The North Face Snowman a few weeks later.

The North Face Team came and went. But when they left, the snowman was still standing century to time passing, snow falling and lines to be had.

I and Eye

Himalayan Tanka

My new friend Joe Kluberton brought blessings from his voyages in the Himalaya. He was kind enough to share them with us and we brought them with us tied to our packs, traditionally worn, to the Summit of Denali. That was a great gesture. Thank you, and bye the way your message of peace, hung out on the beach. Ahhhh! The Tanka is really a painting of sorts, but the story is what comes with us...

No fly day, the waiting game...

I am at the Roadhouse, a classic Alaskan Guesthouse and bakery, and we are waiting to fly onto the glacier. It's too early for beers and too late for breakfast. The waiting game is excruciating because your are mentally preparing for a twenty day expedition but your just have to sit in civilian clothes , hurry up and wait!

Anyway here is a link to a film by Black Diamond Athletes, Jesse Huey and Mark Westman. I shots some portraits of them on the mountain as they got to our camp to recuperate. Enjoy Jesse and Mark climbing the Slovak Route on Denali. Its business time. Thanks for the photo credits BD!

BD grassroots athlete Jesse Huey reports on his ascent of Denali's Slovak Direct route from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

(ak) 2011

I am so stoked, I could explode. I will be bringing the spirit of our little zoo animal with me. This is all the equipment that will fit in a back pack and on a sled. (ak 2011) Notice the nuggets, like 2 passports and more.... CH, VD

Mammut Gear Check

There are many miniature application out there! And I find alot of them clever, rarely using most and I certainly will not live without a rare few. But please don't interpret this post as a gear review. Because to me gear is just a bunch of stuff I love too much. Instead, indulge in my mentioning of this surprising product.
The Mammut Gear Check App is sweet! Especially for me, who has been known to omit an item or two from my pack. I am, also, too used to packing to actually make my own list. And, I'd forget sh*t on it anyway. So what I thought would be a gadget, is in fact a sweet "pilot's check list" for mountaineering!



The list is complete, thorough and accurate. You can customize it to your specific climb, and shave off what you beleive to be excessive. I have not tried the team sharing thing, but I can easily view what I don't have check and assign responsibility for various team gear.

The bottom line is that I am getting ready for another Denali expedition and have already countless Rainier Trips scheduled. With this awesome check-list, I will never again forget my floss or climbing boot :)

It's windy at 5240m.

At the end of June 2010 only one group got out of camp. The wind got increasingly worse throughout the day forcing group after group to return after attempting to descend. You know it's bad when you can't go down.




Willie Prettie, Alpine Ascents International's lead Guide, was looking for a way, and a break in the wind to see if was possible to go down. Out there while everyone else was huddled in their tents, Willie looked like a Yellow Denali Yeti.


Willie, the next day leading clients down after a successful summit bid. Mount Hunter is in the background and Windy Pass on the lower right side of the image.

Color

Temsco

Dave long lining at 14 000 camp with Mount Foraker in the background.



Temsco is the helicopter contractor for Denali National Park.

Coming and going

Most teams were on their way out,


As ours was coming in. Leading, you see Chhewang, Mingma and Dave arriving at 11000' camp.

Denali Vehicles

Our way in.


Hopefully not your way out.

AK Hitch

The neighbors in Talkeetna are quintessentially Alaskan.

High Elevation Entertainment

Vern's setup.

Outer Earth Views

This is a view of Mount Hunter from "Medicine Camp" at 4280 m and 14 000 feet.

I am back from an expedition with the Denali National Park Service. The experience was like a space shuttle trip. Now I find myself firmly anchored in reality. I will find ways to post series of photos as time goes along. I have tons of editing to do on top of a brand new situation. I miss my energy bar, the freezing cold and above my people.

A shout out to Joe, Dave, Aaron, Chhewang and Mingma!!! You people have a spot carved out in my psych, thank you all!

Denali Ranger Rescue Team

I am writing from the NPS warehouse. The time is now, 10 00am, and we are ready to fly. The enormous green truck is loaded with tons of food, points (skis) and gear. It will take it's diesel butt to the airport and if we are lucky dump us at the Kahiltna Airport (The glacier). I can't say I am not stoked. I am 32 and by far the youngest on the best climbing team I have ever been on. Ah being young is nice.
The NPS is where it is at. The gov has a wild amount of resources, we get our own truck for example. And the facilities are humble but complete. The chopper, a Eurocopter Astar 2 000 000$, then you add the pilot and mechanic. This piece of equipment is utilized daily between regular standby time due to constant weather. In other words the bird is part of the process, and lives on the logo which incidentally is on our issued jacket.
Because we are sweet clients our plan is to acclimate for 6 days as we head up to 14 000 camp, possibly hitting up the Kahiltna (BuilDE) Dome and crizzleing the lower Buttress and doing tons of crevasse rescue technique. Then we hit what the Euro's call Med camp, 14', where we will train, mission around and attempt to summit via different routes. In the past a whole team has been flown to different parts of the range and every thing has seemed to have happened up here.

Photos are no problems, and Aaron the physician and I stated our shooting agenda clearly. We will share pics and try to get published. Next year I am bringing the big dog. And I am glad to discreetly have the minimalist set up this year to scope and establish connections.

Our job is about to become real with extreme consequences both physically and mentally but we have all earned our position on Denali. We sit at the cutting edge of Expedition Medicine, with ongoing, on-site research and together can get people out of some of the most demanding location on earth.

I am super grateful for this opportunity and thank the Gods for the path and am staged as a sponge ready to learn and adsorb everything. Thing like this make everything make sense. Merci!!!

Let there be a weather window so that we can be dropped in. It's show time Party People.