Training: ascending rope in free air. Squamish, BC
43 days to Day 1 Double sling, Jumar, Microtraxion 3:1
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Training: rigging expedition tent and using emergency tarp for kitchen. Cypress Bowl, BC
50 days to Departure Four-season tent has 26 attachment points, for a reason. .
Training: snowtravel at -20°C, Mt. Rohr(2,423m)
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...
Training: snowcamping at -20°C, Joffre Lake, BC
60 days to Day 1 Tested our brand new sleeping bags, tent and stove at -20C cold. Test passed! Lesson : even if you wear lots of layers, you will get cold very fast if your feet are not insulated too.
Training: climbing steep snow, Pump Peak, BC
108 days to Day 1 Practiced climbing steep snow in pairs on running belay. South slope of Pump Peak, up to 45°, three 30m pitches.
Training for Autobahn at Mt. Hood, OR
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...
Training: Seymour Alpine Edition, BC
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.