Denali 2019

Packing last items: our sleeping bags. You want to keep them without pressure, in storage, as long as possible. These are brand new -29°C Marmot Col 800+ fill goose down, thanks to 2018' Alaska car-braking when our older bulky bags were stolen. The new sleeping bags are THE heat-machines - so thick (yet super soft) that require 20L compressions bags, or they won't fit in backpack.

Our sleeping mats, although very warm, are very slippery. So they tend to move inside tent. To avoid that, make loops on inside and connect mats together when in tent. Use fabric cloth and glue from provided repair kit. For even stronger stability, make two more attachment loops on the tent's floor.

6 days to Departure На заре голоса зовут меня. Солнца свет и сердца звук, Робкий взгляд и сила рук, Звездный час моей мечты В небесах - Альянс - На заре (1987)

One week to departure.

8 days to Departure. Packed core food: 100,000 calories in one duffel bag.

Final inspection of climbing gear. We are going to lose ~15lb of "fat" - average statistic weight loss on Denali. Better eat a bit of good food. Top Shanghai restaurant (上海一只鼎) is the place to go.

10 days to Departure. Feels great! We love Denali because: It's never dark there in summer (no "night") - no worry getting caught in the dark.  We can drive there own car - no worry about packing for airplane. Pack fuel and food, heavy large items (sled, gear). And again, because it's never dark in Alaska this time of year, it's rather safe to drive long distances. Just switch drivers. No guides required - rare!  Caches: always can leave items you don't want anymore, can pick them up on the way back.  PHOTO: our packing list contains 246 items, all have to go through integration test and inspected prior to the expedition.

Although we attempted Denali in 2018, we never consciously marked "Two weeks before departure" day. None of us knew we will be on our way, the trip 2018 was officially cancelled on April 4th 2018. Before that we had a serious training accident, rescue, hospital and recovery. We made decision to go only two days prior. Today is different. We are in the middle point: "After" prepping is complete and "Before" going is commenced. Feels great! Photos Things are getting ready. Current weather at the Denali summit.

21 days to Day 1 We are now tapering off. No more major training. No more new equipment. Only frequent Registered Massage Therapy (sports type) sessions. Behind us are five years of climbing together, 250 peaks in Canada, US, China, Japan, Taiwan. 150,000 kms on the road. Are we ready!?

From official Denali source : "White gas stoves have been a staple on Denali for decades and they continue to provide reliable performance in cold weather and at high altitude...Cartridge stoves are sometimes used on Denali, but they don't tend to perform as well in cold conditions, the cartridges are not as widely available, and they aren't as efficient for making large batches of water and food" For many years I used to be a fan of MSR Whisperlite white-gas stove, in fact we brought two of those for our first Denali attempt in 2018, but after I saw Reactor in use, I changed my mind. So now we take Reactor as main stove , which is cartridge-based. From manufacturer: "Produces consistent heat output. The burner operates near max at lower fuel pressures and improves output in colder temperatures. An internal regulator equalizes pressure for consistent boil times throughout the life of a canister. " By the way, both Whisperlite and Reactor are made by ...

20 days left to departure. Went to Seymour to final test our core equipment. Our expedition sled is equipped with two shock absorbers and climbing skins. One duffel bag is full of milk containers filled with water, ~60lb to make load mass more realistic. Transportation of sled on rooftop. Kitchen made with emergency tarp. In storm will cover our gear and we will cook inside tent. Main melting snow stove: MSR Reactor with insulated canister and warm water bath at the bottom. Used 7g of fuel and one minute to melt snow to make 500ml of water. Backup melting snow stove: MSR Whisperlite, white gas. 4 times slower than Reactor, at least (if windy, even more slower - the burner is not windproof as Reactor's). With priming, used 16g of white gas fuel to melt 500ml water - 2.3 times more fuel mass than Reactor's. Happy with toady's result: by accident, found that car rooftop rack was almost ready to detach itself free, as two screws got loose. Loosing entire roo...

Two of us did 5 laps of B CMC  trail today. 9 hours, 4.2 km total elevation gain (that's total gain of our Denali route). Vera's first time to gain so much in one go!

In three weeks from now, we will be leaving home for our 2nd attempt of Denali. Most climbers arrive to Alaska by air, but we will drive our own car from Vancouver. That's what we both like: no worriers about packing for airplane (e.g. propane fuel or large heavy items like ice axes, tent, expedition sled, 50lb of food, etc.). No worries about catching booked return flight. Freedom! Four camps on the road (famous Alaska highway), 3,600km total distance. We already traveled this road before, to our first Denali attempt in 2018. We did our best and got our best: now, looking back we know how much we were unprepared. Today our skills are a lot better and most of our aged technical equipment have been replaced by modern brand new stuff, "thanks" to car break-in when our expedition gear was stolen in daylight in a US state park in Anchorage; we also lost our passports, credit cards and cash money. Now, guess how much time it took us to cross US-Canada border without any I...

Four weeks left to landing on Kahiltna Glacier , the longest one in Alaska Range. Excited!