143 posts, 2012 to today.
May 12 Weather: sun and clouds Altitude: 3300 to 4300 Time climbing: 6h13 (Pix of Xavier holding my monster pack before a 6 hour climb) Most brutal day so far. Carrying everything up to camp 3, Basin Camp in monster sized backpacks. This is the gateway to the high part of the mountain through a […]
Video Blog, daily debrief, May 11 2017
May 11 Altitude: 3300 to 4100 meters Weather: sunny, cold (-10 to -15), cloudy, snow / yes, all in one day Time climbing: 7h37 Rushing the morning packing, I feel a little overwhelmed with what to pack. We are going to cache at 4000 meters and come down and need to plan for the coming […]
May 10 Altitude: 3300 Weather: perfect, sunny The night was cold, probably -10 in the tent but the forecast from base camp is announcing a high pressure system and better weather. We wake up to a sea of clouds under us. It is beautiful, for hundreds of miles all around us, clouds are everywhere, nature […]
May 9, stationary at camp 2, no altitude gain It’s 3am when I wake up and exchange looks with Patrick. He mentions he finds it hard to breathe and stuffy. It’s been snowing for the past 10 hours or more and the tent is half buried in snow. Not much air is getting in. Pat […]
May 8 Altitude: 2300 to 3300 meters (My new Garmin Fenix 5X and its maps function do a great job telling me that I am right on the West Buttress path to the top of Denali – not that I needed confirmation but its fun to see how technology has become incredibly precise and reliable […]
May 7 – Altitude: 2300 meters What do you do when you are carrying too much gear for mountain climbing travel? you ’cache’ the gear that you will not need for the coming days for example food bags, high altitude warm down gear, crampons, snow pickets, gas for stove etc. Obviously we had to carry […]
May 6 2017 – Altitude: 2000 meters It’s another beautiful day but cold. We are totally geared up, harnesses with ascenders, 3 locking and 9 non-locking carabiners on the harness loops, all for a purpose, cordelettes for building crevasse rescue anchors, various pieces of webbing for chest harness and for securing the sled to the […]
The plane (Otter skiplane) flies past Denali. Lian, the female pilot, nicely turns the plane so both side can see the stunning views of North Americas giant. It’s a beautiful day, sunny as we land on the Glacier after a steep descent. Skis are down and we glide on the snow. Welcome to basecamp says […]
The big day has come. National park service briefing in the morning, getting serious about how hard this mountain is. Then skills practice, finalising bags and sleds, personal briefing from Colby Coombs owner of this mountaineering company. Quite intense and deep! And off to the airport for a 4pm flight to Denali base camp. Tonight […]
A breakfast of Hotcakes at the Roadhouse, a sort of gigantic Alaskan pancake. The final gear wrap up time in our room, figuring out which duffle we are taking, what stays in Talkeetna and what comes on the mountain. A quick lunch at the Denali Brew Pub where we meet Abdul, one of our team […]
After a hearty breakfast at the Snow City Cafe in Anchorage, we walk back to the hotel. I wrap up some work stuff while Patrick is packing and Xavier making final gear purchases at the local Walmart. At 1pm sharp, Tom is in front of the hotel with his GM van. We load our 6 […]
After 20 hours of flying, 18 hours of connection time in LA we have finally arrived in Anchorage at 4am on May 2 local time. Our 18 hours connection were well used. We were lucky to spend the day at my friend Dan and Sabrina’s place in Costa Mesa. After a long nap, we had […]
1 month has passed since the return to base camp and the end of our expedition. I wish to give thanks to all the friends and family that have supported me in this climb and unique life experience. Thank you to: Jean-Claude and Marie-Helene, my parents, for sponsoring my gear and expedition, it was a […]
We meet for breakfast at 9am. Glenn and Xavier come down and join me for some nice & fresh coffee – a luxury we haven’t had for 3 weeks – some pastries and hot breakfast. The air is cool but just the right temperature. It’s delightful to be clean, rested and enjoying the service and […]
Busy bees packing, the duffles get filled up by all our climbing & mountaineering gear. Glenn, Xav and I are leaving today. Florence is walking back and considering taking a few days trek on the Annapurna circuit crossing thorong-la pass. It’s 830am when we get out of the tent for our last breakfast. The mood […]
Wake up at camp 3, feet still numb and concerned. Planning of the day: all day walk down to base camp. It’s a full day of walking down the mountain, and picking up and carrying all the gear that has been left at various camps. The weather is pristine as usual since the last snow […]
Written by Xavier Perrodon: It is about 5pm the day before summit push and as Ben and I are about to start preparing dinner, Chris enters the tent to give us a heads up on what we’re about to attempt. For almost two weeks I have been unhappy with the very little information we get […]