Denali Expedition
This past June into July, I was fortunate enough to be part of a team making a summit bid up Denali (or Mt. McKinley, as some, such as the USGS, know it). We didn't make it to the top - I got to 19,500 feet before turning around, but it was a great experience. Before slogging through anything else I might write, the team put together a short video, and the link is below. I make no excuse for the music - wasn't my choice.
Denali Video
In many respects, climbing Denali was no different from any of the other longer trips I've done - our days were spent, more or less, waking up, eating, traveling, eating some more, setting up camp, eating again, then sleeping. There was probably some eating in there that I missed. A few things stand out as unique to this trip, though. We carried all of our food from start to finish - 21 days worth. As it turned out, 21 days was how long we ended up staying on the mountain. We had a couple of down days for weather, and while most of the team was able to fly out as soon as we arrived back at base camp, three of us were stuck for three more days at base camp waiting for weather which had moved in to clear out. I've never carried that much food before; in the past, I've always had re-supplies along the way. We were hauling sleds behind us, and if I recall correctly, our average gear weight at the start of the trip was something on the order of 120 pounds. Pretty heavy.
Another big difference in this trip was the level of exposure. People talk about Denali's West Buttress (the typical route, and the route we attempted) as being a walk up, and in many respects, that is true. There is a short section of fixed ropes, and some spots where placing protection is advised, but there is little extremely technical about Denali. That being said, it's a walk up with an incredible amount of exposure. There are lots of places along the route where a fall will mean death (and has for some in the past), and, particularly during the time of the year we were climbing, lots of open crevasses. We had a team member take a crevasse fall, as a matter of fact, as we descended towards base camp, and there were lots of sketchy spots. So yeah, a walk up, just a walk up with big consequences.
The last, and most obvious, difference between previous trips I've done and this one was the altitude. Prior to Denali, I'd never been above around 13,000 - getting up to 19,500 put me a good 6,000 feet higher than I'd ever been. If you factor in Alaska's northern latitude, the relative altitude is something closer to 22,000 feet. A personal goal of the trip was to see how my body did without taking any altitude prophylactics. I found out - one of the reasons I turned around at 19,500 was that I had a pounding headache and had started vomiting. I also found I ate significantly less above 17,000 feet. All good lessons. I'd love to get the chance to go back again, though, and if I do, I'll definitely be taking some Diamox or something to try to give myself a better shot at summitting.
It was tough to turn back from the summit, especially considering that this was a record-breaking summer for Denali summits. I loved my time on the mountain, though. We had a great team, relaxed, easy to get along with, and supportive. I love the 3:00 mark in the video...there wasn't any music when the guy in the video was dancing, he was just be-bopping for the fun of it. Also, what can't properly be captured in words, or pictures, for that matter, is how beautiful it is up there. The higher you get, the bigger the scale gets, and the more amazing the scenery becomes. At some point at 17,000 camp, I looked out and saw an expanse of clouds at around the 15,000-foot level, as far as the eye could see. It was pretty wild to realize that, besides the 20 or so other people up there at the camp with me, no one else could see the sun. From bottom to top, the mountain was just spectacularly beautiful. Even without the summit, still a great trip.
Denali Video
In many respects, climbing Denali was no different from any of the other longer trips I've done - our days were spent, more or less, waking up, eating, traveling, eating some more, setting up camp, eating again, then sleeping. There was probably some eating in there that I missed. A few things stand out as unique to this trip, though. We carried all of our food from start to finish - 21 days worth. As it turned out, 21 days was how long we ended up staying on the mountain. We had a couple of down days for weather, and while most of the team was able to fly out as soon as we arrived back at base camp, three of us were stuck for three more days at base camp waiting for weather which had moved in to clear out. I've never carried that much food before; in the past, I've always had re-supplies along the way. We were hauling sleds behind us, and if I recall correctly, our average gear weight at the start of the trip was something on the order of 120 pounds. Pretty heavy.
Another big difference in this trip was the level of exposure. People talk about Denali's West Buttress (the typical route, and the route we attempted) as being a walk up, and in many respects, that is true. There is a short section of fixed ropes, and some spots where placing protection is advised, but there is little extremely technical about Denali. That being said, it's a walk up with an incredible amount of exposure. There are lots of places along the route where a fall will mean death (and has for some in the past), and, particularly during the time of the year we were climbing, lots of open crevasses. We had a team member take a crevasse fall, as a matter of fact, as we descended towards base camp, and there were lots of sketchy spots. So yeah, a walk up, just a walk up with big consequences.
The last, and most obvious, difference between previous trips I've done and this one was the altitude. Prior to Denali, I'd never been above around 13,000 - getting up to 19,500 put me a good 6,000 feet higher than I'd ever been. If you factor in Alaska's northern latitude, the relative altitude is something closer to 22,000 feet. A personal goal of the trip was to see how my body did without taking any altitude prophylactics. I found out - one of the reasons I turned around at 19,500 was that I had a pounding headache and had started vomiting. I also found I ate significantly less above 17,000 feet. All good lessons. I'd love to get the chance to go back again, though, and if I do, I'll definitely be taking some Diamox or something to try to give myself a better shot at summitting.
It was tough to turn back from the summit, especially considering that this was a record-breaking summer for Denali summits. I loved my time on the mountain, though. We had a great team, relaxed, easy to get along with, and supportive. I love the 3:00 mark in the video...there wasn't any music when the guy in the video was dancing, he was just be-bopping for the fun of it. Also, what can't properly be captured in words, or pictures, for that matter, is how beautiful it is up there. The higher you get, the bigger the scale gets, and the more amazing the scenery becomes. At some point at 17,000 camp, I looked out and saw an expanse of clouds at around the 15,000-foot level, as far as the eye could see. It was pretty wild to realize that, besides the 20 or so other people up there at the camp with me, no one else could see the sun. From bottom to top, the mountain was just spectacularly beautiful. Even without the summit, still a great trip.
posted by Slim at
9:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home