Climbing for Learning: Denali

Pre-Climb: Physical Training for Denali

So, just how do you train for a huge mountaineering expedition while living in Alexandria, VA?

I started last August working to build a strong base of cardio endurnace and strength.  Fitness events help me train and I was originally scheduled to run the Chicago Marathon in October.  My body had other plans and a late September a surprise appendechtomy sidelined me for about 60 days!

I began training again in earnest after the holidays - strength training with Kettle Bells under the guidance of my AWESOME personal trainer, Darius!

I also began hiking with a loaded pack around the area - C&O Canal's Billy Goat Trail and the Shenandoah's Ceder Run Trail and White Oak Canyon. Cedar Run Trail turns out to be my favorite as it's the most brutal I could find - it goes up 3,000 vertical feet to the hightest point in the Shenandoah National Park.  I would keep doing this one over and over again, going as fast as I could, with heavier pack wieghts - my last training hike I was carrying 75 lbs!

In early March, I also attended a week-long winter expedition training session hosted by Rainier Mountaineering on Mount Rainier.  This was a great warm-up and our guides were fantastic climbers and teachers.  We covered glacier travel, crevasse rescue, avalanche dangers, climbing techniques, and about 20 new knots!  All of this in deep snow with more continuosly falling.

In between some of this training I also took some proactive, preventative measures with visits to Positively Chiropractic (http://www.posichiro.com/) and the great services of Dr. Kathy and Lara - these ladies kept my joints and muscles in great working order so I could continue to train with heavier and heavier loads.   

Did I do enough?  Am I properly prepared...?  I think about it all the time.   At this point I have done all I can do - and now I will leave it to the mountiain to tell me how well I did.

Pre-Climb: All that Gear!

When I thought about what I might need for 21 days climbing North America's highest peak, with really low temps and lots of snow - my first thought was, "I might need a lot of stuff."  Then when I realized that I would also have to carry the stuff - my next thought was, "How little can I take!" 

This is the balance.  Survival, comfort, fitness, speed, safety, contingencies.  During my previous climbs on Rainier, Kilimamjaro, and Aconcagua - I had acquired some of the gear I would need on Denali.  This was helpful - but, of course, there is always more gear to get and better technology available...  Fortunately, my wife Leslie was introduced early on to the cost of this hooby when she ran across the receipt for the down-filled parka that I had purchased.  As I keep on telling her, "Don't worry, Honey, I will use it again!"

If you are intersted, the gear list for this trip is posted on the Rainier Mountaineering web site - I used this list throughout my planning and packing:  http://www.rmiguides.com/mckinley/west-buttress_equipment.html.

Gear not on this list includes my communications gear that I rented from Explorer's Web (http://www.humanedgetech.com/shop/home.php).  This includes the gear that I will use send text and pictures to this site - satellite phone, HP iPaq PDA, Sony HD-TG1 camcorder and camera, and iPod Touch.

In addition to personal gear, I will be carrying my portion of the group gear which could include any combination of food, fuel, stoves, tents, shovels, rope, etc.   Which, at the end of the day... adds up to a lot of stuff!

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Pre-climb: Arrival in Alaska!

After all the planning, trainign, and packing, I arrived in Talkeetna, Alaska today!  The climbing team of 3 guides and 9 climbers will link up on Wednesday morning.

I flew in to Anchorage and rented a car for the 2 hour drive to Talkeetna.  If you've ever seen the TV series, Northern Exposure, the main street of Talkeetna looks somewhat familiar.  It's rural, quiet, very friendly, and filled with climbers.  The town is the main jumping off point for climbs and treks in Denali National Park (http://www.nps.gov/dena/).  From here, pilots ferry climbers and gear to snow landing strips within the Park.

Pre-Climb: Who, Where, and How?

When I tell people I am going to try and climb Mt McKinley, one of the first questions is, "Who am I going with?"  On all my mountain climbs I try to find a reputable guiding company with a good summit success rate.  These companies combine professional guides with qualified climbers to form an expedition team.  On Rainier in 2003, I climbed with 3 good friends.  On Kilimanjaro there were 5 of us who knew each other.  However, similar to my Aconcagua climb and now on Denali, I won't really know any of the guides or climbers until we meet in Telkeetna on Wednesday morning.  Although, I did have the good fortune to have one climber in the March Rainier training program that is also in this expedition.   I will be climbing with Rainier Mountaineering and there will be 12 climbers in our group - 3 guides and 9 clients.

We will be climbing up the West Buttress Route on Denali.  Details on the route and the itinerary can be found at: http://www.rmiguides.com/mckinley/west-buttress_itinerary.html.

We will be climbing "expedition style" - meaning that we will be ferrying our gear up to higher camps and then retunring to a lower camp for more gear and to better acclimitize.  This is contrasted with "alpine style" in which you don't shuttle any gear, but climb straight up the mountain in one trip. 

Pre-Climb: Some Views of Talkeetna

As I worked most of the day on my laptop trying to wrap us loose ends, I did manage to get a few photos of Talkeetna and eat some good local food.  I had raindeer sausage for breakfast, raindeer meatballs for lunch, and a caribou burger for dinner.  One interesting sight has been the bike riders out exercising their sled dogs - connected to the bike!  That could help my bike time my next Ironman!

Day 0: Team, Gear, Packing for the Flight

The day counter will start when we get on the mountain.  So, while the expedition officially started today, it's still Day 0.  All 12 of us met for breakfast and after introductions we headed over to the airport - a five minute walk!  Today was about orientation, gear, and packing. 

Later in the morning, we walked 10 minutes in the other direction to get to the Denali National Park ranger station.  We paid our $210 climbing fee and then had a GREAT presentation by one of the "climbing" park rangers.  Wow.  I knew the mountain was big - but after hearing the presentation and listening to our guide's orientation... I got new sense of how BIG - big snow, big weather, and big efforts to keep Denali clean.  I learned that because Denali rises so fast and so high off the Alaskan plain that it creates its own weather patterns - that can change very, very quickly. 

As you can see from the gear picture, we laid out everything, then went over almost evey item, and then learned the best way to pack them  I learned some new knots (an ongoing event in mountaineering), crafted a leash for my ice axe, and learned how to rig my pack to pull my sled (approximate wieghts will be 60 lb pack and 40 lb sled). 

In a reminder of the dangers on Denali, the guides has us attach "drop ropes" and carabiners to our backpack and duffle bag - a good precaution so that if we fall into a crevasse, we won't lose our gear!

As you can imagine, a big part gear selction is a focus on weight with a trade-off for comfort.  I will have four pairs of socks for potentially 21 days - that sounds really good.  But tomorrow morning I will  I will put on a bright orange long sleve base layer shirt... that will not be changed until I return!  Whew!

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

Under partly cloudy skis, we arrived at the Talkeetna airport at 9 AM only to learn that base camp was too cloudy to land.  About 11 AM one of our guides, Billy, landed at Base Camp with some of the gear - but the weather closed up again.  There is a weather front moving in that will be here tomorrow... possibly grounding all flights until Sunday or Monday! 

So... we waited, wandered around Talkeetna, ate, waited, hung out, read, slept, drank coffee, waited...  you get the idea.  There are 2 planes, and the process is one of shuttling climbers and gear to the mountain in a series of flights. Each shuttle flight is about 1.5 hours roundtrip. 

It's almost 6 PM here and we might have a window to get out onto the mountain!  All planes have to be back in Talkeetna by 10:45 PM.  Rainier Mountaineering (RMI) uses Hudson Air Service and 2 planes just left with 4 of our climbers and lots of gear. We should know soon if they were able to land and if the rest of us will be able to get to Base Camp tonight.  There are still 7 of us at the hangar - and we could possibly all make it on 2 flights in the next round.

If we do make it to Base Camp tonight, we will set up there and plan on moving out tomorrow.  As Mike Walter our senior guide, tell us, weather on the lower mountain is a lot easier to deal with than up high.  If we can get onto the glacier and get moving, we should be in good shape even
with a mild front moving in.

Day 1: Arrival on the Kahiltna Glacier!

On the mountain!!  The adventure finally begins.  After all the preparation, training, concerns, gear purchases, etc. the climb has begun and... it's is very, very, exciting.  We arrrived to a world we had only read about and heard about - snow, rock, and ice on a scale I had never seen.  The flight in the Alaska Mountain Range was exhilirating... especially as I saw my first views of the towering Denali summit.  It was my first time on a ski plane and my first time landing on a glacier.  For the next 14-22 days we will be living entirely on snow!  All our routines are new.  We continue to get to know the rest of the team.

Since we arrived so late in the day, we will spend the night here at Base Camp at 7,200 feet and, weather permitting, begin our move to Camp 1 (7,800 feet) in the morning.  Our lead guide,  Mike Walter, will show us in the morning how to rig our sleds for travelling on the glacier.

Day 2: Move to Camp 1

We awoke to great weather after a casual morning packing and after learning how to travel with sleds we made a six and a half hour move to Camp 1 at 7,800 feet.  Here you can see me with my pack, snowshoes, red sled and full duffle bag!

Beginning at Base Camp, we will never travel anywhere on Denali without being part of a rope team.  On the Kahiltna we travel as three, four person rope teams with each team lead by a Rainer Mountaineering guide and each person separated by 40 feet of rope.  This should protect us in case anyone falls into a crevasse.  Should this happen the rest of team will be able to pull ther peson out - with their pack and sled still attached to the rope!

These next few days we will have gentle terrain, but heavy packs and sleds - as we move all our gear at one time from Base Camp through to Camp 3.  Beginning at Camp 3 (11,000 feet) we will begin doing a "carry" - taking gear higher and then coming back to sleep at the same camp - and then a "move" - where we will relocate the team to the higher camp.

We arrived in Camp 1 at 6:30 and are preparing hot drinks and dinner. Tomorrow, weather permitting we will head up to Camp 2.  I am having trouble sending any kind of data and pictures through the satellite phone so hopefully as we get higher that technology challenge might get solved.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 3: Arrival at Camp 2

We left around noon again today and arrived at Camp 2 at approximately 9,800 feet around 6 pm.  Again we have built tent platforms, set up camp, and we’re now waiting on hot drinks and burritos for dinner.  There was more uphill today (as expected right!) and the weather turned a little nastier as we ascended Ski Hill. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will head to Camp 3 at approximately 11,000 feet.  I am still having trouble sending pictures back but hopefully that will get cleared up as we get higher.

Travelling with a sled creates some intersting dynamics that have taken a little while to get used to.  While we are climbing up even slight hills, we are taking a rest step... step-pause-step-pause.  This lets the sled briefly pause on each step - upon which it takes a tug to get it back moving again.  So, you've got this - "tug... tug... tug..." thing going on as you travel.  As the terrain gets steeper - you get a "pul... pull... pull..." thing going on!

We stop and rest each hour - like clockwork.  This is great because it creates some clear predictability in our travel patterns.  Between breaks, each person enters their own little world.  Since we are separated by 40 feet of rope, conversation it not possible.  I try to be very aware of where I am and try to look around as muych as possible.  Songs float in and out as well as a myriad of focused and random throughts on every topic imaginable! 

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 4: Rest Day on the Kahiltna Glacier

We woke up to light snowfall that turned into heavier snowfall and white out conditions.  Rather than moving up to Camp 3, we took at rest day at Camp 2.  Hopefully the conditions will improve for tomorrow.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Additional Information About the Climb

Here are a few other websites with information about summiting Denali.

This is the National Park Service Website Entry for Denali that has lots of information about the mountain including daily weather reports:
http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/mountaineering.htm

This is an animated climb up Denali made by the "Deadly Ascents" PBS Show:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/denali/climb.html

This website is another blog by a fellow climber:
http://www.xxtinguish.blogspot.com/

Day 5: Still at Camp 2 (9800 ft)

We woke up to lots of snow and whiteout conditions for the second day in a row. Today was spent eating, sleeping, reading, hanging out, and generally trying to relax.  Hopefully we’ll be able to move to Camp 3 at 11,000 feet tomorrow.

Day 6: Our Third Weathered Day at Camp 2

Once again we awoke to snow and whiteout conditions.  Visibility remained at about 100 yards.  Good news was that the barometer was rising.  As we gathered in the kitchen tent for a scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast, freeze-dried eggs of course, we had high hopes of getting to Camp 3 later in the day. The weather had other ideas though and we remained at Camp 2 for another day.  As you might imagine for 12 climbers ready to make our climb for the summit, spending our third day in a row in our tents on the lower mountain can be a little frustrating.  But since there is nothing we can do about it, we try to make the best of it, reading, sleeping, eating, telling stories, writing in journals, you get the idea.

I brought one book with me, Red Mars, and have been enjoying the time to read.  As we each finish reading our books now the book exchange will begin.

At about 6 pm as I get out of my tent for our chicken    and rice dinner it looks like the weather is breaking.  The sky is clear and the sun is shining on the 18-24 inches of new snow.

If it holds we will be on our way again tomorrow morning.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 7: Weather Cleared

We reached Camp 3 at 11,200 feet.  The plan for tomorrow is to do a carry to Camp 4 and then come back to spend the night at Camp 3.  Everybody is doing great and hopefully the weather will hold.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 10: Arrival at Camp 4 (14200 feet)

Today was a tough day as we hiked up to Camp 4.  Everybody is doing well and we are all looking forward to a rest day tomorrow as we pick up the equipment we had cached yesterday at 13600 feet.  The rest day should help us to recover and acclimate to the new altitude. 

A note on the equipment:  I am still having difficult sending back photos but hopefully in a few days I will finally be able to send back photos.  You have to see these pictures because the views are out of control incredible.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 11: Retrieved the Cache

About 11:30 today we left Camp 4 at 14,200 feet to do a pack carry and retrieve our cache of supplies at 13,600 where we had buried it about 3 feet down in the snow.  We retrieved the cache and got back to camp around mid-afternoon and used the rest of the day to rest and learn how to ascend fixed ropes

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will do a carry to high camp at 17,500 feet or close to high camp.  We will ascend the head wall and there we will attach to the fixed ropes and ascend the last 800 feet at about a 60 degree slope.

The low tonight is similar to last night and should be around -10 F to -15 F.  We are all trying to stay warm and bundled up through the evenings.  The temperature at high camp are forecast for a high of 5 F and a low of -15 F to -20 F.  Everybody’s doing well and we’re looking forward to what should be a good carry and good weather tomorrow.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 12: Placing our Cache above the Head Wall

Today we climbed above Camp4 4 to place food, other supplies, and group gear in position for us us to reach higher on the mountain.  We left camp in the late morning and made our way up the longest steep section of the entire climb - the Denali Head Wall!

On this section of approximately 800 vertical feet, the slope is about 60 degress.  We are still roped together as a rope team and in addition each person uses a mechanical ascender to individually secure themselves to a fixed line that the National Park Rangers have anchored to the mountain.  The surface of the mountain is hard blue ice and we have to jam our crampons with each step in order to get a good foothold.  Today - there was also a bit of a traffic jam - so, there was a lot of - "take a few steps, stop, take a few steps, stop".  Looking around during those breaks in climbing - "Breathtaking!"

After about 3 hours of climbing we were rewarded with some spectacular view of Camp 4 - those little tiny dots between Wes and Yuri!

We returned to Camp 4 ealier enough to go for a 15 minute walk to a place aptly called, "the Edge of the World".  From this vantage point off the southeast corner of of Camp 4, you can see straight down 6,000 feet to Camp 2 on the Kahiltna Glacier... Spectacular!!   This also gave us a great shot of Mt. Hunter - which along with Mt. Foraker is one of the 2 sister peaks to Mt. McKinley.  I have a nephew named Hunter and took to some extra photos for him of this dramatic peak.

Day 13: Official Rest Day at 14,200 feet (4328 m)

I would first like to thank everyone that’s made a donation to the Tanzania Education Fund.  Your contributions and comments have been a true inspiration to me and your donation will make a huge impact to Nianjema. 

Today was our first official rest day.  On the previous "rest" days we had been forced to rest because of bad weather.  Today we rested to rest.  Over the last 3 days we: 1) moved to 14,000 foot camp, 2) back-carried to retrieve our gear cache at 13,000 feet, and 3) cached gear at 16,200 feet above the head all to prepare for our move to High Camp.

It was a nice weather day at 14 Camp and we built some additional wind walls for the tents, built some snow sculptures, and built a lounge complete with a couch, table, table decorations, and a few lounge statues (Helga - with her climbing harness!).  I was able to charge up some of my electronics using a solar pannel I brought along and finished watching "The Greatest Game" on my iPod Touch. 

The current plan is to summit within the next two days. There’s some bad weather moving in that’s expected to hit Friday.  The plan is to move to 17,500 feet (5334 m) tomorrow (Wednesday) and summit on Thursday.  This plan is completely weather dependent.  The next two climbing days will be the most challenging so far.  Ideally the team would rest for one day after reaching High Camp before trying to to summit. 

The high temperature at 17,500 feet Camp (5334 m) should be -10 F (-23 C).  That’s it for now. I hope to tell you more when we reach High Camp tomorrow.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 14: A Weather Day at 14,200 ft (4328 m)

The weather forecast keeps us at 14,200 feet (4328 m).  Even though the weather is very nice here at Camp 4, the next day's weather looks sketchy for summiting and it gets even worse after that.  50-70 mph winds (80-110 kilometers per hour) are expected for Friday (the day we would need to descend).  This means that we won't be moving to High Camp until Saturday or Sunday at the earliest.  But in essence we are on standby so any break in the weather will have us heading immediately for high camp at 17,500 feet (5334 m).

The weather forecast is now causing some interesting planning scenarios and is causing our guides do some fairly tight food planning.  Our team may actually be in danger of running out of food if we stay at Camp 4 past Sunday...  We do have 5 days of food cached at 16,200 - but that might mean that a few climbers (guides, most likely) would need to go get it - possibly having to go up in bad weather.  Each climber has supplied their own lunch food - and some of the folks on the team will be running low on lunch food with an extended stay at Camp 4.  Fortunately, I brought a LOT of food with me to Camp 4 - and I've now started now to give some of it away!

We spent the day resting, relaxing, and spending more time acclimatizing and getting stronger for the two remaining climbing days ahead of us.  The weather has been very nice here and the views... "stunning" as my grandmother would say!   

In the morning the team got very industrious and built a full-blown Alaskan igloo.  Only Fede, our assistant guide from Argentina, had ever built an igloo before.  It took us a bout 5 hours to complete.  Once done, Wes carved out a circular bench inside, Brian created and RMI sign on the door, and Dan and I dug our the doorway so you could almost walk upright to get inside.  Needlessday to say, we were very proud of our construction efforts and many folks in the camp came by to take a look and pay their compliments to the team!  In one of the photos you can see me with the "snow saw" that we used to cut the blocks of ice.  In another photo is our Lead Guide, Mike Walter, beside the "RMI" sign above the door.

The expectation is that if the storm and forecast hold, we will be here at 14,200 feet (4328 m) for the next few days...

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 15: Update from 14,200 feet (4328 m)

It was a good rest day in the morning and a good day to acclimatize.  We also spent a little time getting ready for the storm - which seems to be coming in quickly.  By mid-afternoon the winds had picked up and the sun had disappeared behind some clouds.

The weather is moving in!  We are expecting the winds on the summit to be 50-70 miles per hour (80-110 kilometers per hour).  We’ll get some of that here at Camp 4 - somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-60 mph.  We spent some of today building our wind walls higher.   The idea is to build the walls high enough that the wind will not snap the tent poles or rip the tent.  We "quarry" snow blocks using a snow saw - and then fit them together to build a structurally sound wall.  Each block weighs about 25 to 45 lbs. and a good wind wall can take some time to build.  It's get especially difficult to build wind wall during a storm!  Snow catches in your beard, warms, then freezes... causing a mound of ice to start forming in about 5 minutes.

Camp 4 is filling up with lots of people.  People coming up from below as well as people coming back from High Camp in order to avoid the storm.  The national park service only allows about 1500 people each year to try to summit Denali, only about half of those actually succeed. 

Currently there is a 2-person Japaneese team that is now unaccounted for...  The weather outlook could prohibit any search attempts for the next several days.  We keep them in our thoughts and pray they are safe in a snow cave somewhere.  Since we have been at Camp 4, two high-altitide helicopter flights have removed frost-bitten climbers - some with frostbitten toes, other with fingers.  It reminds us that cold is a real danger...

The first RMI team came down 2 days ago from High Camp.  Nobody on that team summitted - they had a decent weather window, but after 15 days on the mountain, the clients were "done" and turned back somewhere between High Camp and the summit.  We’re the second RMI team and I certainly hope our prospects are better. 

Two additional RMI teams came in from 11,000 feet (3,353 m) and they’ll also wait out the storm with us.  RMI teams 3 and 4 carried sleds with them to Camp 4 (we cached ours at 11,200 ft).  Both newly arriving teams were "knackered" by the climb and adjusting to the lower oxygen.  Our team came out in force to help them build their wind walls for the approaching storm.

Everybody on the team is doing well and we’re still looking forward to the possibility of heading up for our summit attempt on Saturday or Sunday - although the prospect of going up anytime soon is quickly diminishing...

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Life on Denali – Sleeping

My sleeping bag big and roomy which is a good thing because each night there’s a lot of stuff that goes into it.

A classic mountaineering sleeping bag has liner similar to a ski boot, they go in my bag along with a puffy mid-layer jacket which is the last thing I take off each night and the first thing I put on each morning.

There’s a one half-liter full water bottle in the bag along with a pair of gloves, my ipod, and anything that may have gotten wet during the day – gloves, socks, etc.  The sleeping bag acts like an over-night dryer – and with the heat form my body it absorbs the moisture from the wet stuff so that in the morning – voila – it’s dry! The sleeping bag does nothing for the smell though everything is a constant state of funky.  The last item in the bag is the all-important pee bottle. When it’s -10 to -30 degrees F outside at night, the last thing you want to do is get up out of your warm sleeping back to go outside and pee.  So, in the comfort of your sleeping bag, you can easily take care of this with your pee bottle – which then becomes its own separate heat source helping you keep things warm!

It did take me a few nights to get used to sleeping with all this stuff in the confines of a sleeping bag - every time I shifted my body, I had to rearrange five or six other items – but now it’s starting to seem second nature.  The strange thing about where we’re sleeping in Alaska is that it never gets dark, from about 1-3 am there is slight twilight but otherwise there is always a lot of indirect light coming into the tent. I found it best to stay in the sleeping bag until the guides call for “hot drinks” which depending on what’s going on that day could be anytime between 7:30 and 10 am.

Life on Denali – Eating

We eat under a 20-foot (6 meter) diameter red, white, and blue circular piece of fabric (posh tent) that is level with the snow pack.  Underneath the guides have dug a circular bench seating for all of us with the cooking surface in the center and a below ground entrance.  With a few strategically placed wind walls it becomes a comfortable place to eat meals together or hang out on rest days.

We eat two meals together as a climbing team – breakfast and dinner.  The meals are always a combination of hot drinks (tea, hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and occasionally coffee), entrée, and desert.  Their entrees have been a  mixture of beef and chicken packages, rice dinners, chicken and cheese quesadillas – sometimes we have instant mashed potatoes.  Desert is some kind of packaged cookies. 

Breakfasts are either granola type cereal with Freeze dried milk or freeze dried eggs and bacon.  With five pieces each of some pre-cooked bacon. Our breakfast desert is usually some type of fruit or nut bar.  You might be wondering about our lunches.  Each climber provided their own lunches for 22 days, about 20-25 pounds of power bars, cookies, crackers, cheese, salami, beef jerky, candy bars, etc.

While the quantity of the food has been fine for me, I’m sure a few of the guys would have liked more. 

And, you’d be amazed how good the food tastes on the side of a mountain!

Life on Denali – The Climbers

My team is made up 9 climbers and three guides.  The climbers are from all over the country with a wide variety of backgrounds. Our ages range form 22-59.  One of the climbers is Russian, currently getting his MBA from the University of Michigan.  Two of the climbers are from anchorage, two are from Minneapolis, the rest: Manhattan, Cincinnati, and San Francisco.

Our professional backgrounds are also very different: software programmer, semi-retired pharmacist, hard drive designer, firefighter/medic, computer technician, waiter, student, and an attorney.  Only two people in the group knew each other before the trip.

Everyone in the group has a common love of the outdoors and fitness related activities.  Six of the twelve were former boy scouts and three of us are eagle scouts.

It’s a good group and it’s been a fun time swapping jokes and tall tales.

Now we are all united in our bid to summit North America’s highest mountain.

Day 17: Stuck in a Holding Pattern at 14,200 feet (4328 m)

Long-term forecast for the next five days is 60-90 mph winds (100-145 kilometers per hour).  A lot of groups are leaving 14,200 feet (4328 m) to head down.  The long-term weather forecast looks so bleak that they will run out of food, fuel, or time, before they have the days they need to summit and descend.  For them... the trip is over at Camp 4. 

There are still 25 people up at 17,500 feet (5334 m) facing what is forecast to be 110 mph (180 kilometers per hour) winds tonight.  The Japanese team is still unaccounted for.  Ideally we need two days of good climbing weather to summit - separated by a rest day - and a then a "ok" day to descend the ridge from High Camp back to Camp 4.  This, as it turns out, is a tall order.

We are in the process of rounding up food from the groups that are leaving so we should have the food and fuel to be able to hold out here longer.  Our guides are well known and the National Park Rangers have joined inn helping them get food and fuel for our team.  It's good to have friends in high places! 

One person in the group is actually going to be heading back to civilization early. Baron Schon is going to be heading back tonight with another group of climbers.  After 17 days on the mountain (18 by the time he might fly out from Base Camp) he is ready to head back.  The rest of us will patiently (and some of us not-so-patiently) wait it out here at 14,200 feet (4328 m).  It has crossed our minds that we could still be waiting a week from now and have to go home from Camp 4 without ever getting any higher than our chache site at 16,200...  But, we will take our chances and keep ourselves in a position to summit.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 18: We Head For High Camp Tomorrow

It looks like there’s a 24-48 hour weather window for the summit and we‘re going to take it.  Will keep you posted on our progress.

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 19: Moving Again - Up the Ridge to High Camp

We were woken up by our lead guide, MIke Walter, with the the good news that it was moving day.  It was 7:30 AM.  We wouldn't actually leave Camp 4 until 11:30.  But, we knew we were in for a change of scenary!  After a quick cereal and dried milk breakfast, we all got to the task of breaking the camp that we had spent the last 9 days at.  When we left Camp 4 our packs felt a little heavier than the last time we went up the fixed lines to place our cache - but, we felt very acclimitized - and very strong.

Other teams had started up toward the fixed lines as early as 8 AM.  By the time we left over 150 people were ahead of us.  It was much warmer at 11:30 than at 8 AM, but additional traffic always slows things down - take two steps, wait... take two steps, wait...

It felt great to be moving again.  I had my mechanical ascender and "cow tail" all rigged for the our trip up the fixed lines.  And, we had already been on this stretch of the mountain, so the mystery and anxiety were gone.  And, I did enjoy this trip up the fixed lines.  We seemed to pause more often and it gave me more time to look around and appreciate the steepness, the blue ice, and the spectacle of all of us climbing step-by-step up Denali. 

The weather continued to hold as we reached the top of the Head Wall.  Here the 3 guides dug out our cache (group gear and personal gear) and distributed it...  I could not believe how heavy my pack was.  Billy Nuggent, assistant guide, had been telling us that the move from Camp 4 to High Camp would be the hardest day of the trip... I had never doubted him, but, now I fully understood why.  My pack was the heaviest it had been, we still had a sginificant ridge line to ascend, and we still had to construct camp once we arrived.  Not to mention, that with our packs so full, we had gear stciking out all over the place.  I had a large white trash bag of freeze dried food that looked like it was emerging from every part of my pack.

The ridge line from the Head Wall to High Camp was the most dramatic climbing we had done so far.  We climbed on a narrow strip of snow that wound its way through the rock formations on the ridge.  To the south, the ridge fell away 2,000 feet to Camp 4.  To the Noth, the exposure was about 1,000 feet straight down.  If you fell, it would not be a straight drop and there would have a been a few rocks that would have slowed you down.  This was definitely not a place to trip or catch a crampon!  At different sections there were anchors that we clipped our climbing rope into and another section of fixed lines up the rock formation called "Washburn's Thumb".

At 6 PM, we arrived at High Camp (17,200 ft, 5,243 m) - and I was "knackered".  If Camp 4 was a flourishing city, High Camp looked like at set of ruins with a a group of squatters.  There were very few wind walls that survived the recent 110 mile per hour winds at High Camp, so everything had to be rebuilt from scratch.  After a water and calorie break our guides selected a tent site on the leeward side of the large rise that made up the bulk of High Camp.  It was a good site to be out of the wind... and we would appreciate it over the next several days... however, it required us to excavate into the side of the hill and create a full-blown retaining wall to accommodate our three tents (we were now going to sleep 4 people to a tent)...

Needless to say, the climb and the altitude at High Camp reduced almost all us to "30 lb weaklings."  The enitre effort took us about 4 hours to complete and was a total team effort.  I was able to shovel for about 2 minutes before I had to pass the shovel to someone else because I was out of breath.  Carrying over 35 lb quarried blocks of snow for the retaining wall - was a monumental effort. 

We crawled into our sleeping bags at midnight - exhausted - just as hot drinks and dinner was being served - Mexican chicken and rice.   

During efforts like today it was critical that each person took care of themselves personally.  Everyone responds to altitude differently.  Weather it's cold, calories, thirst, sun, blisters, etc. each person would need to stop, pull themselves out of the mix, take care of whatever was ailing them... and then jump back in.  Now that we were at High Camp - more important than responding to a need - was to proactively keep your body on an even keel.  If the body reaches a calorie deficiency here, or gets cold - it may not be able to recover.  Cuts or infections will not heal.  A cold will only get worse.  A finger or a toe that gets cold - will take twice as long to warm up.

Down at Camp 4, Mike had talked about the possibility of summiting the next day after our move to High Camp.  Right now, midcnight, exhausted, inside my very warm sleeping bag, listening to my iPod... I can not imagine it.

I'm sure that tommorrow I will feel more like climbing!    

Day 20: A Rest Day at High Camp - Eat and Acclimitize

There is no move to the summit today.  Too windy! 

The next stretch of the climb above High Camp is a long traverse called the "Autoban" that leads up to Denali Pass.  The Autoban gets its name because an up-roped fall along this traverse will cause you to continue to pick up speed, until self-arrest is no longer possible, leading to a long, fast, slide into the crevasses below.  From our camp we can see the entire length of the traverse - and hear the roaring wind blowing through Denali Pass.

Suprisingly, I feel very good today and very well rested.  Last night may have been one of the best sleeps I have had so far on the mountain.  Our guides got out earlier, surveryed the weather, determined it would not be a summit day, and let us sleep in until 10 AM.  Oh yeah!

After hot drinks and an instant oatmeal breakfast, we take a walk over to the edge of High Camp and look down the 3,000 feet to Camp 4.  We spend the next couple of hours fortifiying the wind walls around our tents.  While the wind is not stong where we are, the likliehood of strong winds keeps us building.  Working today is SO much easier than last night.   In half the time, we have constructed a three-block-high wall in the back, side wall, and a fortified front wall.  We even have enough energy to build a nice walled-in bathroom facility for our "clean mountain can" (CMC).  We've left the comforts of the "throne" down at Camp 4 and it's back to the CMC!

The rest of today is spent napping and listening to music - acclimitizing for our trip to the summit.  We now have the 5 days of food from our cache and new block of days to reach the summit.  I'm able to break out some of my smoked salmon that I've been saving for High Camp!  Food, rest, and being only one day's climb from the summit has lifted everyone's mood!

Day 21: High Camp Kettle Bell Workout

Too windy again to head up to the summit.  The wind blowing above Denali Pass sounds like a jet airliner.  As we look up, we can see plumes of snow being pushed around by the wind.  Throughout the day a lenticular cloud forms goes away and then reforms on around the area of the mountain near the summit - signaling high winds and compressed moisture.  We actually can't see the summit from High Camp.  So, we can still only imagine what our objective looks like.

With another rest day ahead of me, I've decided to have some fun and put together a high altitude kettle bell workout.  Dan Dittmer is going to video tape it for me.  I created some large ice ball from the snow around our camp.  The snow is not strong enough for a handle, so, I've hollowed out a place for my hand to fit inside for the Turkish get-up, and squats.  For snatches, I was able to stick my ice axe through the "ice" kettle bell and use it as a handle.  It was fun, kept me busy for an hour.  If the video turns out, I'll be posting it on YouTube when I get back.

Day 22: Another High Camp Rest Day - Summit Tomorrow??

We have been at high camp for several days now, waiting for a window to attempt a summit.  As you can imagine, we have a lot of time on our hands.  We spend time talking, reading, sleeping, listening to music, etc. 

Tomorrow, if the winds have diminished as predicted, we will attempt to summit.  If the weather does not look good we will wait until Saturday- but that will be our last chance.  The summit takes about 12 hours.  We will leave our tents up at high camp and (hopefully) summit and then come back for some much needed rest.  I will keep you posted...

Day 23: SUMMIT! The summit day story

We reached the summit today around 6 pm local time!! We left around 10 this morning and were able to stay at the peak for 11 minutes in pretty windy conditions.  It's been a busy but amazing day!!

When I got out the tent this morning there was already a long line of climbers heading up the Autoban to Denali Pass.  It's been a long time since anyone has been able to attempt a summit.  Everyone who has been waiting around - and everyone who has recently arrived is going to try and make today the day.

There is still a lot for our group of 11 to do before we leave.  After hot drinks and an instant oatmeal breakfast, we each check and re-check what we will need for the summit,  The biggest individual decision is what to start out wearing.  It feels warmer this morning than it has been.  Even though the Autoban is currently in the shade, once we get moving, we will heat up, and, the sun will come over the ridge after about an hour.  And, there are a lot of people heading up - over 75 that I've counted so far.  This will make things slow with, potentially, a lot of waiting around.  I decide tnot to wwar my puffy parka, large mittems, and puffy pants.  I'll leave them in my backpack for now and climb in the standard layers that I have been using so far.  The only exception is my "purple haze overboots".  These huge neoprene boots that fit over my plastic mountaineering boots and under my crampons.  They will provide an extra layer of warmth for my fee throughout the day!

We leave camp at 10 AM in our standard 3 rope teams.  My team is led by Billy and has Jerry Edwards (age 59), myself (44), and Wes Lemberg (37) on the rope together.  This is "old guy" rope team as three of us are the oldest climbers in the group. 

There are now over 150 climbers on the Autoban.  Because of all the traffic, it's slow going and I can see people ahead of me on the traverse shaking their arms to keep more blood flowing into their hands.  I'm wearing a base layer of gloves and a pair od leather ski gloves.  My hands are beginning to get cold... I am also starting to shake my arms - as well as keep my hands below my heart as a I walk along while using my ice axe... its working and I'm staying comfortable!

The view on the Autoban... spectactular!

Mike had predicted a 2 hour climb to Denali Pass (about 1,300 vertical feet up from High Camp) and, even with the traffic, it takes us just about 2 hours to get to the top of the Pass.  If I thought it was cold on the Autoban, I got a new definition of cold on the Pass.  We were now exposed to the wind - and I immediately put on every purchase of warm weather gear I had made on for this trip!   I quickly get into my 800 down fill jacket, my puffy outter pants, lined mittens with base layer gloves, googles and balaclava.  The challenge is to be able to breath, not fog up your goggles, but have no peice of skin exposed.  So far, so good.

The next stretch is some of the coldest and nastiest of the day.  The ambient temperature is somewhere between 0 F and -20 F.  Even though it's a sunny day, the temperature is continuing to drop as we gain more altitude.  The wind is created the real challenge.  Even a slight breeze pulls the heat away from the body more quickly.  During the next hour we are in winds of about 15 to 25 mph.  Ice has started to form around the balaclava opening to my mouth.  It's COLD!!

At each break we try to drink water and cosume as many calories as we can.  The body is working hard and buring calories just to stay warm - not to mention that it takes one breath for each step at this point!  But, it's not easy to eat or drink.  I keep one water bottle in my big puffy jacket and another in an insulated pouch in my backpack.  Yet, both bottles already have ice crystals forming in the water.  So the water is very cold.  If you don't keep food in one of your inner pocket is becomes as hard a rock!  At each break, I put my next break's food in an inner pants pocket.  Oh... and going to the bathroom... as you might imagine, with googles, mittens, a climbing harness, and 6 layers of clothes and down... this becomes a very interesting challenge!

At around 3:15 PM we crest a rise and look onto a huge flat expanse known as the "football field".  Just beyond the football field is the Summit Ridge and our objective!  After a break on the football field, we leave our backpacks and begin heading up the ridge and over a long traverse to the summit.  Mike has told us during the break that we were still 2 hours from the summit,  It sure didn't look like it was that far...

Again, we wait on the summit traverse as a part of a long line of climbers.  Some of the climbers in front of us seem to be having a hard time - stopping, bending over - they look DONE.  But, after a short break... they keep going.  Some of the climbers coming down from the ridge are knocking off snow blocks that are picking up speed... one baseball size block hits me in the quad... OUCH!  Just what I need - to get taken out by falling ice 30 minutes from the summit!

At 5:56 my rope team reaches the summit!!  Billy walks us over the top and then down about 20 feet from the summit.  "Ok" he yells over the 25 mile per hour wind.  "You've got 40 seconds!"  With the ambient temperature combined with the wind chill... we are probably in the neighborhood of -40 to -50 F at this point.  Wes is already pulling out his satellite phone to give his wife a call.  I'm trying to get my camera out for some pictures!  Billy agrees to take some pictures for us - "one camera and we all share - who's got the best camera?"  I don't think I've got the best, but, mine is already out and he grabs it.   Even though there is a lot of exposure, the summit is rounded and looks relatively safe.  I ask Billy, "Is is alright if unclip?"  His reponse - shouted above the wind, "UNCLIP, are you CRAZY?"  :)   One, by one, Jerry, Wes, and I make our way close to the summit to get our photos taken.  In my photo you might be able to make out the USGS altitude marker at the lower right.  It was a great feeling - even through a brief one - to be the highest person in North America!   

Billy's hand is now freezing from taking the photos and we quickly get ready to leave.  I shoot 360 degrees of video - I got NO mountains and all sky!  We leave the summit at 6:07 - 11 minutes after our arrival.

We descend via the summit ridge and the view - stunning.  The ridge is litterally a knife edge of snow and we are walking 12 inches down on the North side of the edge.  At this point, the mountain falls away about 6,000 feet on the North Side and about 800 feet on the South side.  Ahead of us a HUGE cornice overhangs the North side - Wow! We descend along the ridge for about 20 minutes and then begin a steep descent to the Football Field, our packs, and the rest of our climbing team.

After a long break, we leave at 7 PM to descend to High Camp.  On the way down it's a lot easier to take in the views.  Going down is a lot easier on the cardio system than going up.  Going down does take more focus, but it's a lot easier to look around.  I am very tired, but each step lower on the mountain means thicker air and one step closer to hot drinks and a warm sleeping bag.

At 10 PM we are the last to arrive back to camp - but only about 30 minutes behind the first rope team.  As our guides had said, it's been close to a 12 hour summit day.  I am exhuasted!  But, as you might expect - I feel a great deal of accomplishment.  Our entire team made it to the summit!  This enabled all of our guides to also summit (as one or more of them would have had to turn back with anyone who couldn't make it).

After hot drinks and a warm meal, we get a congratulatory visit from Mike.  Then it's off to sleep by about 1 AM. We've still got a couple of long days ahead...    

In the the next 36 hours we plan to be waiting at the airstrip to return to civiliation!

http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb

Day 24: Descend from 17,200 to 11,200

Wow!  That was a good night sleep!

Billy started us of this morning with hot drinks and hot water for instant oatmeal.  It was a nice morning and we knew we were heading down - after a great summit the day before.  Jerry fingers are the only concern.  Some blisters have formed on a couple of his fingers on each hand.  It's good that we are heading down - with help at Camp 4 as well as back in Anchorage.

Over the next 24 hours the plan is to decend from High Camp back to the aistrip - 10,000 vertical feet and 18 miles.  I am still feeling sore from yesterday, but very ready to put on the pack and head down.  We leave about noon, find a crevasse for the contents of our "Clean Mountain Can" (CMC), and get in the line heading down the ridge to Camp 4.

Once again, going down gives us some time to appreciate the views and the dramatic scenary.  I am able to get some photos and some video.  The temperatures are mild - only around zero vs. sub zero.  As we climb down the fixed lines, we see other teams of climbers heading up - some having a lot of difficulty.

At Camp 4, Jerry is able to get his fingers checked out by the medical personnel at the ranger facilities.  We were planning on taking a long break here anyway - so it worked out well.  Some other RMI teams are at Camp 4 waiting to ascend and they help us out with water.  Wes, Yuri, and I are able to "donate" the 50 lbs of food left in our cache to other climbing teams - eliminating the need for our team to carry it off the mountain.  Our igloo is still standing and it's now a RMI cache site for other teams!

We leave Camp 4 about 7:30 PM and head down toward Windy Corner, Squirell Hill, Motorcycle Hill, and Camp 3 at 11,000.  It's on this stretch that we spend our last hours above the clouds.  It's a beautfiful evening and the clouds are slowly drifting over the ridge below us and stretching off to the west as far as we can see.  The low sun is creating some great shadows in the clouds and on the ridge lines.  The temperature is balmy, the air is thick!  The only thing starting to bother me is my feet...  My toes are continuing to jam into the front of my boot with every step and I can start to feel my big toes getting very unhappy!

We reach Camp 3, 11,200 feet around 9 PM or so.  The guides dig up our cache here which contains our sleds and snowshoes.   They also build a Posh tent for a nicer place to have dinner and hang out.  The team makes a decision not to set up tents and sleep.  In order to be at the airstrip by 9 AM - to better insure we fly out that day, we plan on leaving around 2:30 AM and walk through the early morning.

For dinner, the guides break into some leftover bagels and we have some "cheese, chicken melt on a bagel..."  It's back to real food again - and it feels like a little slice of heaven!  In the Posh I try and take a nap after dinner.  I am partially successful, however, the aroma of our dinner quickly gives way to wet socks and funky feet as lots of the team starts taking off their boots and socks for some much needed foot maintenance!   

Day 25: It's 2 AM - off to the Air Strip at Base Camp

We get the word at 2 AM that it's time to get rolling. 

It's strange being out at this time of the night.  For the rest of the trip, this is when we tried to stay in our sleeping bags and conserve as much warmth as possible.  Now, the temperature feels downright nice, it's relatively light out - and I am looking forward to the slog down the Kahiltna Glacier.

We depart at 2:50 AM and begin our slow descent to the airstrip.  We've got our sleds again and our duffle bags are packed with personal gear and group gear.  We were also able to distribute all of Jerry's gear - giving him less to worry about as we head out.

It's very quiet and all you can hear is the crunch of our snowshoes.  For the first time since we've been walking... we don't need to wear glacier glasses or goggles.  Interestingly, for me this creates a strange, great sensation... everything has a slightly different look to it.

The weather changes about every 30 minutes - light snow, fog, long shadows, heavy snow, more fog.  When the fog rolls in - it's a total whiteout scenario.  Looking up - and getting no frame of reference makes me dizzy if I do it for too long.  Our team, with Billy, is in the lead and fortunately he knows where he is going!

At about 5:30 AM the sun is trying to reach through the clouds and is hitting the tops of some of the peaks with light.  Now we've got light snow, fog, and direct sunlight.  All of us have pulled out glacier glasses out for when the sun breaks through.  At 6:30 we see the sunrise over one of the mountains behind us  We are still about 2.5 hours from the airstrip.

The last section before the airstrip is a long, slow, uphill climb appropriately named "Heartbreak Hill".  As we hit the bottom of Heartbreak Hill, the light snow changes to heavy snow... and all of us are wondering if any planes are going to be flying anytime soon...  It's not unheard of to have the airstrip weathered in for days or, up to a week... which would fit the weather of our trip so far very well!

We reached the airstrip at 9 AM, cloudy and snow still falling, and learned that no one had flown out yesterday due to weather.  The place was packed. 

Someone on our team set up one of the tents... and 4 of us quickly climbed in... and quickly fell sound asleep.  I didn't wake up until about 2 PM when the Base Camp manager announced, "Planes arriving in 45 minutes, get your snow shoes on and help us tramp down the runway!"  The scene looked like a Sunday afternoon ice skating rink as about 100 people went out in skis and snowshoes tramp in the fresh snow on the runway.  And, sure enough, about 45 minutes later, the first planes started landing.

We flew with an operation called Hudson Air - our first group headed off the mountain around 5 PM and the rest of us flew off by 7.  Oh Yeah!!  In addition to it being a great, amazing flight... it was so nice to be leaving snow... for real good 'ol terra firma.  The snow-covered tundra that we had left 25 days before was now green!   

Back in Talkeetna

Everyone is back safe in Talkeetna!  Jerry had some friends from Anchorage meet him at the hangar and he is getting some good help as we get all our group gear and personal gear sorted out and ready to fly home.  We all have rooms at the Talkeetna Motel - our own bed, our own bathroom, electricity, heat...

As quickly as possible we get the gear taken care of, get a quick shower, and then head to the West Rib Restaurant in Talkeetna for burgers, beer, and a celebration.  Stories, laughs, lots of food, lots of beer...  Orders range from the Summit Burger and McKinley Burgers to Ice Axe beer and fresh, cold glacier water, to ice cream sundaes and tripple-layer chocolate cake!!

Baron Schon, who left the team at Camp 4 to return to work, came  back from Anchorage to congratulate us and joins us at the West Rib.  Brian also lives in Anchorage and his wife came up to meet him and joined this rowdy, rag-tag group for dinner.   

It was a nice way wrap-up to successful trip.  Jerry treated us all to dinner as a thank you for the help we gave him on the way down.  He was able to get an appointment later in the week with a frsotbite specialist in Anchorage and we all hope for a swift and full recovery.  Dan and Brian left us that night to head back.  The rest of the team will leave tomorrow and I will head back on Tuesday.   A few of us ended the night across the street at the saloon in the Fairview Inn.  It didn't last long... we were all very tired!  It was hard to believe that just 24 hours earlier we were just leaving Camp 3 to head to the airsrtrip...

Tomorrow I will check on my flights home, currently scheduled for Tuesday night and all day Wednesday.  I'm going to look into riding the train back to Anchorage.  The summer train service started on May 15 and looks like a great way to see some different sections of Alaska.  I'm also looking forward tomorrow morning to a "Half-standard" breakfast at the Road House Inn:  eggs, bacon, cofee, orange juice, and sourdough bread!!

Back in Alexandria, VA!!

I arrived safely back in Alexandria on Wednesday evneing, June 4.  It was a wonderful homecoming with lots of hugs and congratulations.  Leslie and Jackson picked me up at the airport.  Even my teenage daughters were happy to see me!!  They had made a sign for me in the kitchen - complete with drawings of me climbing a mountain.

On Monday afternoon, the rest of the team (Mike, Billy, Wes, Eric, Yuri, and Curtis) took a shuttle van from Talkeetna to Anchorage.  They were supposed to leave at Noon but didn't end up going until 4 PM.  It gave everyone some more time in Talkeetna - which no one seemed to mind.  It was warm, there was food everywhere, and the turists made for good people watching.  I was albe to print out the "Summit Photos" from my camera on a local picture kiosk and give them to Wes and Jerry.  I also printed out some pics for the rest of the group still there.  When I first put the Memory Stick Pro card into the slot... I put it into the wrong one... and it disappeared.  I tried not to panic... quickly wondering what Wes and Jerry would do to me - knowing our summit photos were on that card...  After obviously trying everything to get that little card back out, someone came over with a pair of tweasers and saved they day.  "This has happened before," they said - trying not to make me feel to bad.  Once I found the right slot, the kiosk was very easy to use, cheap, and turned out some good prints!

I stayed one additional night in Talkeetna and took the train on Tuesday afternoon for the 2.5 hour trip to Anchorage and then a taxi to the airport.  It gave me some time to finish picking up some gifts for the kids - and, of course, get another Half-standard breakfast at the Road House.  I was also able to dip into my e-mail... fortunately, the spam filter had been working overtime and I only had about 600 e-mails waiting for me as I fired up my laptop!

I flew a "red-eye" from Anchorage to Seattle and a non-stop from Seattle to Washington Reagan - a nice easy flight, but long.  I couldn't believe how tired I still was and I think I slept for most of the flight.

It was great to be home and then back at Carney, Inc. on Thrusday!!

Final Wrap-up, Final Thoughts

Each time I've returned from a climb it's been with greater appreciation for majesty of the natural surroundings I've visited, a deep appreciation of the opportunity I've had, and sincere gratitude for all the people that made it possible.  Leslie, first and foremost, is phenomenal - for encouraging my crazy adventures, for "holding down the fort" in my absence, and for tolerating the ever-accumulating pile of outdoor gear.   All of our children have been very supportive - which means they try to be a little nicer and a little more helpful while I'm gone - which they do!  And, all the folks at Carney, Inc. continue to drive on and deliver the remarkable client experiences that they are know for!

To date, the climb has also raised over $4,000 for the Nianjema Secondary School and High School and, I hope, raised some awareness about the amazing educational miracle that is taking place in Tanzania, Africa.  I will continue to make a push to hit the target of $10,000 - knowing that all this money goes to a great and worthwhile cause.  http://www.firstgiving.com/triandclimb 

I have been back almost a week and I still have daily reminders of the amazing climb.  Pictures and e-mails are coming in from my climbing teammates.  I had a friend in a later climbing team, Walt De Petris, that I heard had also successfully summited.  Last night, I watched the video I had shot on Denali for the first time - getting another dose of the beauty of the Alaskan Mountain Range.  As of today, only 48% of those attempting to summit Denali has made it - with about 600 registered climbers still scheduled to give it a go through mid-July.  I feel very fortunate.

I am still amazed at how hot it is in the DC area.  External sources of heat are still a novelty.  The fact that I can open up the refrigerator door and have lots of choices of food is still exciting every time I do it.  Lots of refills on coffee... also very cool!  Showers, daily clean underwear and socks - nice!  Throwing away my pee bottle - incredibly satisfying!

One thing that has amazed me the most is the connectedness of everyday life compared to my time on Denali.  With the mobile phone, e-mail, and Internet... everyone is just a few buttons away.  Using the satellite phone on Denali was like sipping communication through  broken straw compared to the smorgasbord available to me know - which also reminds me each time I return, that you can easily "overeat" with all this bandwidth and available stuff.

I come away from this trip with new friendships, new confidence and skills, fresh perspectives, and a renewed personal commitment to these types of long, physical, mental, challenging adventures in my life.

Many people ask, "What's next?"  Leslie asked me to give her a few months time before I tell her what I've got planned... (but since she may have stopped reading the blog...  :-)   I hope to continue on a 7 summits path by being able to put together a private climbing trip to Antarctica in December 2009 - to climb the highest peak there, Vinson Massif 16,067 ft (4897 m), and to ski the final "2 degrees" to the South Pole.  It would be great to do educational video-casts along the way - using some of the new high-speed technology that is coming available - maybe with a global warming theme.  We shall see.  I also hope to continue to raise an ever-increasing amount of money for Nianjema - to begin the creation and funding of an on-going endowment that will provide a source of revenue to the school for many years to come.

If you have any questions or comments for me, please don't hesitate to post them on this blog or to e-mail me directly.  I'd be happy to answer any question about the climb, gear, high altitude technology, amateur mountaineering, or the Nianjema School.  And, if you are interested in heading to the South Pole in 2009... let me know!!!