143 posts, 2012 to today.
It is stormy out and Kai calls it, we are not moving today. It is snowing and cold with no visibility. During our late morning breakfast we hear on the radio that a French climber is injured and needs rescue. Melys, one of the National Park Rangers at camp 1, is skiing from tent to […]
Sunny as we land our 1954 deHavilland Otter plane at base camp. We unload, chat with base camp staff, cache the base camp emergency food rations and we are on our way. Push to camp 1 in 5hours. Snowstorm starts as we arrive to camp 1 A few times during the push my hands get […]
That’s it we are leaving 1 day late. Sunny out, we have a flying window!! Check out the video below:
It has been a good day, lot of preparation work done. Unfortunately we are unable to fly out! It has been raining all day and visibility is not good enough for planes to take us to base camp. Early morning we attend the briefing from Park Rangers at the Ranger station, finish preparing gear and […]
Anchorage to Talkeetna, meet at AMS, run and dinner at the brewery with Xav, Kai and Marc
Arrived in Anchorage, final shopping before driving to the mountain tomorrow.
It’s 330am here, and after a 12hr flight to Seattle, a 2-hr connection and a 3 1/2 hour flights to anchorage I am finally in the hotel. Quick shower, earplugs to cover the noise of all the other rooms that seem to all be partying on the late Saturday night Sunday morning, and off to […]
After 2 days of intense packing the day has come to say goodbye to loved ones and get on the plane for the long journey to Anchorage, Alaska. The result: 2 x 100-liter expedition duffle bags packed with technical mountain gear & all the necessary clothing. I spent most of today with Sarah and Oscar […]
This is it, the week that we have been waiting for almost 2 years has come. The project has grown while our team of climbers has dwindled. We were 9, then 8, then 5, then 4 and now 3 after Josh pulled out last week. A bit of panic at first wondering if AMS (Alaska […]
We were 9 expedition members in December, then 8 in January when Mike’s vineyard took priority over climbing, fair enough. Then 7 a week ago when Patrick announced that his personal situation forced him to stay (we knew it was likely so it was sad but not a surprise). Then 4 members remaining when David […]
It has been over a year in the making, hundreds of emails, whatsapps, phone calls between all potential team members, guiding company, family, friends. We used to think of it as a project in the distant future. It is finally here and now, 3 weeks before our meeting with the Denali park rangers in Talkeetna, […]
Climbing Denali, like any high mountain, is a long journey not only a summit climb. It requires preparation, dedication, commitment. Training is at the center of the journey. Training, for me, started officially in January. Before that, I was lightly training while recovering from my trail running race ankle sprain. Mike Tse, who coached me […]
Listening to the Rich Roll podcast last December I stumbled upon a fascinating episode. It was about the ‘iceman’, Dutch modern era primal breathing guru, Wim Hof. Wim Hof is famous for taking on extraordinary challenges in the extreme cold such as swimming under arctic ice, running a marathon distance from the Everest base camp […]
Xavier and I meet our guide, Martin, downtown St-Gervais. It is still pitch dark. We drop by the rental shop and hire heavy winter mountaineering boots (Scarpa Mont Blanc Pro Gtx), harnesses, crampons, ice axes, poles and helmets. We throw our bags in Martin’s Mitsubishi pick-up truck and we are off. We cross the Mont […]
It doesn’t always work out as planned and that is a lesson that endurance sports can teach, staying humble and accepting temporary failure. Night racing clearly requires additional focus. After 8km and a good starting pace, Tyler and I were taking relays leading our group of 3, we passed a bunch of people and were […]
It’s 630pm Friday night. Xavier and I are on the ferry from Hong Kong central to the Lantau Island Mui Wo ferry pier where the race starts. 830pm start for our Moontrekker 40km trail run night race. 3 months of training coming together. A big thank you to Sarah for preparing a training plan and […]
Trail running in Hong Kong is ’world-class’. The trails are phenomenal, you can trail-run right from your home, and you can run in total peace and away from the noise for hours. Therefore for my second trail-run race, I picked MoonTrekker, a key race in the HK trail running calendar. It is a night race, […]