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Weather: snowstorm We wake up to zero visibility. That’s not good and it means that no Otter ski planes will be able to land today. We hope for a clearing it in the afternoon, but it won’t come today. We want out now that we are at base camp. Easy day in the tent apart […]
Weather: cloudy It’s the long march we are going to walk down all the way to base camp from camp 4. Atmosphere is not great, Abdul and Daniel have turned quiet and distant. I guess we all react differently but it’s important to put things in perspective, we are safe and that’s what matters. Denali […]
(Featured Photo – credits Daniel Forbes: The Crevasse – Bergschrund after the fixed ropes) Weather: -38 night, -30 day As we wake up slowly and desperately wait for the sun to ’warm our world’ as Kai puts it, we take a look at the summit ridge. It is in the clouds, it looks windy. It […]
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Altitude: from 4900 to 5200 This section is difficult. Ridge is not wide, crampons hit some uncovered rocks and become slippery, some sections have fixed ropes that are hard to clip into with very heavy packs, altitude is rising. All 3 of us are now quiet and fully focused no joking now, it’s a 2-3 […]
Altitude: from 4300 to 4900 / Weather: very cold, cloudy As a team-member of this expedition, I have been spared the back and forth discussion between lead guide Kai Girard and second in command Scott – Patch. It does not mean, however, that I do not know what is going on and that I have […]
(Click the picture to play video blog) Keep in mind that this happens only at high altitude after being bored out of our minds playing the waiting game for summit attempt…why team Shrimp? well actually we needed to find a name to yell ’Anchor’ and ’Climbing’ for the fixed ropes section the next day. So […]
May 18 / Weather: storm on mountain top / Altitude: 4300m / Temperature: -15 We are stuck in the tent at camp 3 to wait for better weather. We are getting bored and trying to keep busy by reading our kindles, chatting and listening to music and spending a lot of time in the kitchen […]
May 17 / Weather: cloudy and snowy / Altitude: 4300 -> 4900 -> 4300 We can’t make the summit push for now so instead of staying in camp we have decided to head back up to the col at 4900m where the cache is so we can train and keep in shape and acclimatized. On […]
(Featured picture: large expedition with sleds arriving at Camp 3, Mount Foraker in the background) May 16 / Weather: high pressure but storm coming The forecast announces a low pressure system and snowstorm from Wednesday so guides decide to change plans, we won’t go up to high camp today. We are going to wait […]
(Featured picture: Xavier going up the fixed lines) May 15 / Weather: bluebird, -38C morning / Climbing: 6h30 / Altitude: 4300 to 4900 to 4300 (below: morning temperature inside the tent at 9am) Our first technical climbing day of the trip, it’s very exciting, we are all gearing up for a 11am departure. It’s […]
May 14 Weather: phenomenal ’bluebird’ Altitude: 4300 (stationary at Camp 3, Basin camp) The day starts on a roll. Its 1 am, I wake up to the wind blowing the tent around. I immediately wake up Xavier the ask him if he and Pat tied their backpacks down in the snow. There is not enough […]
(featured photo: one of the many meals in the Kitchen tent, dug right into the snow, with snow/ice benches, snow/ice counter, snow/ice cooking surface) May 13, Altitude 4300 -> 4000 -> 4300 Weather: sunny, around -20 morning, prob -15 afternoon The night at camp 3 was incredibly cold, it went down to -32 degrees. […]
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 […]