Eklutna Slogfest (er, Traverse) 2013

To get ready for multiple attempts on Denali this climbing season, a bunch of us from work went out to do the Eklutna Traverse - 25 miles from Eklutna Lake to Crow Pass.  It's a decent traverse in its own right, but to make it the best training possible, we were hauling all the sleds and gear we would need on Denali rather than staying in the huts along the way and keeping our bags light.  Between the weight of our gear and the 2 to 4 feet of fresh snow we were greeted with, it turned into a pretty tough 3 days.

 The approach to the glacier.  As you can tell from the photo, some sleds were better balanced than others.

 The toe of the Eklutna Glacier.  Getting up on the glacier was quite an event, with some steep climbing with crampons while dragging our sleds behind us.  It's a beautiful glacier, though.

The team headed up glacier on day 1.  You can see how far the sleds have sunk into the snow - lots of friction to fight against.

I didn't discover until we were already out on the trip that someone had snuck an old helmet into my backpack.

Taking a break during day 2.  The snow was tough to sled through, but the scenery was never less than spectacular.

 Headed up to the Raven Headwall on our last day.  We had finished the day before skiing down the glacier across the valley then climbing 1,000 feet up to a hut.  We woke up that morning at 6 and got in to the hut around 10:30.

Our tracks coming down the Raven Headwall.  With 60 pounds on our backs, it was truly survival skiing.

Completing the traverse took three awesomely tough days.  I think it will be great preparation for Denali, though, and it was certainly beautiful.