Denali 2019

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!

43 days to Day 1 Double sling, Jumar, Microtraxion 3:1

50 days to Departure Four-season tent has 26 attachment points, for a reason. .

88 days to Day 1 Training for the Denali Summit Day Distance one way, km Elevation gain, m Rohr 8.3 1,156 Denali 3.7 931 We had waited for the annual arctic cold front but it seemed it would never come. Yet we needed to test our expedition clothes at least at -20°C cold. November and December came and passed, all warm. January 2019 was the same warm. We almost gave up on that idea, when the cold suddenly arrived! Environment Canada issued "Extreme Cold Warning" in BC - it was very good news. Off we went to Mt. Rohr. Lesson learned : DO NOT overheat! We wanted -20°C and got it. At the parking it was -22°C, exciting! Vera was wearing just windproof, at -20°C and was super comfortable. I was wearing a lot of layers, forgetting that once I climbed Rohr is just shorts and base layer (-20°C). Naturally, I overheated, from head to toes, got wet and then got very cold. Such was the lesson: too much warm clothes will make y...

104 days to Day 1 Training for the Denali Summit day. Distance one way, km Elevation gain, m  Hood 5.5 1,680 Denali 3.7 931 From commercial itinerary: "From High Camp we cross a long flat section of glacier and gain the slope leading to Denali Pass known as "the Autobahn". There are fixed pickets along this section of the route and the climbing can be on anything from deep winter snow to bullet-proof blue ice." We thought nothing would be better for Autobahn training as Mt. Hood in Oregon. Besides we had unfinished business there: the actual summit. So off we went. The condition of Vera's first-degree frostbite received here, two weeks prior . Taking a break at Devil's Kitchen The traverse looks pretty much like photos of actual Denali Autobahn. We just saw a climber slipping and falling down to the base. Quite a fall - she survived. Coincidentally, we also saw yet another fall almost along t...

105 days to Day 1 Two of us practiced climbing steep and very steep snow: running belay (45° 3x30m) on the south side of Pump Peak, rappel off north side of Tim Jones (60m), climb 60° fixed line back.

116 days to Day 1 First time ever, two of us climbed at winds approaching 100 km/h, officially recorded by weather station. We never climb when it's windy (summit wind speed > 20 km/h), but for the Denali preparation, we were curious how it would feel to have strong winds climbing open snow slopes. We had it. Result: first degree frostbite. Lessons learned : Avoid direct touch of any uninsulated metal. If windy, wear goggles or it will hurt. Crossing US border on a beautiful sunny day. Mt. Hood (3,427m)  is a super popular alpine peak. It is the highest mountain in Oregon. We have climbed it already via Pearly Gates route back in 2017. Our track Wind speed on the climbing day. 11:00 was recorded 93km/h, at 2,000m, but we climbed at 3,000m, so.. Windy..will pick up more speed higher up and will blow hardest after sunset on our descent, in darkness. We decided to quit "just" 60m below the summit. Good call it was: we didn't know yet that Vera ha...

190 days to Day 1 We have upgraded our Ropeman ascender to more serious jumar: we rejected first two models for various reasons. This one is the best to work with thick winter gloves. Combined with  Microtraxion we can ascend at mechanical advantage up to 3:1. Looks easy, doesn't?

247 days to Day 1 As they say, break your mountaineering boots early. "They" were right. Two of us climbed Mt. Shuksan - a very popular peak in Washington State. Got some mileage on Vera's new expedition boots: 22km distance, 2,000m up and down. Lesson : Wearing unbroken brand-new alpine boots on an expedition is a very poor idea. The summit! Blisters on the summut, 11km still to go! Filling summit register. Six rappels down from the top. Fun! Imagine getting these on a 20 days expedition.

145 days to Day 1 (1st attempt) Two of us made First Recorded Ascent (FRA) of Spindle Peak via Spindle Couloir. We wanted to climb (and downlcimb) something similar (or harder) to the headwall on the Denali West Buttress, which is ~250 meters high. Spindle Couloir is 580 meters, steeper and without fixed ropes - was ideal: it supports our motto - if training is not twice as hard of the real climb, it is not a training. Lessons : 1) always check ultimate backup 2) sattelite phones can't dial 911 The bad dream Many, many years ago, I saw a weird dream, which ever since had kept arbitrary popping-up in my mind: an unidentified person, who looks very familiar to me, is starting uncontrolled slow slide down a steep ice chute, then quickly accelerates under gravity and disappears out of sight, probably to her death. It is quiet from the beginning to the very end. Like in those black-and-white silent movies. No screams. And then I am still there, on that edge, alone, tr...