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DPS

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    Denali Attempt

    in Alaska

    Posted

    Plastic kiddy sled. It tried to run me down while going downhill. I used sled brakes with some measure of success.

     

    I would recommend buying a plastic kiddy sled and rigging it with ridged poles that attach to your hips and the front of the sled. This will keep it from running you down and will give it lateral support while side hilling.

    Denali Attempt

    in Alaska

    Posted

    Wazzumountaineer and I recently attempted Denali. We arrived on the glacier with about 100 pounds of gear, food, and fuel each. Our intended route, the Upper West Rib, was reportedly in poor condition so we eventually turned our attention to the West Buttress. 'Climbing' the West Buttress reminded me of pouring a concrete house foundation without the benefit of a pumper truck. Lots of load carrying.

     

    The weather was overcast and intermittently snowing everyday until we reached 14,000 feet, however, we were still able to move up the glacier and lost no days due to weather. We single carried to the camp at 11,000 feet on

    the second day, cached past Windy Corner to 13,500 feet on day three, and moved to the 14,000 foot camp on day 4.

     

    The 14,000 foot camp is the largest of the camps and hosts climbers from all over the world. We spent four nights here acclimatizing before moving up to the next camp at 17,200 feet.

     

    One of the most interesting aspects of Denali was observing the varying climbing styles of the different cultures. Asian parties tended to be large, with 10 or more climbers per rope (tied in ten to fifteen feet apart!) while Eastern Europeans carried no ropes or even ice axes!

     

    On day 6 we cached to 17,200 feet. This involved climbing a 50 degree snow headwall using fixed ropes installed by the park service.

     

    Going from the top of the fixed lines at 16,200 feet to the 17,200 foot camp involved climbing a rocky ridge, the most aesthetic section of the entire route. After caching our food and fuel we descended back to 14,000 feet and rested the following day.

     

    On day 8 we moved to 17,200 feet with our tent, sleeping bags and cold weather clothing. We set up camp and spent the night. The following day, day 9, we attempted the summit but were turned back at Denali Pass (18,200) by

    very strong winds and an approaching storm. It was in this section that a pair of twins from Ohio fell and died, a fact made even more tragic by the presence of fixed pickets every 40 meters. They did not use their rope

    above high camp.

     

    A series of storms were forecast to hit the mountain with winds up to 50 mph. Based on advice from Denali vets and the fact that we had limited food/fuel, we decided not to wait out the storms at 17,200 feet. We packed up our kits and headed down to 14,000.

     

    We still had time left and were in a good position to try to summit, however, the thought of waiting out a week or so of bad weather in our cramped tent was not very enticing. Making the climb from 14,000 to 17,200 for a third time was not very appealing either. Furthermore, the batteries on the satellite phone were just about dead and I knew that my wife would worry if I could not communicate with her for that long. We decided to head down to the landing strip and fly out ahead of the storm and catch an early flight home.

     

     

    GEAR NOTES:

    I went with a light bag (-10, cut large to accomodate extra clothing) a single 15mm Evazote yellow pad, a 4,500 cubic inch pack and light weight synthetic filled clothing. The clothing, sleeping system, and assorted

    gear I brought all worked well with a few exceptions. The weight savings of my -10 bag was significant, and kept me reasonably warm at high camp with my insulated clothing on.

     

    The tent poles on my Mountain Hardwear Annapurna have

    plastic tips that fit into grommets. On the second night I managed to break two of the tips but luckily we were able to repair them.

     

    The satellite phone was not reliable and most calls were dropped. Additionally, due to the cold, batteries lasted less than 10 minutes each. Fortunately I found someone in camp with a solar charger who kindly recharged one of the batteries. In the end the sat phone was more trouble, not to mention money, than it was worth.

     

    FOOD NOTES:

    I planned for 5,000 calories per day. I ate perhaps 2000-3,000 calories per day as most days were short (< 4 hours). Food was an area where significant weight savings could have been realized.

     

    PERSONAL NOTES:

    I brought a depressing book. This was a big mistake. I should have brought something fun to read. It is very useful to have a partner that can fix everything you break. The West Buttress is for the most part a really, really boring route. Being fast is not as helpful as being patient. I am even less patient than I am fast. I was not as hungry as I thought I would be. My sled wanted to kill me.

    belay jacket

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    I tried on both the GoLight and the Wild Things belay jackets. My feeling was that the GoLight was considerably more bulky. I bought the Wild Things and like it quite a bit. Its very warm and I like the way it is cut.

    Baker routes

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    The Coleman-Deming goes up the Roman Wall above the Pumice Ridge, whereas the Easton goes up the Roman Wall above the crater. The entire upper slope of both routes is known collectively as the Roman Wall.

     

    Jason

    Good to know.

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