diepj Posted July 2, 2016 Posted July 2, 2016 Trip: Denali - West Buttress Date: 5/28/2016 Trip Report: Not too much of a report but I thought I'd share some pics. We did the West Butt which has been reported on extensively and is really about as straight-forward as you can get for an expedition climb. It was a great trip and a great way to break into the game. If you're looking for resources here are a few things I relied on quite a bit in planning for the trip: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1127222/TR_Denali_West_Buttress_With_a http://www.climber.org/reports/2005/1519.html. I can't hope to compete with the level of beta in those TR's (Thanks especially to lukeh!) but let me know if you're dying for an opinion or had questions about how we did it. We were on the mountain 20 days and spent over half of that at 14k waiting for a good break in the weather. The most (only?) interesting climbing is the ridge between the top of the fixed lines and the camp at 17k. At least in the expedition style you have reason to do it several times. Overall the climb is basically just a ton of work. But once you get up high the views are worth the price of admission. Enjoy the pics! Gear Flying In The Ruth Snow Flutes Climbers on the Kahiltna Landed at Basecamp Lower Kahiltna Camped on the Kahiltna Camped at 11k Top of Motorcycle Hill Windy Corner Windy Corner 14k Camp and Headwall Edge of the World Shot Edge of the World Shot Lower Kahiltna and the Northeast Fork Hunter Climbing the Fixed Lines Hunter, 14k Camp from the Ridge View from the Ridge Foraker and the West Buttress View from the Ridge 14k Camp from the Ridge Nearing Washburn's Thumb Heading for Denali Pass Summit Ridge Summit Ridge On the Top!! Approach Notes: TAT Quote
PuckerJunkie Posted July 2, 2016 Posted July 2, 2016 Wow, these pics are spectacular! You shouldn't minimize the effort. Any Denali summit qualifies as badass!! I hope I can put a trip like that together someday! Quote
cascadazepam Posted July 3, 2016 Posted July 3, 2016 How did the hooped hilleberg tent do up there? I've heard that snow can accumulate on the roof of tents built in that style, causing them to sag and potentially break. Was that an issue? Quote
diepj Posted July 5, 2016 Author Posted July 5, 2016 Pucker - Thanks, I don't really mean to minimize the effort. Like I said it was a ton of work, even the planning and preparing involved was intense. It was a great experience, but the story of this route just isn't particularly riveting to other climbers - but I do recommend it! Cas - The Hilleberg was incredible. I would not hesitate to fully recommend it. If the snow really piles up it can get a little saggy. There was one night where we were lazy and should have got out to shovel but we didn't, the fabric was sagging quite a bit but it didn't seem like it was straining the poles too badly. I'm sure at some point you could collapse it... Really the best practice is going to be to keep it somewhat shoveled out and I think that goes for any tent. You don't want to suffocate either. We had the Nammatj 2GT, which is a black label. There are some other red label tents (Nallo and Kaitum) which have lighter fabric and thinner poles but I wouldn't take one of them. Wind performance was great. We had gusts over 80 one night at 14 and had no issues. Of course we were dug in really well but that needs to be true of any camp in those conditions. The 2 worked perfectly for 2 people; snug but not too small. I would not recommend upsizing to a 3 like with many other tents. I also would HIGHLY recommend the GT model with the extended vestibule. The pound and a half penalty is well worth it, and still way lighter than a lot of other tents. For a team of two without a cook tent it was awesome. We met another group of 4 with 2 of these tents and they never bothered to even set up their 'mid. You can dig out a foot well, a pit to stand in, a stair out, and still have tons of room for storage, cooking, etc. A dome style tent would be relatively more bomber in the wind and heavy snow. IMO the Hilleberg is still plenty bomber and has some strong advantages. There are as many of these tents as any other you will see up there too. Quote
Jeremy.0 Posted July 5, 2016 Posted July 5, 2016 Climbed it last year. Was back up in Alaska a month ago doing the tourist thing this time. Seeing Denali, talking with some climbers in passing, and seeing your recent pics kind of make me "miss the misery". Congrats! Quote
bellows Posted July 6, 2016 Posted July 6, 2016 Excellent pics. Like Pucker said, don't sell yourself short. It's a big mountain and a proud accomplishment! Nice duffel bag. Are you related to a former NFL player? Quote
diepj Posted July 6, 2016 Author Posted July 6, 2016 Thanks! Not related but we're treated like family and love him like a brother. The #1 factor in our success. Quote
bellows Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 Cool! As a climber and a Patriots fan I recognized the name. I climbed Denali three years ago with my wife for our honeymoon. Least romantic honeymoon ever... at times our three person Trango tent didn't seem big enough for the two of us. But it was an amazing trip that I look back fondly upon. Your pictures bring back good memories, thanks for posting! Quote
lukeh Posted July 8, 2016 Posted July 8, 2016 Nice man - congrats! Very cool if my TR was helpful. I both miss the mountain and was traumatized by it - and I was lucky enough to only be there 14 days. I always like to refer to Jon Krakauer's experience when thinking of downplaying the route: "The West Buttress of McKinley, it is often said, has all the technical challenges of a long walk in the snow. That is more or less true, but it's also true that if you should, say, trip on a bootlace at the wrong moment during that walk, you will probably die. From 16,000 feet to 17,000 feet, for instance, the route follows the crest of a knife-edge ridge that presents a two-thousand-foot drop on one side and a three-thousand-foot drop on the other. Furthermore, even the flattest, most benign-looking terrain can be riddled with hidden crevasses, many of which are big enough to swallow a Greyhound bus, no problem. I figured the West Buttress to be a farmer's route; I mean, how challenging could a climb that succumbed to three hundred freds and hackers a year possibly be? Plenty challenging for the likes of me, it transpired. I was continually miserable, and frequently on the brink of disaster. My tent was starting to shred even in the relative calm at 14,300. The unceasing cold caused my lips and fingers to crack and bleed; my feet were always numb. At night, even wearing every article of clothing I had, it was impossible to stave off violent shivering attacks. Condensed breath would build up an inch of frost on the inside of my tent, creating an ongoing indoor blizzard as the gossamer nylon walls rattled in the wind. Anything not stowed inside my sleeping bag-camera, sunscreen, water bottles, stove-would freeze into a useless, brittle brick. My stove did in fact self-destruct from the cold early in the trip; had a kind soul named Brian Sullivan not taken pity on me and lent me his spare, I would-as Dick Danger so eloquently put it-have been in deep shit. Mountains" Quote
olyclimber Posted July 8, 2016 Posted July 8, 2016 Wow, awesome pictures! Beautiful, thank you. And those are some legit conga lines. Congrats on the climb and on the weather too. Very cool. Quote
olyclimber Posted July 8, 2016 Posted July 8, 2016 Cool! As a climber and a Patriots fan I recognized the name. I climbed Denali three years ago with my wife for our honeymoon. Least romantic honeymoon ever... at times our three person Trango tent didn't seem big enough for the two of us. But it was an amazing trip that I look back fondly upon. Your pictures bring back good memories, thanks for posting! Hahahaha thats awesome. Doing Bowron Lakes for a honeymoon like my wife and I did is nothing compared to this! Quote
diepj Posted July 8, 2016 Author Posted July 8, 2016 I agree 100% with Krakauer, it is a deadly serious mountain no doubt. I guess so much has been written about that route that I just didn't think I had a lot to add to the narrative that would be interesting to the informed climber. But everyone is entertained for a few minutes by pics! The conga lines were definitely legit. Its a blessing and a curse. We more or less avoided them and never suffered much delay. Our strategy was to be early... ...but not first. A couple guide strings an hour out front is perfect since they will lay in the booter and you'll catch them right when they take a break at the base of the lines... The beauty of Denali is that early is still 10 am when the sun hits your tent! Quote
96avs01 Posted July 10, 2016 Posted July 10, 2016 Our strategy was to be early... ...but not first. The beauty of Denali is that early is still 10 am when the sun hits your tent! Based on the advice of a very experienced friend we choose to travel in the evening/early AM hours. Far less people, cooler temps (we started 6/1). Less slop/mush on the lower glacier. To each their own, but if I go back, I'd follow that approach again. Quote
BrandonClimbs Posted September 15, 2018 Posted September 15, 2018 Amazing pictures! Im looking to plan a trip to Denali some time soon, Its pretty high on my to do list. Congrats on the summit! Quote
BrandonClimbs Posted September 15, 2018 Posted September 15, 2018 On 7/7/2016 at 12:53 AM, bellows said: Cool! As a climber and a Patriots fan I recognized the name. I climbed Denali three years ago with my wife for our honeymoon. Least romantic honeymoon ever... at times our three person Trango tent didn't seem big enough for the two of us. But it was an amazing trip that I look back fondly upon. Your pictures bring back good memories, thanks for posting! Thats one hell of a way to spend a honey moon! Epic! Quote
diepj Posted December 18, 2018 Author Posted December 18, 2018 Thanks for the bump Brandon, I had missed it this fall. Caused me to look at the pics for the first time in a while and remind me that life it too short not to make a few more of these happen. Just do it! Quote
ivan Posted December 19, 2018 Posted December 19, 2018 a place well worth the hype, especially when you go there w/ just yer bestest buddy Quote
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