying overhead and around us, so we figured that higher up we would punch out of the clouds.

Not long after Denali Pass a huge bottleneck of climbers and rope teams developed. The terrain was steep and icy in places and again we needed to use fixed anchors for protection. There was little to no room to allow us to pass other teams safely. Often we were just standing and waiting to move. Maybe we would take a few steps, just start to get the groove, and then, the whole line of climbers would stop. This was both mentally and physically challenging. We really benefited during most of the climb from being able to set our own pace and keep it steady. We both felt strong the entire trip, even with huge amounts of weight.

The picture above is of the only short time that the clouds opened up. On the left are the Archdeacons Towers. The elevation here is around 19,000 feet. One member of a two-man team abandoned his teammate because he was too slow. He kept asking people to check on the man for him. Soon after this picture, the weather closed in. The clouds socked us in and the wind picked up. Icy accumulations built up on the beards of the climbers.

Near the base of Pig Hill, I really began to feel out of breath. I did not have the typical symptoms of altitude sickness that I was used to--no headache or stomach ache--I just could not catch my breath. A short time later around 19,500 ft, Matt noticed that I was slurring my speech and having trouble with balance. I really did not believe him. I did not feel these symptoms. Just then, a guide walked by and confirmed what Matt said--I was definitely slurring my speech. If you know about High Altitude Cerebral Edema, then you know how serious this problem can be. We sat at 19,900 ft for several minutes, I really wanted to push on, but my excellent teammate knew better.

Three other issues weighed heavily in on the decision to descend--the long line of ascending climbers still above us, our cold feet, and the increasingly poor weather. With tears in my eyes, I agreed to descend. It was very difficult to accept defeat after almost a year of planning and preparing.

We made it safely back to our tent, but it took several hours of careful navigation and precise crampon and ice axe placements. As we came down the traverse from Denali Pass, another rope team caught up with us, and their lead climber slid--only to be caught by his rope teammates. We also saw the guy who was abandoned by his teammate. He was struggling across this dangerous traverse unroped! Matt offered him our rope to tie in with us, but he refused. Thankfully, he made it back to camp safely.

Through the rapidly reducing visibility, we finally found our tent at high camp and crashed for the night around 9 pm--making summit day about 10 hours long. We were vaguely aware that something was going on through the night. We found out later via the rangers and Skeet, the volunteer doctor from Alpine Rescue who is spending a month on the mountain, that several rescues and one search kept them busy all night.

A guide and one of his climbers had fallen into a crevasse on the Denali Pass Traverse, three Brazilian climbers had gotten lost in the reduced visibility and one had lost a glove. Two of them suffered moderate frostbite to the hands and feet. There were also several other cases of frostbite reported the next day.

Our decision to turn around seemed better by the minute. If we would have pushed on to the summit, we would most certainly been at least two hours later descending and thereby dealing with the same bottlenecks coming down the difficult terrain. It is humbling to realize how quickly conditions change and just how fortunate many climbers were that night. Matt made the point that there is no telling just how many people were so close to disaster but avoided it either by luck or skill. It could have been a lot worse that night.

After careful consideration, we decided to end our summit plans and headed down. On Tuesday we marched from 14,200 ft camp (starting at 3 pm) all the way to base camp at 7,200 ft (arriving at 2 am). Exhausted, we threw our pads down, pulled out our sleeping bags and slept under the midnight sun in the warm 30-degree air. We both agreed that this was the best night of sleep we had the whole trip.

Wednesday morning at 10 am we were flown back to Talkeetna, made arrangements for transportation to Anchorage, and flights, and our adventure was wrapping up.

We are back home safe and sound enjoying our families and friends. We are still close friends and in fact, maybe closer now. We functioned well together, and I look forward to climbing for many years with Matt.

Check http://www.thesummitridge.com in the coming days for picture galleries and more stories from our outstanding adventure.

Team Update

2008-06-18T00:19:00.003-06:00

The team left a voice mail message today at about 21:00 Mountain Time. They were at 11,200 and coming down to Base Camp. No summit. Bernie went on to explain further but the call cut out for essentially all but the beginning and end. I did make out that their only disappointment was possibly disappointing friends and family following along. He finished by saying that it was an 8-10 mile walk out and, I think, they'll post about summit day when they get ???. Talkeetna? Home? I couldn't tell.

It's too bad they didn't make the summit, but I'm sure they made the right choice. We'll find out the details together.

Day 12/June 15: Summit Attempt Results

2008-06-16T19:31:00.002-06:00

Details from the team are sketchy. What we know for certain is that they turned around very close to the summit (check out the map in a previous post). Bernie wrote "MADE19881 NOSUMMIT HEADINGDOWN LTR". Adria, Erin, and myself don't know much more. Heading down could mean to the relative comfort of 14 camp to recharge before another summit attempt or all the way down to base camp. There is only speculation as to what made them stop short. We're expecting more details soon.

Day 12/June 15: Summit Attempt

2008-06-15T18:29:00.002-06:00

Today Team Powersauce hopes to make the summit. It is over 3000 vertical feet above them but only 2.5 miles away. The route ascends just shy of Denali Pass then takes the ridge southeast to the Football Field. From there it climbs Pig Hill to Kahiltna Horn and follows the summit ridge to the top. Tired climbers get creative with place names.

Denali's summit is 20,320 feet above sea level and the highest mountain in North America.

Wish them luck!

After a successful summit, I'd expect them to descend to 14 Camp if not a bit further.

Day 11/June 14: Camp 6 (17,200ft)

2008-06-15T16:53:00.003-06:00

Bernie phoned home from "17 Camp". I was busy on a puny 12,000 ft mountain but he left a message and I got a few more details from Adria.

Saturday they bid farewell to 14 Camp, their home these past several days, and ascended the headwall once more. They retrieved the 16k cache and headed to 17,200 ft to carve out Camp 6. 17 Camp is not a comfortable place but cold and remote. It is also easy to be pinned down here by storms. Still lucky with weather there is a clear forecast.

Bernie and Matt are reporting problems sleeping but no other altitude related issues. They say it is really cold and made 14 camp feel "like a beach". From here nothing is left but the summit!

Day 10/June 13: Cache at 16,200ft

2008-06-15T16:39:00.002-06:00

Friday they climbed the headwall and cached supplies at the popular spot at 16,200 ft. Because of exposure to winds it isn't normally used as a camp but it is just right for a supply depot.

Map of Progress

2008-06-12T00:19:00.002-06:00

Google maps are great! Be sure to zoom in because the West Buttress route is actually marked. Don't let this nice map stop you from checking out their progress in Google Earth (previous post).

View Larger Map

Day 7/Jun 10: Camp 5 (14,200ft)

2008-06-11T20:50:00.004-06:00

Continued good weather has allowed the team to move up to 14,200 ft. This involved first climbing a slope known as Motorcycle Hill before turning famous Windy Corner and up to 14200’ directly below the awesome bulk of the upper mountain.

This is an important camp and one they had planned to spent several days at acclimatizing. This is also a new record sleeping altitude for both the climbers. Some readers will realize that 14,000 ft is just about as high as one can get on mountains in the lower 48 States. Mt Whitney in California tops out at 14,497 feet above sea level. In fact the two of them are now just below their all-time altitude records. The highest mountain Matt has ascended was also Colorado's highest, Mt Elbert, at 14,440 ft. Bernie's record is 14,294 ft on Crestone Peak. Before leaving Bernie mentioned looking forward to the point on Denali where each step represents a new personal high point.

That spot is just above them now on the Headwall, a 55° slope with fixed ropes to aid climbers. They will get to know the Headwall well as they ascend and descend it repeatedly while caching supplies above 16k.

Check out their progress with Google Earth.

Day 6/Jun 9: Carry to 12,800 ft

2008-06-11T00:26:00.003-06:00

Today's activities are a little different. They may have rested yesterday but until today they had never backtracked. You can think of it as the start of the real climbing. The first four days were spent hauling the sleds up the valley over a mostly low angle glacier. Then they rested a day before ferrying a half load up to 12,800 ft where they dug a 3 ft deep pit to cache the supplies.

Digging a meter down into the hard packed snow isn't easy and in this case is probably excessive but it is a Park Service requirement on Denali. Shallow caches are in danger of being uncovered by the sun and pillaged by birds. The plan was to return the following day with the rest of their supplies, pick up the cache (or part of it) and carry on to a higher camp. The purpose is two-fold. First they are only moving half the weight that distance and second there is a significant acclimatization benefit to "climbing high, sleeping low". And they probably hate to leave the nice little snow house they built.

Day 5/Jun 8: Rest Day at Camp 4

2008-06-11T00:13:00.004-06:00

Today was a rest day for the team. I neglected to mention in the previous post that at this camp they built the first igloo of the trip. Bernie wrote that it (and presumably they but he was too modest) had many admirers. The igloo will be much more comfortable than the tent and I'm sure they erected the megamid (floorless pyramid tent) outside the igloo entrance tunnel for a nice sheltered storage and cooking area. Very posh.

West Buttress Camps

2008-06-09T01:31:00.003-06:00

Now that Bernie and Matt have established camp at 11,200 ft I thought it was important to make sure everyone takes another look at what is ahead of them. This is the same picture that Bernie linked to in the right hand menu.

Day 4/Jun 7: Camp 4 (11,200 ft)

2008-06-08T00:21:00.003-06:00

I was at my computer when they texted me Saturday at midnight. Shortly thereafter I got a sat call. What started as very clear only lasted a few minutes before it cut out completely so I don't have much more to report.

Spirits seemed very high and they are very happy with the weather so far. It has been great. Let's all hope that holds. I was speaking directly with Bernie and one sentiment he did express was the utter vastness of the glacier. You just walk and walk and walk, and "nothing gets any closer".

But wait "enough about them", you're thinking. "What were you doing home at midnight on Saturday? Don't you have your own mountains to climb?" Correct you are. I hadn't planned on being home this weekend but ended up with a short scenic hike to a fire tower Saturday and I'm heading out Sunday morning to a place Bernie and I know well.

One of our first mountain climbs together in Colorado was up Mt Evans by way of Mt Spaulding from Summit Lake. He and I saw some snow climbers then traversing over from Sunrise Couloir. We both thought it was pretty cool. I'll be thinking about that day while I'm on that climb. It is a short one which means if I have any additional updates from the Powersauce twins, I'll be able to post them Sunday evening.

Update: I ended up on little Eldorado Mountain instead of Sunrise Coulior.

Day 3/Jun 6: Camp 2 to Camp 3 (10200 ft)

2008-06-08T00:10:00.003-06:00

About this day, the team texted me "JN6CMP310200GRVUS" which translated is "June 6 Camp 3 10,200 ft, Great Views." Slowly and steadily they are whittling this mountain down.

Day2/Jun 5: Camp 1 to Camp 2 (8800 ft)

2008-06-05T22:16:00.004-06:00

Contrary to what many people think snow/glacier travel is often extremely hot work. Climbers are essentially at the bottom of a shiny bowl that reflects all sunlight. In addition higher elevations mean less atmosphere to block ultraviolet light making the sun seem more intense. The results can be bad sunburns under the chin or even inside the nostrils. Additionally without glacier glasses blocking 80% - 95% of the light, burned retinas are a real risk. They might be protected from the worst of it but the previous day was still a sweaty workout.

With that in mind today was planned to be a bit of a rest day. Sleep in, relax, and have the option to start climbing in the evening. No doubt they are tweaking their rope and sled systems and mapping out their itinerary for the next few days.

Prior to leaving there was a lot of discussion regarding where they would spend their first night. Since knowing their arrival time and weather wasn't possible, day 2 could have started anywhere between base camp and 9,800 feet. With that question mark removed and an updated local forecast I'm sure they spent the hottest part of the day under the pyramid tarp outlining the next 2-3 days and watching other climbers. They are not alone on the mountain by any stretch and they are reportedly enjoying the instant camaraderie among teams. The view isn't bad either.

Please note that after leaving Talkeetna, they have no way to send me pictures to post. What you see linked are pictures I found on SummitPost.org.

Update (midnight Jun 7): They made it up to 8,800 ft with great weather.

Day1/Jun 4: Base Camp (7200') to Camp 1 (7600')

2008-06-05T20:38:00.005-06:00

Right on schedule Team Powersauce departed bustling Talkeetna on Wednesday morning. The town was swollen with climbing teams delayed by poor weather the previous day. I've been made to understand that their unethical line jumping was enabled by back room brownie dealing and so good were these brownies Team Sypderchimp secured the next plane out. To be fair I'm sure Mom Walsh intended her baked goods to be used for good and not evil.

If you are not familiar with the flight into base camp, it is well known among mountaineers as spectacular. Besides the scenery the small bush planes can only just barely make it through One Shot Pass. Then the plane lands directly on the South East Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. This is Base Camp. Here teams cache some food and reorganize their gear. There is also a base camp manager and I believe a doc. It is not uncommon to spend a day here relaxing and practicing crevasse rescue. Being from Colorado and having already practiced their skills, Bernie and Matt decided to head out straight away.

Unfortunately one half of Team Spyderchimp became profoundly ill during the flight and needed serious recuperation time. Since the rangers reported excellent conditions on the glacier the informal alliance dissolved and the two of them tied in and headed down Heartbreak Hill to the main glacier. Roughly 800 feet of ascending over 4 miles deposited them at a good spot a little short of the traditional first camp.

Talkeetna, Alaska (348 ft)

2008-06-03T22:44:00.012-06:00

And so it begins. This evening Bernie emailed me from the hostel in Talkeetna. He sent three pictures and had this to share:

The flight from Denver was fine. Get our gear checked in was interesting. Matt wanted a plastic bag for his backpack, but was told that those plastic bags are for babies--meaning to cover car seats. He convinced them to give him one, but did not tie it the way the ticketing agent wanted, so she retied it.

Bernie was charged $50 extra because one bag was too long, and $50 for the sled. Then, I was yelled at by TSA for wearing my watch into the metal detector.

We arrived in Talkeetna about 10 am today. We hooked up with another two-man team [James and Don of Team Spyderchimp -ed] and we plan to travel together for increased safety.

We just finished our ranger briefing. It was about an hour of questions and procedures designed, by their own admission, to deter climbers who are not prepared. The ranger was impressed with the amount of research we had done and our knowledge of the route, gear, etc.

We plan to fly out to the glacier tomorrow sometime in the morning. The weather is supposed to be good.

Bernie

We are only allowed 125 lbs each--we will be over that by about 10 lbs and that includes wearing as much as we can because weight does not count against the total.

View Larger Map

Introducing the New Transcriber

2008-05-28T23:22:00.000-06:00

This is Glenn aka Big Gee. Team Powersauce has named me blog transcriber out of a competitive field of my peers. "But you're peerless", you say? Indeed I am. My numerous duties will be discharged with grace and aplomb. Although no longer part of the glacier team, I am eager to earn my Denali 2008 shirt by making Bernie and Matt seem witty and heroic.

Good luck boys!

Satellite Phone

2008-05-27T14:33:00.000-06:00

Matt and I have rented a satellite phone and Glenn has agreed to update this blog with our progress. We won't be updating every day, but maybe we can afford to send info every 4 or 5 days.

We pay $8.99 each day that we use the phone and then $1.79 per minute for talk time and $.69 for each text message. Apparently, if callers use the proper method, incoming calls to us have no per-minute charge! I will have to read the plan more closely to verify this.

Matt and I conducting final packing for the trip. June 2nd is almost here. My basement is really getting cleaned up as a I stuff gear into my duffel and backpack. It is the cleanest it has been in months.

Oh, and I wanted to thank Glenn for the photos for the previous post from our trip to St. Marys Glacier. I left my camera in my back at the bottom of the glacier. I will do a better job of picture taking on Denali.

St. Marys Glacier Tune up

2008-05-27T10:00:00.000-06:00

Matt, Glenn, and I headed out to St. Marys Glacier so that Matt and I could brush up on our rope work for Denali. It was extremely warm that day so we could not do all that we had wanted. The snow was too soft and avalanche danger was higher than we would have liked.

We learned some valuable info and had a good time placing anchors and realizing that we needed different pulleys.

The Food is on the Way

2008-05-17T15:22:00.000-06:00

Matt and I mailed out our food today. Mine weighed almost 54 lbs, and I will probably have some additional snacks to pack for the flight as well. It feels good to have that step complete. Sending the food out really emphasizes just how close this trip is. It does not seem like almost a year ago when Matt and I first entertained the idea of climbing Denali. Soon, very soon we will be boarding the plane!

Blown Away

2008-05-11T18:43:00.000-06:00

Matt, Glenn, and I planned to climb the east ridge of Mt. Bancroft on May 11. Our plan was to climb up to a high camp at the base of the ridge around 11,700 feet and camp Saturday night and then climb Sunday morning.

Matt and I headed out ahead of Glenn with the idea that we would meet up at the high camp. As Matt and I climbed near 11,000 feet, the wind was ridiculous. As we gained elevation below the high camp destination, the wind became even fiercer. On several occasions I was actually spun around and knocked down! I estimated the gusts between 60 and 70 miles per hour based upon previous experience with a wind gauge.

After searching futilely for a sheltered place to set up the tent, we retreated back into the trees down lower to establish camp. Glenn rolled into camp not long after we starting setting up the tent.

On Sunday morning the wind was still ripping the upper mountain, and we could see huge plumes of snow shooting off the ridges. The climb was a no-go. We got a great workout with heavy packs, but did not get to summit. The mountain will still be there when the wind is less hazardous.

Time For The Feedbags

2008-04-30T21:00:00.000-06:00

It is time to pack our food for the big trip. We are taking the recommendations of several texts we have read, and we are packing in three-day bundles. The big blue 3 gallon bags are each three days of food.

I still have much to buy and pack, but these first four bags, 12 days worth of food, are almost ready. Each day will be about 4000 calories give or take and will weigh between 6 and 7 pounds. Our current plan is to cache a few MREs at base camp instead of a three day bag. We plan to pack about 22 days of food.

Rather than carry all of this through the airports with our gear, we will be mailing the food up to Talkeetna where Talkeetna Air Taxi has agreed to store it for us until we arrive June 3. There is nothing perishable, so this should work out well and save us a huge headache and extra fees from the airline.

I will include my typical menu in a future post.

Resizing of Team Powersauce

2008-04-25T11:35:00.000-06:00

Well, it is official that team Powersauce is back down to two members, Matt and me. Glenn and Melissa just could not make it happen this year for various reasons. Therefore, Matt and I have researched and will practice two-man rope travel on the Kahiltna Glacier. Neither of us have experience on a two-man rope team, but we will get enough practice before we leave in five weeks.

Right now, we are packing our food for the trip. We will be mailing our food up to Talkeetna Air Taxi to store for us until we arrive on June 3. This will save us the burden of carrying it all through the airports and paying the extra fees for the baggage. We will have over 50 pounds of food each.

The weekends in May will involve last-minute training here in Colorado. I hope to have some interesting info and pictures up after each weekend. April has been very busy at work for both of us so we have not gotten out into the mountains like we had hoped.

Return to Mt. Princeton

2008-03-25T08:52:00.000-06:00

Matt and I returned to the Mt. Princeton road again, but this time with Denali teammate Melissa Archey. She was trying out her Mountainsmith sled for the first time and of course Matt had his Mountainsmith. All I had was Old Blue--the Wal-Mart special. The weather was not quite Denali-like. There was little wind and it was warm.

Matt lounged at Beach Camp (10,890 ft.) after our climb of the Princeton sub-peak "Tigger." We did not summit Princeton or Tigger, but the training and team building was highly valuable. Melissa's dog, Haley, made the trip with us. Too bad Haley cannot come to Denali. It was fun having a dog around.

We enjoyed the two-day trip as we dragged our loaded sleds up the road. The snow cover is shrinking quickly and soon it will be hard to find places to drag our sleds for training. I guess we will have to drag tires through our neighborhoods!

Team Powersauce is Official

2008-03-13T08:46:00.001-06:00

We have finally set our team for our expedition. Team Powersauce is comprised of Matt Walsh, Melissa Archey, Glenn Strouhal, and Bernie Hohman.

Atlantic Peak via The West Ridge

2008-03-04T08:24:00.001-07:00

On March 1 Matt Walsh and I headed back out to Atlantic Peak to finally climb the West Ridge route. It also gave us a chance to check on the igloo we built in Mayflower Gulch a few weeks ago. It was mostly drifted over, but appeared to be intact.

It was quite warm but extremely windy up high on the ridge. We dragged our heaviest sleds yet for training purposes. The summit was actually pretty calm. It was a great climb with a truly apline feel. Check out the full gallery of pictures at The Summit Ridge.

A Grand Shelter in Mayflower Gulch

2008-02-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

Matt, Glenn, and I headed out to Mayflower Gulch with plans to contruct the largest igloo possible with the Icebox tool--11 feet in diameter. After our successful igloo at 7 feet in diameter, we were feeling pretty good about our chances for success. We have ironed out all of the mistakes we have made so far, so this igloo was set to be the best.

We hiked up the well-used trail into the basin. We located a nice flat area with snow well over four feet deep. This is the area we chose. Orginally, we had hoped to climb up near the west ridge of Atlantic Peak, but in looking back we are glad we did not. The igloo took us over 6 hours to build from stomping out the platform to digging out the door and kitchen area.

The weather turned snowy and visibility dropped significantly, so Matt and I passed on our bid for a climb of Atlantic until another day. Mayflower Gulch is quite popular; consequently, many snowshoers and skiers stopped to chat with us about our palatial igloo. Check it out if you plan to visit the area. It should last several months.

Check out more photos and info at The Summit Ridge.

Did you sleep in an Igloo Last Night?

2008-02-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

We finally completed our first igloo with the ICEBOX igloo tool! It took us many hours and a lot of work, but in the end it was well worth the effort.

Glenn and I hiked up to the Stevens Gulch trailhead looking for deep snow. We found it just above the parking area. Nearly three feet of snow, and some flat ground provided the perfect place to build the igloo. The warm sun and the calm winds made working on the igloo pleasant. We know we cannot expect these conditions on Denali, but it was great weather to practice.

We completed the igloo in twilight, and then attached my new Black Diamond Megamid Light to the outside to provide a nice place to work.

The temperature in the igloo stayed at 33 degrees throughout the night--quite comfortable. The solitude of an igloo cannot be overstated. It was warm and quiet and windproof. All of these will be important for a successful Denali trip. We are looking forward to building many more of these and improving our construction time.

Grays and Torreys High Camp

2008-01-25T21:36:00.001-07:00

On January 20 Matt and I hiked up from the Bakerville trailhead next to I-70 up to 13,000 feet to camp--a trip of about five miles one way. He was using a ski pulk he borrowed from a friend. The pulk is definitely the way to go. I toiled with my roped kiddie sled yet again.

The temperature was single digits below zero without the wind. Our camp had many creature comforts including a kitchen and gear storage area--thanks to Matt digging down in the deep snow.

Inside the tent the temperature never fell below 20 degrees, but outside it was closer to minus 20 degrees. The frost build up from our breathing was thick in the tent. Every time the wind hit the tent, it snowed on us.

The First Shakedown

2007-11-26T19:48:00.001-07:00

On November 24th Matt and I headed out to Mt. Princeton. The road had just enough powder to make travel too risky. Therefore, we used the winter parking at Frontier Ranch (8,900 ft.), packed our Wal-Mart "Mega Sleds," and headed up the road. We started later than planned, and we knew that daylight would be short.

The "Mega Sleds" proved to be a bit unruly. They would not track as I expected, and the positioning of gear in the sled was a challenge. Matt's sled experienced rollover, and mine insisted on heading left even when the trail turned right. Here it is turning uncharacteristically right!

As it neared dark and the sun slipped behind the ridge, the temperature dropped sharply. We decided to make camp on a flat spot along the road at around 11,300 feet. The temperature outside fell below zero but stayed at about 26 degrees in the tent. The morning sun warmed us as we ate and packed up.

We packed our sleds hoping to be able to ride them down. Alas, the sleds would not cooperate, so we had to walk down dragging our sleds.

We did not reach our goal of the summit, but we are just starting our training and gear testing. We should be back out in a few weeks. This time, Atlantic Peak will be our objective.

Anchorage Here We Come!

2007-11-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, not until June 2, 2008 but you get the point. We purchased our tickets to Anchorage tonight. We are allowing 28 days total for the trip. We have gone with travel insurance that will allow us to change our return ticket for a value of up to $750--that should cover the change fee and any additional fees.

Training begins in earnest December 1. That date is rapidly approaching. We have begun some light conditioning to get back into the groove. Over Thanksgiving we plan to climb Mount Princeton (a 14er near Buena Vista, Colorado) and sleep on the summit.

My wife got me the excellent Icebox igloo tool for my birthday. Igloos seem to be the way to go on Denali. Unfortunately, the snow has been so sparse this fall in the Rockies of Colorado that we will not get to practice building an igloo on the summit. Hopefully, we will be able to practice building with it soon. Check it out here: http://www.grandshelters.com.

A Big Step Taken

2007-10-12T12:47:00.000-06:00

This week we reserved our seats on the plane from Talkeetna to basecamp with Talkeetna Air Taxi. The flight is about 30-45 minutes, and we will be transported in a single-engine plane. The descriptions of this flight are exciting. It should be a fun flight.

We are currently working to complete our four-person expedition team by filling the fourth slot. Also, gear purchases continue. Hours and hours of study on the internet can reveal great deals--you just have to be willing to put in the time.

I will be writing a column for my hometown newspaper about our expedition. I am not sure when the first installment will run, but I hope to publish several columns before we leave and then send back a few from the mountain as well as after the climb as well.

Planning just starting

2007-09-30T20:50:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been nearly three months since my first post, and I finally have information worth posting at this point. After much thought, research, and discussion, Matt and I have decided to climb Denali unguided. We are attempting to locate two more climbers to form a four-person expedition--we have a strong lead on a possible third at this point.

This week we talk with our boss about an early departure in June from our jobs to get an early June start on the mountain. Hopefully, all will go well with this. My training specifically for this trip has not really begun as of yet. I did climb many 14ers in Colorado this summer and have plans to climb many more. Tomorrow, October 1, I plan to begin ramping up the aerobic conditioning--mostly via running for now.

Very soon we will be purchasing reservations for the flight from Talkeetna to the glacier. More updates then.

Inaugural Post

2007-07-09T19:15:00.000-06:00

In this the first post of this blog, the origin of the concept of climbing Denali will be the focus as well as how it came to be a reality to this point--about 11 months from departure for the High One.

I have thought about climbing Denali since 1998 when I took a 6-day mountaineering course in the Cascades through Apline Ascents International. Our instructor/guide entertained us with tales of Aconcagua and Denali. His stories of bitter cold, hurricane-force winds, steep ice and snow, crevasse falls, and sunburns strangely appealed to me.

A few years later I moved from Northwest Ohio to Denver and began climbing. I have worked my way through nearly half of Colorado's mountains over 14,000 feet as well as climbing a few peaks in Oregon and California.

When I met up with Matt Walsh this past year, a fellow avid alpine climber, we started climbing together and soon started talking about mountains outside Colorado. Matt has experience on Rainier and I have experience from California's Mount Shasta, but neither of us gets much glacier travel experience here in the Centennial state.

So, today, as I begin this web presence, I too begin my preparation for the High One. Matt and I will be selecting a guide service for the trip. It seems most practical to attack the West Buttress route considering neither of us has been above 14,500 feet before and Denali reaches 20,320 feet. I know this is the easiest route, but I do not feel guilty attempting the easiest route on a mountain with the reputation of Denali. All routes must deal with frigid temperatures, wildly unpredictable weather, whiteouts, avalanches, and blizzards.

Our training will begin in earnest this winter here in Colorado as we plan multiple winter ascents and nights out at or near the summits of Colorado's 14ers. I plan to update this blog only when I have germane information for now. As we get closer to the climb (within 6 months or so), I will post more often. I hope to work out a way to post each day of the trip as well. I will be working on the logistics of this in the next month or so as well as carefully considering what gear to purchase and what gear to rent. The obvious first priority for Matt and me is to chose the appropriate guide service. I hope to have that information the next time I post.