The First Shakedown

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!

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

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

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

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.