For the past year or so, I have been planning one of the biggest "projects" that I have ever attempted. Many hours were spent in study, a pile of gear was assembled, and many miles of training were logged. All of this was to prepare me for an attempted ascent of Denali, North America's highest peak that reaches 20,310 feet above sea level. Earlier this month, I met with my guide team from Colorado based guide company, Mountain Trip in Anchorage, Alaska.
From Anchorage, we drove to Talkeetna where we completed all of the necessary National Park Service permitting and orientation. Then, the first real order of business was to load a very significant amount of gear, food, and clothing into our Talkeetna Air Taxi glacier plane.
The ~45 minute flight to base camp was absolutely amazing. The lush green Alaskan interior surrounding Talkeetna transitioned to tundra which soon turned to the glaciated Alaskan Range, home of some of the world's largest glaciers. The scale of the range is something that I never quite got used to. It is simply massive.
Once unloaded, our plane returned to Talkeetna and we would not see it for another 3 weeks. Mt Foraker is standing proud in the background.
For the next week or so, we spent out time moving all of our gear and supplies up the mountain in a methodical way to allow for acclimatization to the thinning air. We made camps at 7,800 feet and at 11,200 feet. We enjoyed excellent conditions on the route. The weather was mostly favorable with the exception of when we entered Windy Corner at approximately 13,000 feet. There, we experienced severe winds, poor visibility, and very deep snow on both occasions that we attempted the corner.
My tent mate Jorn from Norway with the lower Kahiltna Glacier in the background.
Ultimately, we were successful in reaching the beautiful Camp 3 in Genet basin, located at 14,200 feet. Mt Huntington, Mt Hunter, and Mt Foraker stand in the background. It was perhaps the most spectacular view from any toilet (visible just behind the bamboo wands) that I have ever enjoyed.
Our camp at 14,200 feet with the headwall and West Buttress visible above me.
Our progress on the route ground to a complete halt at Camp 3 due to a cyclone that stalled many miles away in Bristol Bay. This storm brought strong winds and many feet of snow into camp. We were forced to wait out the storm and several subsequent low pressure systems for 12 days. We spent our time playing card and dice games, reading, listening to "tunes," and sleeping. Perhaps the most popular activity was mealtime. Our guides did a fantastic job of preparing delicious food under less than ideal conditions. If nothing else, we ate well.
Luckily, toward the end of the storms, we would have intermittent clearing for a few hours, allowing for some amazing views. Here I contemplate the summit of Mt Foraker above the clouds.
Despite our strong early progress on the route, the massive storm began to stretch our supplies and patience. Once the weather made a slight improvement, we were forced to move higher in hopes of a summit opportunity before we ran out of time or food. The decision was made to attempt a summit push and, on a clear morning, we packed camp, and climbed the fixed lines up the headwall onto the West Buttress. Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors, our climb came to an end on the ridge. Our team gave it a good effort but we would ultimately turn around from our high point of approximately 16,200 feet.
16,200'
We spent the next two days descending the route and were extraordinarily lucky to catch a flight off of the glacier within 30 minutes of arrival at base camp. That meant that we were back on our way to Talkeetna where showers, hamburgers, reindeer hotdogs, and the largest pancakes that I have ever seen were waiting.
Denali. The Tall One.
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