All posts tagged as Denali AK 2015

The sky is still looking unlikely here in Talkeetna but they believe a window is coming based in weather patterns. So once again we got the call to suit up and get to the planes.

No time to make a lengthy post, we have a plane to load.

We suited up, loaded 1,000 lbs of gear on the plane and watched the first Turbo Otter piloted by legendary Paul Roderick takeoff. Paul is the owner of Talkeetna Air Service and he took the first run to judge the conditions before he allowed more planes to fly.

Paul was able to land, but the hole immediately closed preventing takeoff. A bit later it opened up and he was able to get off the ground so one team got in and one got out minus thier gear which is still sitting on the glacier.

So we patiently stood by waiting for a green light that never came.

One Less Climber
We lost a climber today and are now 7.  The dismissed climber was not integrating with the team well and repeatedly became agitated and hostile about minor issues. Everyone in the group agrees with the decision, and feel we will be  better for it.

Vote for Danger
I’ve become quite popular around Talkeetna, and am considering running for mayor. The current mayor is a cat with no tail, and I think I can take him.

The weather lifted, planes are flying, pizza was abandoned and we are on our way to the mountain.

Weather in Talkeetna is better this morning, but base camp is still experiencing some nasty weather. We are on standby and if the weather improves are set to go at a moments notice.

Yesterday afternoon weather cleared and we got the call to go. We donned full mountaineering gear, only to be foiled by the weather as the opening disappeared as quickly as it opened.

Day 1: Planes Are Not Flying

A white van, filled with our team and several hundreds of pounds of gear just pulled into a weather bound Talkeetna. We were scheduled to board a ski plane at 3:00PM today, but with the current weather conditions it’s not likely well be flying today.

This is known as the “Talkeetna Hang”. I got to know this quaint little climbing town quite well last year while I spent 6 days waiting for the weather to let up. So now we wait. In the meantime, I’m thinking about moonlighting as a Talkeetna tour guide.

On the upside the summit success rate just bumped to 49%.

On the way, we stopped for second breakfast in Wasilla and I saw a beautiful and very well trained Sheltie service dog. I talked with her owner who has a heart condition and learned that the dog carries his medication in a little pack. She knows when he is about to have an attack and brings him his medicine beforehand which I think is pretty amazing. She was sitting 20′ from her master, not moving and watching him closely the entire time.

It it seemed like she took her job very seriously.

Met the entire team today and we discussed strategy and logistics in the morning. It is a internationally diverse group, with a lot of climbing experience.

Afterwards we completed our last minute gear checks and loaded up lunch food. My entire load excluding group gear which I’ll get tomorrow, is 89lbs which is great news. Even if I get 40 lbs of group gear, I’m still close to 50lbs lighter than last year on gear alone. Add in another 15 for myself and that is 65lbs less I’ll be dragging up the mountain

Weather permitting we will be on the glacier tomorrow. The expedition planned schedule is June 8th till June 30th.

Weather has been very uncooperative this season and the summit success rates so far are 39%. You can follow the stats as they change as well as get conditions on the mountain posted by the park rangers here: http://www.nps.gov/dena/mountainblog.htm

What is “The Danger Network”?
It is the system that I use to update my blog from the mountain. The technical details would bore most folks, but for the rest of you here it is. I use a network of highly trained weasels that can carry short 160 character messages (weasels have limited memory) back and forth and even allow my global position to be tracked. Once we start up the mountain this Tuesday I will be updating the Adventure Blog during the expedition via weasel-net and these updates will also be sent to your inbox. Sometimes the weasels make mistakes, so please forgive the inevitable typos.

Why Am I Getting This?
You are on this list either because you subscribed yourself or because we have some sort of affiliation and I thought you might be interested. Maybe I’m wrong and you don’t even like me. In that case, visit the unsubscribe link at the bottom and you will be unsubscribed , removed from my Christmas list and stricken from my will (Yes, I was going to leave you something). It’s too late to change your mind now, that ship has sailed.

Real Time Tracking Map:
The weasels will be released and the tracking map we will begin populating on Monday the 8th when we start climbing.

Supporter Shout Out!
A big thanks to Grab The Gold who supplied 30lbs of their delicious and all natural snack bars for the team. We will burn 5,000-6,000 calories a day while climbing, and these are, fast, easy, great tasting and the weasels love em!

And Lifeproof who hooked me up with the new Nuud (It’s not as risqué as it sounds) versions of their fantastic waterproof cases, which have served me well. If you have not seen them, the design is very elegant.

Of course without the competent team of IT professionals at Truewater none of this would be possible. They are so good at their jobs that nobody notices when I leave, so I added them to this mail list to remind them. I will be carrying a flag up the mountain with each staff members name on it so the entire Truewater team is going to the top with me!

Denali Summit Flag

And of course thanks to my wife Susan who is very supportive of my climbing and let’s me go play without adult supervision.