McKinley June 8, 2010

Mount McKinley

June 8, 2010

Whittaker Mountaineering Retail Manager, Laura Rodgers

Watching the sunset behind Mt. Foraker from the bank of the river in Talkeetna, flying from the lush green landscape near sea level to glaciated white and black mountains, cruising the Kahiltna glacier in the quiet of the early sunlit hours of the morning, soaking up the views in all directions from the narrow picturesque ridge of the West Buttress, breathing heavily on the classic cornice of the summit ridge of Denali with a tangible feeling of success welling up in your throat, are just a few of the high points to note from this summer’s June 8^th Denali trip. 

Of course all of these glory moments one must try to keep in mind while hauling a heavy sled, choking down some food while not feeling well at a new altitude, breathing out a headache, taking in a whiff of a stale tent, the iPod dying 30 seconds out of camp on the day of a long carry, or dealing with the repercussions of a misfire of the pee bottle while attempting an acrobatic in-sleeping-bag maneuver.

Although the latter may be a few of the realities of an expedition, they are easy to handle when each day no matter how productive, provides a reward.  This could come in the form of an amazing view, dialing in that sled-rigging system so you can be ready first to help a teammate, breathing and eating and drinking well enough to feel strong on a move day, coming up with a great way to dig a fortress around the tent, or winning the last round of cards for the day.

I was fortunate enough to take part in the June 8^th Denali trip this year and our trip began as most do, with the flight to Anchorage.  With some pre-trip jitters and careful packing so as to not have to pay an over-sized baggage fee, I arrived in Anchorage and met the rest of the climbing team.  This was an exciting moment for me, as I had pictured everyone dispersed from wherever they were coming from getting prepared and going through similar decisions on equipment and lunch food.  After a nice drive to “beautiful downtown Talkeetna”, we dropped off our equipment to be sorted and checked the next morning at the hangar. 

Equipment checks done, all packs weighed in correctly, and it was time to relax for the evening in town.  A few of us went down to the river in Talkeetna to take in some beautiful views of Mt. Foraker, Mt. Hunter, and see Denali in person for the first time (re-insert pre-trip jitters here).  The next day the weather was not flyable, so an extra day in Talkeetna was in order.  This actually worked out well because it afforded us some time to practice sled-rigging, knots, and get all of the tents set up ahead of time.  Come the next morning it was time to fly.  This was a noteworthy portion of the trip.  You are on a flight with five other people cruising through green Talkeetna and over many rivers, then are suddenly surrounded in glaciated terrain.  Seeing basecamp from the air and quickly descending towards the snowy village where you will depart from for nearly twenty days is a surreal experience.  We swapped planes with another RMI group and were preparing our tents and equipment to have an evening at basecamp.

We left for 7,800 camp at night after the glacier had re-frozen so that travel would be quick and safe on the heavily crevassed Kahiltna.  It was wild to be traveling at night although it was full visible light out.  We got to 7,800 camp around 2:00 am and dug in for a few nights there.  One of the days at 7,800 we did a carry to 10,000 ft to prepare for our move to 11,000 ft.  That way we had less to carry up Ski Hill on our move day to 11 camp.  

We ended up spending five nights at 11 camp due to various weather constraints, however these days were easily broken up into rest time, back-carries, and carries.  From my perspective, the nights at 11 camp were helpful for acclimatization.  I definitely got some headaches due to the altitude on the second day we spent there.  I felt better throughout the course of the next day and felt just fine when we moved to 14,000 ft.  Doing carries I thought to be helpful not only to split up the loads, but also so that on the move day you had a good idea of how the day would progress.

The move to 14,000 camp was an exciting day.  It was at this point that I felt like we were on the upper mountain.  We had beautiful views of Foraker and Hunter looking out of camp.  Looking up towards the mountain one could see the fixed lines and the West Rib.  We had taken a rest day after arriving at 14 camp on a nice sunny day with the radiance of the sun allowing us all to enjoy a brief moment of freedom without our stinky baselayer tops on.  The next day we tackled a carry to the top of the fixed lines.  Although the fixed lines appeared a bit daunting, they go fairly quickly and you feel quite secure as your rope team is close to one another, as well as attached to the lines.  We got an early start so that we didn’t have to wait for other teams in addition to avoiding the heat of the day.

Once we had done the carry we got the word that the weather was going to be prime for climbing for the next three days.  Given our time spent at lower elevations everyone was feeling strong and excited that the summit push was in sight.  The move day up to 17,000 ft Camp was beautiful with low winds and pleasant temperatures.  This was one of my favorite days of the climb because the ridge was very aesthetic.  Lots of focus on breathing helped prevent headaches during the digging of the tent platform and sleeping that evening.  We had a chat about the summit day that night, so the combination of excitement, nerves, and altitude didn’t lead to a lot of sleep. 

Upon awakening the next morning the clear skies meant that it was time to roll.  We were up and out of camp quickly with light packs, which was a nice change of pace relative to our move day.  The walk along the Autobahn towards Denali Pass was the coldest part of the day since the pass does not get sun in the morning.  This portion of the climb seemed long with clipping through pickets and a more lengthy section to get to the sun.  After one more break past Zebra Rocks I could hardly believe we were about to approach the Football Field, Pig Hill, and finally, the summit ridge.

After seeing so many pictures of the summit ridge it was really exciting to get a view for myself.  The few clouds that had gathered on top during our time on the Football Field and Pig Hill dissipated and we had clear skies on the summit.  We spent about half an hour on top, taking in the views and snapping pictures.  It was satisfying to know that a large portion of the mission was complete and now our focus was turned towards a safe descent.  We had a pleasant descent with high spirits.  It was amazing how hot we were going down the Autobahn compared to the chilly morning temperatures.  After getting back to camp I quickly removed my sweaty boots and got straight to hydrating and eating some delicious ramen noodles.

That evening I got out of the tent around 4:00 am to use the bathroom and stretch the legs.  I was able to catch the sunrise over Foraker and the cumulus clouds around it.  This was a nice solo moment with no one else awake at 17 camp before we had to leave.  We began our descent the next day around 7 or 8 am to head to 11k.  Descending the West Buttress was just as amazing as going up.  We had a couple hours of layover at 14 camp to get rid of some supplementary lunch food to those at camp shopping for more, as well as re-organizing our equipment for the remainder of the descent.

It was amazing how well I felt after getting back to 11k camp, being at what was relatively lower altitude.  This was a nice bonus especially after having not felt very well at this altitude originally.  We set up camp quickly and ran into some folks from another RMI trip who were on their way up.  We dug up our cache here and added a bit more to the packs to carry out.  The next day the plan was to make it down the Kahiltna and to the airstrip.

We awoke at 3am with the intent of beating the heat on the lower glacier in order to avoid crevasses and snowshoes.  The plan worked and we had great conditions.  We didn’t bring out the snowshoes until Heartbreak Hill.  The walk out was beautiful.  It was chilly but light in the early morning.  It was a great time to reflect on the trip while walking out and I was sad to leave.  It was surreal to be walking away after we had been on top just a couple days prior.  Arriving back at the airstrip was a bizarre feeling knowing that our time on Denali was coming to a close. 

The skies cleared for flying quickly and the first plane flew part of the group a mere two hours after our arrival at the upper airstrip.  The flight out was just as breathtaking as the flight in, including a re-introduction to the colors green and blue.  We landed back in Talkeetna for the gear re-sort and dry.  

That evening we ended the trip in the place that it began for a few of us, and went down to the river for summit certificates.  We had a great time taking in a glimpse of the Alaska Range and sharing memories from the trip.

Now that the trip is through, I have a few take away points that I learned or was happy that I had done…these are of course a few of many.

1)      For the ladies, I found the pee funnel to be a huge benefit.  I used a specific narrow oil funnel and modified it a bit.  Practice ahead of time was helpful.  Also, I was able to use the bathroom while tied into the rope without undoing any portion of my harness.  This was a huge time saver on breaks. 

2)      Bring sausage and cheese for 14k and above.  When I was first on the mountain I was psyched to be eating candy, but didn’t really get the craving for meat and cheese until I was on the upper mountain.  Then, naturally I was not happy with myself for caching some of this down lower when I didn’t think that I would have a taste for it up high.  Cream cheese seemed like a good idea at first, but after multiple freezing and thawing cycles, it gets to have a very strange texture and became considerably less appealing.

3)      Have a light-colored hooded baselayer for the glacier.  It gets unbelievably hot and sunny during the day so to have a light color on and a hood to hide in was very helpful.  Thanks to a baseball hat, a buff, and a hooded baselayer (in addition to sunscreen applications every break) I managed to avoid a single major sunburn.

4)      Breathe, drink, and eat heavily.  It is better to be conscious of doing this as you are moving whether or not you feel good.  Yes, you have to pee a lot on occasion.

5)      Don’t worry, it hurts a bit sometimes at new elevations but it gets better after a day or so.  Odds are, everyone else is feeling it a bit too.  I found myself thinking too hard about every slight or major headache, exactly how bad my stomach ache was, etc. on occasion, but it does pass and it isn’t something that I would be as concerned about the next high-elevation go around.

Needless to say, I learned a lot more than that on the trip.  For more tricks and pointers, feel free to give a call at the shop.  The stoke is high and I can’t wait to get back up to Alaska…