Denali 2004

This spring I participated in a climb of Denali from May 29th - June 14th. Once again I was climbing with a team guided by Alpine Ascents International, ascending the West Buttress route.

This was a terrific expedition even though I did not make the summit. The climb lasted 16 days for me, from Saturday, May 29th through Sunday, June 13th.After reaching 16,200 feet I elected to "catch a ride" with a different group coming down. The rest of the team went up to 17,200 foot camp the next day to make a summit attempt.

I am dedicating this climb to my father, who is a two-time cancer survivor. He has battled the latest cancer since the fall of 2003, undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments. So far the doctors have managed to avoid surgery so we are hopeful they will not be forced to. He has been upbeat and positive throughout, and I am thankful for his example. [15-Jun-04 bulletin: I am back in Talkeetna waiting for a ride to Anchorage and spoke with Maggie. She said the latest test results indicate Dad is cancer-free, so we are all rejoicing about that. He will need to take tests approximately every three months to monitor his condition.]

Quick facts about Denali:

• highest mountain in North America at 20,320'
• one of the "seven summits", the tallest mountains on each continent
• formerly known as Mt. McKinley, named after then-presidential candidate William McKinley
• Denali is the native Athabascan word meaning "the high one" or "the great one"
• first ascent in 1913
• first ascent of the West Buttress route in 1951 by Dr. Bradford Washburn
• in 2004 there were 1277 climbers, 656 of whom summitted (51%)

General logistics of the trip:

• Fly from Nashville to Seattle, then Seattle to Anchorage; overnight in Anchorage
• catch a shuttle the next morning to the tiny hamlet of Talkeetna (pop. 450)
• check in at the Alpine Ascents office
• overnight at the Talkeetna Roadhouse
• pack up and fly onto the Kahiltna glacier via ski-equipped prop planes
• climb, climb, climb some more
• get back to 7,200' base camp and fly back to Talkeetna
• shuttle back to Anchorage, overnight in town
• fly to Seattle, overnight in town
• fly to Nashville.

Click here to see the gear list.

Click here to see the climbing route.

Physical preparation:

• Run 7 miles in 1 hour 3-4 times per week
• step aerobics/anaerobics 30 minutes per session twice a week
• lift weights 3 times per week
• pilates sessions in the evening 2-3 times per week
• mountain bike riding
• kayaking
• hiking on local trails each weekend, 12 miles with a 50 pound pack

Goals:

I had two modest goals for this trip. First was that I really wanted to keep all of my fingers and toes. Second was that I did not want my name to appear in Accidents in North American Mountaineering for 2004. Happily I succeeded on these two points.

Some related links:

Click on a cartoon to show it full size.

Click on a "Day" link to go directly to that page, or start with Day 1 and go fom page to page.

Day 1, Thursday, May 27: Fly to Seattle, then on to Anchorage...

Day 2, Friday, May 28: Arrive in Anchorage about 1:00 am...

Day 3, Saturday, May 29: Four clients and the two guides met at the Roadhouse...

Day 4, Sunday, May 30: The weather today was cloudy and snowy...

Day 5, Monday, May 31: We woke up at 2:00 a.m...

Day 6, Tuesday, June 1: I had set the alarm for 2:00 this morning...

Day 7, Wednesday, June 2: Today we moved camp from 7,800'...

Day 8, Thursday, June 3: We got up at 5:00 this morning...

Day 9, Friday, June 4: Today we hit the trail at 8:00 a.m...

Day 10, Saturday, June 5: Today is my 22nd wedding anniversary!

Day 11, Sunday, June 6: Today we left 11,000' camp...

Day 12, Monday, June 7: Didn't sleep very well last night...

Day 13, Tuesday, June 8: Woke up late (8:00 a.m.) and had breakfast...

Day 14, Wednesday, June 9: Got up this morning at 6:00...

Day 15, Thursday, June 10: Today is a rest day at camp IV...

Day 16, Friday, June 11: Breakfast was bagels with cream cheese...

Day 17, Saturday, June 12: Last night the weather cleared...

Day 18, Sunday, June 13: What a night. We left 14,280' camp at 6:45 p.m...

Day 19, Monday, June 14: Spent the day lounging around Talkeetna...

Day 20, Tuesday, June 15: Got a ride with Talkeetna Shuttle back to Anchorage...

Day 21, Wednesday, June 16: Left Anchorage today...

Day 22, Thursday, June 17: Finally going home today.

Epilogue

Click on a picture to see the Quicktime movie.

	This is on the flight in to the Kahiltna glacier, just after leaving Talkeetna. Denali is the tall mountain on the right in the distance.
	On the return trip I got to sit up front again. The pilot wanted the heaviest passenger up front, and at 155 lbs that was me. A couple of Canadians were at 150 and had to sit in the second row. That's the first time that being the heaviest paid off This clip shows the engine starting up and then pans around base camp.
	This clip gets pretty bumpy as we take off from the glacier. You will know when we are airborne because the picture stops jumping! Also briefly I pan left to show another plane coming in for a landing.

Click on a panorama to see the full-size version.

11,000' camp looking down the hill.

14,200' camp looking down the hill, Mt. Foraker in the background.

14,200' camp, Mt. Hunter on the left, Mt. Foraker in the middle, west buttress on the right.

I hope you have enjoyed these pages. Kent Kersten.