Day 19 - SUMMIT !!!

I woke up at 02:00 a.m. to find Vera already awake and waiting for me with wide-open eyes. The sky was clear and quiet, and the digital thermometer measured the snow temperature at -19.7°C.

After melting some snow and eating breakfast, we dressed up and left the 17K camp at 04:45 a.m. We had trained for the Autobahn traverse on Mt. Hood, thinking it was twice as difficult as Autobahn on Denali. But in reality, it was the opposite. Autobahn on Denali turned out to be twice as hard as we expected, with hard snow and no possibility for self-belay. Our ice-axes were only good for balance, and we didn't have an extra ice tool, only one straight axe each. So when we came across the 50m unprotected stretch, we both realized that one slip from either of us could end it all. It was only a 20-meter unprotected traverse, but it was enough to get our adrenaline pumping!

We then passed Denali pass, Zebra rocks, Football field, and finally arrived at Pig Hill, which was the real challenge at the very end, with 300m to the ridge. This slowed us down a bit.

As we were climbing, two guides passed us, each with one client. One pair was very fast, and I didn't see any ropes, axes or big packs. The other pair was slower. By the time we reached the summit ridge, a weather front had moved in, and it was now a whiteout. The first pair of guide and client were already descending, and the second pair was about to start on the summit ridge. Then we heard one guide saying to another, "...if you don't see us on the ridge by 6 p.m. then...". He didn't bother to explain what "then" meant, but it was obvious. It was also clear to us that we'd better hurry before the weather got worse.

As we were walking on the edge, fixed pros came in handy. I checked the GPS and found out that we only had another 30 meters to go, and then 10 more. And then, finally, we were on the summit of Denali, exactly at 3:00 p.m. We were the only people there, and the wind was already blowing. So we took a quick selfie and a couple of single hero shots with the summit mark, and sent an InReach message. We didn't have time for a salute. We had to go down.

In the whiteout, I lost track on the ridge and lowered down. I tried to set an ice screw as a pro when I saw a guy walking above towards the summit. That was the track we lost, but luckily it only cost me a few meters down. So we reached the Pig Hill exit and saw another climber waiting for his partner to come up. We stopped for a drink and learned that the guy was from BC, and from the BCMC club, which we used to be members of. We even used to teach the Alpine 101 course there. It was a small world. His companion came up, but without gloves. When we asked him why, he said, "To keep things in balance," which was a strange answer.

At the foot of Pig Hill, we saw yet another team of three, Italians who had just finished climbing a route called "Orient Express." One of them produced an MSR Whisperlite with a broken hose and asked us if we had any water. Vera got our two thermoses and offered them all the remaining water we had, which wasn't much, only one cup. They mixed it with snow and shared it among the three of them. Three big guys shared one cup of melted snow - I knew how terribly dry and thirsty it would feel, having been that thirsty myself just one day ago.

The wind was now blowing hard. As we passed Zebra Rocks, a large commercial team was on the way up. I knew the guides had just taken them for a walk - a storm was building up, and the day was winding down. There was no way they were reaching the summit. Still, it was better than nothing. At least they made it through Autobahn.

On Denali Pass, the wind was pretty strong, and Vera later told me that she was sure we were going to spend the night just there in an emergency snow pit.

However, descending Autobahn was still doable. We saw all the markers and pros, and even passed a 50m section without too much worry, protecting it with an ice axe.

The lower part of Autobahn was not protected, but still steep enough to get hurt. I had already seen the end of it, and the tents of 17K camp when I heard a sound like flying gulls make when flying around. "Scree-e-e-e". I thought that was rather strange and even looked up at the sky trying to see the birds, and then looked back. It was Vera! She had slipped and fallen, but stopped in perfect self-arrest on her stomach and was not moving. Wow! If it had been a bit more slippery, like on Shasta accident, we would have both fallen. Just at the end of the climb, just as the book said - many accidents happen on Autobahn on the way down, and we could have added yet another one.

When we arrived at the tent, we took off our crampons. It was 9:00 p.m. We had done Denali! The thought made our blood boil. Nothing, absolutely nothing else mattered. We had our tent, fuel to melt snow, plenty of food, and warm sleeping bags. And no more up - tomorrow, we would go home!