I am sitting in the Alaskan base camp of Mountain Training School, after having just finished the last of a year of training courses just days ago. I am sipping, nay gulping down an Alaskan Oatmeal Stout, and switching between listening to YouTube Chillstep and writing this, and ptexing and waxing my skis for my next trip; Denali. More than 6 kilometres above sea level, myself and my climbing partner Chris from South Africa are planning to climb it via the West Buttress route, allotting a maximum of 24 days to summit and fly out. Instant oatmeal, instant mash potatoes, instant rice and pasta are our bases. Gummy bears, nutella tortillas, jerky and dark chocolate are our lunches; at high altitude, you need food that will be appetizing without an appetite. 250ml of fuel per person per day. 4 pickets or 6? 7 down jackets or 34? Rum or whiskey to cache at 7thousand feet? How many days to get to 14 camp? How much food to cache for the summit attempt? These are the questions that will plague us until the 12th, day of our flight out from Talkeetna to the glacier.
It's all very exciting. And as my most-planned and highest elevation personal trip to date, I am banking on a good outcome.
When I was living in La Paz, Bolivia, I decided to attempt Huayna Potosi (6088m) with two friends I had met in South America, John and Chris (New Zealand Chris). We planned in 2 days, taxi-ed up to the base of the mountain, and proceeded. Roughly 200m shy of the summit, we decided to turn around; as the only one of our team with any climbing experience, I was feeling the effects of both the altitude, a lack of sleep, a poor course of food and a month-long binge recovery.. It all seems very foolish now.
This time, we are prepared, our plan is watertight, and our team is a lot stronger, both physically and mentally, which is necessary for a mountain of Denali's caliber. I checked the weather up there the other day.. -65C (-85F) on the summit. Can't wait.
UPDATE: We went with Jagermeister.
It's all very exciting. And as my most-planned and highest elevation personal trip to date, I am banking on a good outcome.
When I was living in La Paz, Bolivia, I decided to attempt Huayna Potosi (6088m) with two friends I had met in South America, John and Chris (New Zealand Chris). We planned in 2 days, taxi-ed up to the base of the mountain, and proceeded. Roughly 200m shy of the summit, we decided to turn around; as the only one of our team with any climbing experience, I was feeling the effects of both the altitude, a lack of sleep, a poor course of food and a month-long binge recovery.. It all seems very foolish now.
This time, we are prepared, our plan is watertight, and our team is a lot stronger, both physically and mentally, which is necessary for a mountain of Denali's caliber. I checked the weather up there the other day.. -65C (-85F) on the summit. Can't wait.
UPDATE: We went with Jagermeister.