The Peaks
To find out more information about each of the seven summits, either click on the interactive map to the left, or select a peak from the list below:
Denali
Denali (The High One) is the Native (Athabascan) American word for North America's highest peak, Mount McKinley in the mountain chain called the Alaska Range. Denali was renamed Mount McKinley for William McKinley, a nominee for president, by the Princeton graduate and gold prospector, William Dickey. Dickey was one the hundreds of prospectors seeking gold in the 1896 Cook Inlet stampede. He had written in an article for the New York Sun where he described the mountain as the highest in North America at over 20,000 feet.
Denali is one of the coldest mountains in the world, combine that with the massive size, and you have a formidable climb. Over 100 climbers have lost their lives on the mountain.
Plan of Attack
I decided to climb using the popular west buttress route. As a member of a 12 person party, lead by Dave Staeheli, we left Talkeetna for Base Camp at 7,200 feet on the South East for of the Kahiltna Glacier on June 1, 2009. The climb took 13 days and 8:08 pm on 13 June, 2009 I summited the tallest peak on North America.
Expedition Log
Day 15, Base camp, drive home!
June 15th, 2009
Woke up at 0900 and packed up. I had oatmeal for breakfast. On a rope with Rod, Andy, and Jacob. Headed down with snowshoes. We hauled ass! We pulled into camp 1 at 7,900 easily 1 hour ahead of everyone else. Dug up our stuff and moved out. The Kahiltna was very different than it was just two weeks ago. All the snow bridges were sagging or just broken through, exposing huge crevasses. Wow I walked over this! Also the Ash from Mt Redoubt’s eruption was exposed, it was really neat.
Read MoreDay 14, Down to camp 2
June 14th, 2009
0900 Wake up, oatmeal and hot chocolate for breakfast again! Tore down camp at 17,200 and rolled out about noon. At the top of the fixed lines we were stopped by a rescue effort, I think it was someone from the WWP team, I hope he’s okay. Got in to 14K camp at about 1500, had a snack and headed down at 530. Complete white out conditions, I was pulled off the trail below windy corner, definitely ended up jumping about 12 feet down this hill, and got taken out by my sled, good times! Got in to camp 2, 11200 feet at like 7pm. Tent with Andy and Rod. Dinner was stuffing with Turkey, yuk.
Read MoreDay 13, Summit Day!!!
June 13th, 2009
Summit Day!!!! 0700 Wake up, my breakfast was oatmeal with hot chocolate mixed in. We stepped off at 0950. My Rope Team was Dave, Theresa, Manny and then Me. Just out of camp you traverse this steep slope called the Autobahn. We were in the shade and it was VERY Cold out, and I started to get cold feet and hands, despite my OR Alti Mits and Asolo boots!! While we were resting at Denali Pass I took the time to put hand warmers in my gloves and boots.
Read MoreDay 12, Rest Day at 17K
June 12th, 2009
0900 ish wake up. Small headache still, not that bad though. Breakfast was oatmeal. Tomorrow we will be going to to summit, so we just pretty much rested. Its snowed all night and all day, temps hovering around -10F. Annie was apparently feeling the elevation today, she was vomiting and not doing well at all. Mostly I just laid in my bag and read or chatted with Shawn all day. Had mountain house dinner.
Read MoreDay 11 Move up to 17K.
June 11th, 2009
Wake up at 0700 breakfast was corned beef and eggs. Weather was clear and warm. Manny and I left up our tent for some folks that were coming down, cool with us!... we stepped off at 10:45. Climb up the hill wasn’t bad, and the fixed lines were great. Some guys going for a speed record passed us, one had on “anchorage ice spikes” the other had on Nike Track shoes. The views from the top of the ridge line were spectacular! To the south you could see Foarker and Hunter, along with the Kahiltna, and camp 3. You could also see the weather moving in.
Read MoreDay 9 & 10 End of the World, and rest day
June 10th, 2009
0830 wake up, was very nice to sleep in. I did , however wake up at 0300 ish and eat this entire pepperoni stick, because I was uber hungry, which gave me heartburn all night. I did have a dream that Tiny, my hermit crab died, that was sad, I am sure he is okay though. Breakfast was pancakes and bacon, which was pretty excellent. The whole group roped up and we walked to the “Edge of the World” which is the Edge of the glacier at 14, that drops about 6 k feet down to the Northeast fork of the Kahiltna. We took some fun pictures, but some of mine came out foggy.
Read MoreDay 8, Cache carry
June 8th, 2009
0700 Wake up, my head was screaming at me! Cold Cereal for breakfast. Moved out down to the cache we placed below Windy Corner. It was probably the coldest day so far, moderate cloud cover, and somewhat windy. On the way back, we climbed this little bit of a peak that Dave calls “Hero Point.” We took some fun pics there, from here we had a clear view down the Kahiltna for miles and miles and have a nice view of Mt. Foraker too. Got back to camp, about 3 hours after we left, and I was feeling pretty good. In the early afternoon a helicopter came in to rescue someone.
Read MoreDay 7, Move to 14K
June 7th, 2009
0700 Wake up, cold cereal w/ powdered mile for breakfast. Broke down camp and was on the trail by 0900. Jacob, Andy, Greg and I were on a rope team. Greg had a minor issue with one of his crampons falling off on Motorcycle hill, but it was soon fixed. Took a break at the same spot as yesterday, which was the top of Motorcycle Hill and then again about half way to Windy Corner. From this point it was pretty much one big push, we got in to camp around 2:15, and I pretty much needed a siesta. I was very dehydrated and tired, and I was having cramps in my abs and my neck.
Read MoreDay 6, Cache Below Windy Corner
June 6th, 2009
0700 wake up, pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Left for cache at just before 10. Motorcycle hill was not too bad, its very steep, and there were some monstrous crevasses. We rested at the top of Motorcycle Hill, before turning onto Squirrel hill. From there we had great views of the Peter’s Glacier, and Peters Dome. The hill was hard blue Ice, which made for slow methodical movements. The wind picked up towards Windy Corner, and we were walking into what felt like a 40mph head wind, with gusts upwards of 50mph.
Read MoreDay 5, Cache Carry
June 5th, 2009
0700 wake up, sleep was wonderful! For breakfast I had oatmeal with hot chocolate mixed with it, it was stupendous! Developed a horrible headache in the morning but coffee and tea made it go away. Should have brought aspirin! Picked up cache at 10,300, carried a very heavy load, and felt pretty good and strong. After returning to camp, I read about 200 pages of the Hunt for Red October, and tried to sleep, but it was very hot and loud in the tent. At dinner time I had a headache again, but I think its from caffeine withdrawal, not anything altitude related.
Read MoreDay 4, move up to Camp II
June 4th, 2009
0500 Wake up, after a night of really crazy dreams. Breakfast was corned-beef hash w. eggs. Broke camp, I snatched up what I thought was the heaviest load. 0800 setp off up ski hill again. Shawn, Sietse, Andy and I were on the same rope team. We made great progress to about 10,000 feet then winds slowed us down, and on top of that we were caught in “traffic.” Our team past the slower rope teams while post holing through more than knee deep snow. We arrived at Camp II, 11,200, at about 1:30 in the afternoon. Great Time!
Read MoreDay 3, Cache at 10,300 feet.
June 3rd, 2009
0500 Wake up, had English muffins with bacon and gronala bars for breakfast. Packed up some sleds and pulled out of camp at about 0745 to begin our trek up to the cache site. The morning started off mostly cloudy but as the morning progressed the sun came out and we were treated to our first views of the summit while on the mountain. As we progressed up ski hill, we were right next to a huge ice fall, and we crossed over several huge crevasses where the snow bridges were a little sunken in.
Read MoreDay 2, move up to Camp I
June 2nd, 2009
Woke up at 0500, ate an english muffin with gravey for breakfast and then got read to step off. I was feeling ambitious, and I was by far the biggest member of the group, so I carried a very heavy load. The 12 of us packed up all of our gear, clothes, fuel and food to last us for 3 plus weeks! My pack and sled were both VERY heavy! When we lined up, I was the last man on my rope, and our team spent the day leapfrogging Marc Hoffmiester’s Wounded Warrior Team.
Read MoreArrival at Base Camp
June 1st, 2009
Left my apartment at about 7:30, had near crippling headache from the Diamox that I took the night before, as ordered by my Dr, not going to take any more. Stopped at Freddie’s in Anchorage and then again in Wasilla, where I met up with the rest of the team (all of whom were from out of state and rode together in a Mountain Trip van).
Arrived in Talkeetna about 11:00, weather was partly cloudy, about 70, the Alaska Range was obscured by heavy clouds.
Read MorePersonal Photos
|
.JPG "Denali and the West Buttress from Camp I")
|
.JPG "Evening at Camp II on Denali")
|
.JPG "Looking down on the Kahiltna from about 13,000ft on Denali")
|
.JPG "Camp III of Denali from about 16k")
|
.JPG "Me at the \"Edge of the World\" on Denali")
|
.JPG "Moving up to high camp on Denali, by \"Washburn's Thumb\"")
|
.JPG "Me on the top of North America")
|
.JPG "Denali from Anchorage")
|
.JPG "Denali from the South Lookout on the Parks Hwy")
|
