Denali: The plan

A trip to the top of the continent, Denali is probably going to be cold.

• May 9- June 9
• Summit: 20,320', 13100' gain, 33 miles round trip, 12-20 days plane-to-plane
• Team: Tom Tom Club

  Tom Lopez "Tom" Mt. Heinen Basil's Ridge Peak 10805 Garden Peak

  Tom Martin "Tommy" Mt. Borah Mt. Washington, NH Mt. Mansfield, VT Mt. Chocorua

  Tom Platt "Bro" Mt. Shasta North Sister Mt. Borah Mt. Hood

  John Platt Mt. Rainier (early) Mt. Rainier (02, pictured)

The story behind this expedition

Over a year ago, Tom Lopez (author of Idaho: A Climbing Guide, referred to on this page simply as "Tom") invited me to join him on an expedition to Denali, the great one. I have wanted to go on a major expedition ever since I was young, inspired by reading the book Annapurna (Herzog) as an early teen (in other words, a looong time ago).

Last November my daughter Mariel and I climbed Mexico's Pico de Orizaba. Orizaba gave me a taste of climbing in an exotic locale and also confidence in my ability at altitude. I returned home ready for a bigger challenge. Although Denali was high on my list, any expedition to a great range would have satisfied me. Tom's motivation was slightly different, but I'll let him tell his own story.

Another factor for this trip was my brother. Bro would turn 50 in late May, and this trip was to mark this milestone in his life. The special day might even come with the summit?

The decision

I first met Tom back in the '80s, but we didn't really know each other. We had become better acquainted recently, but only on one hike together. So before I could accept Tom's invitation, I had to satisfy myself that this is a person with whom I want to share three weeks in a tent. In the winter of 2007-2008, we got together for a beer or two, and went skiing.

At that point, Denali was a definite maybe for spring 2008. We agreed on a variety of important factors: style, safety, gear (definitely skis, not snowshoes), motivation, etc. But then Tom had medical issues (explained in his story) so we put the whole thing off.

When we climbed Basil's Ridge the next summer, we started talking about Denali again. Just before we climbed Peak 10805 last fall, Tom got a clean bill of health. So Denali was back on the table for 2009. Then it was a matter of finding an acceptable team. And we also agreed that we needed to be fully committed by January 15 in order to be ready in time.

I had spoken to several people over the last few years (I had originally planned on climbing Denali in 2005, but put that on hold when I broke my leg). When I asked again, I got lots of "maybes."

But my brother Tom (referrer to here as "Bro") was immediately in- he was looking for a special adventure to mark his 50th birthday. Bro has continued his bike racing over the last several years, so he is lean and mean; in a word, fit. How fit? Well, when younger, he won the Bogus Basin hill climb, riding up 4000' in under an hour. He looks like he could still do that.

When Tom Martin (as the youngest of the three Toms, referred to here as "Tommy") joined, I knew we had a really strong four-person team. Tommy is a horse. How strong is he? I'm not exactly small but when I broke my leg in the Lost Rivers, he practically carried me out.

Preparing

From January 15, it seemed like May was an awful long way off. We went round and round about the best dates. Finally Tom chose a May 9 departure, and everybody accepted that. Then began round after round of equipment discussions and purchases, creation of menus, packing gear, etc. etc. until we're all just about sick of that.

Our ace in the hole is my uncle Gene, who lives in Anchorage. Gene graciously accepted the chore of being a delivery point for gear we shipped, and driving us to-and-from Talkeetna. He's also letting us crash at his house. This saves us a ton of money, but also keeps us in our comfort zone- none of us is particularly comfortable in a motel. Plus, he's a great guy. With his positive attitude and can-do help, it feels like he's part of the team.

We did the whole registration with the Denali national Park, choosing the name "Tom Tom Club" for what should be obvious reasons. We also made our reservations with both the flights to Anchorage and the flight onto the Kahiltna glacier, where the climb starts.

And finally, it was time to get our bodies into shape. For the most part, we were all physically capable without doing any extra training. Tommy, Bro, and I are all semi-retired bike racers; we know how to train and also how to put out when it's necessary. Tom had been on Denali twice before, so he knows more specifically what is required. Even so, we've all been doing the extra work that should make our daily travails a little less fatiguing. Up to a point: the last couple of weeks have not been conducive to our schedule; either we have had personal chores to address or the weather in Idaho has been crap. Us Idaho guys were a little concerned about Tommy, who basically lives at sea level in New Hampshire. But Tom pointed out that being as Tommy is still in his 30s, he has an advantage for which us other guys can't really train. But seriously, not to worry. To acclimate properly, we need to go slow on the mountain regardless of how fit we are. So now that slightly slower pace will be enforced.

At least in the crappy weather we can still do our crevasse rescue practice. Anyone for a z-pulley? Wanna climb a tree on your ascenders?

A week to go

It doesn't seem possible that we will leave in just seven days. All our shipped gear has arrived at Gene's. I guess it's time to start stuffing the remaining crap into bags. On the flight to base camp on the Kahiltna, we are limited to just 125 pounds each (!) unless we want to pay extra. But we have 60 pounds each in just food. Then there are the skis and sleds. Tents. Shovels. Stoves and cook gear. OMG- to make the weight limit, we're going to have to go naked! Pictures to follow ;-)

Reports from the mountain?

We are not taking a hundred pounds of telecommunication gear. If and when we can, we will try to call out on a cell phone (don't hold your breath). If our communication efforts are successful, we've arranged to have reports posted onto the IdahoSummits bulletin board.

If you are wondering about the Denali climbing season in general, the Park Service maintains a page for current conditions and statistics.

General information and The Plan

Special thanks							Route map Talkeetna, 6:30am Talkeetna, 11pm Big pack Denali haircut = loose hats
	George's Cycles
	Greenwood's Ski Haus
	Idaho Mountain Touring
	Last but not least: Our individual SOs (Significant Other, Supervising Officer, whatever) for putting up with all these shenanigans
Denali spirit
		movie
Weather
		Talkeetna web cam
		Talkeetna NOAA
		Fairbanks NOAA
		Above 14k'
Volcano alerts (Mt. Redoubt)
		Alaska Volcano Observatory
		NOAA Redoubt page
		Mt. Redoubt (pics: erupting volcano)
2008 statistics
		NPS summary of Denali climbing in 2008 (2Mb PDF)
Trip reports
		One Man's Guide to Climbing McKinley: Great trip report with equipment and food suggestions
		Eighteen Days on Denali: A fairly typical 16 day climb
		Denali for Dreams: A trip report by my friend SawtoothSean
Important documents
		Expedition confirmation from Denali NP
		Flight confirmation from TAT (and info)
Misc.
		Plan requires previous acclimatization with sleeping >10k' NIH explains AMS
		Mid-May, expect 20 hours of daylight at 14k': the sunset picture on the right is from 11PM on April 30
Links
		SummitPost page on Denali
		Route: West Buttress
		Denali Nat'l Park web site
		National Park booklet (590K PDF)
		AAI preferred brands list (320K PDF)
		AAI West Butt equipment list (330K PDF)
Training completed (not comprehensive)
	3/1	Cervidae, 2.5m, 1900', 70#			1:20
	3/12	Cervidae in the moonlight
	3/21	Shaw Mountain				5904'
	3/26	Cervidae, 70#			1:15
	3/28	Snow camping
	4/04	Cervidae, 70#			1:20
	4/05	McDonald Peak				10068'
	4/09	Cervidae, 70#			1:12
	4/11	Garden Peak, 15 mile hike
	4/12	Peak 10941				10941'
	4/16	Cervidae (no weight, no time)
	4/19	Mt. Heinen			5:40
	4/23	Cervidae, 70#			1:04
	4/26	Shafer Butte ski, 4.5 miles, 2k'
	4/30	Cervidae, west side, 1mi, 1800'			0:50
	5/3	Cervidae, west side			0:36
	5/6	Cervidae, north route
Proposed schedule
	Date	Objective			Sleep Height	Est. Time	Activity / Distance / Gain/ Max day height
	May 7	Tommy arrives Boise			7582		Sleep on Shafer Butte
	May 9	Travel			358
		Arrive in Anchorage 11:39am Alaska Flight 85					All 4 of us have tickets on this flight
		Shop in Wasilla, load up, and drive to Talkeetna				2.5
		Stay in bunk house of TAT (Talkeetna Air Taxi)					Full Moon!
From here on, add random storm days
1	May 10	Prep, fly to glacier, and start skiing			7800
		8am	Park Service headquarters				orientation
		10am?	Fly to Kahiltna Base w/Talkeetna Air Taxi				7200', Repack
			bury cache				2 days' food dry bag, wands to mark
			pack and rig
			Descend Heartbreak Hill			0.5	0.5 miles, drop 600' to 6600
			Climb to Ski Hill camp			3-4.5	7800', 5 miles, 1200' gain
2	May 11	Ski to 9700' camp			9700
			Climb to 10k camp, 9700' (usually double carry)			4-6	2000', 3 miles
3	May 12	Ski to 11k camp			11000
			Climb to bottom of Motorcycle Hill (11k camp)			2-3	1200', 1 mile
4	May 13	Climb Kahiltna Dome or rest!			11000	4	12,500', 1500' gain, 2 miles
5	May 14	Walk cache to Windy Corner			11000
			to top of Motorcycle Hill			1
			to Squirrel Hill			1.5	12,200'
			Place cache at 13.5k			2	climb to 13,500' , place 13.5k cache: 3 gallons gas 12 days food ~160#
			Return to 11k camp			1
6	May 15	Walk to Genet Basin (14k camp)			14200		Leave 11k cache: Skis, sleds, dry bag, 2 days' food, 1 gallon gas, 1 roll TP
						6-7	climb to 14200', 2.75 miles (3200' gain)
7	May 16	Recover 13.5k cache			14200
			Descend to 13,500'			0.5	700' descent
			Climb back to Genet Basin			1.5	700' climb
8	May 17	Place cache at 16k... or rest!			14200
			Climb headwall			3	16200', 1 mile (2000' gain)
			Descend to camp			1
9	May 18	Rest day			14200
10	May 19	Climb to 17k camp			17200
							Carry 5 quarts gas, 5 days' food, minimal climbing gear, sleeping tents (only) ~ 60# packs
			climb headwall			3	16200', 1 mile (2000' gain)
			climb West Buttress			2.5	17200', 0.75 miles (1000' gain)
			dig in camp
11	May 20	Possible summit day 2.5 miles (3100' gain)			17200	2	Denali Pass, 18,200', 1000' gain
12	May 21
13	May 22					2	Football field, 19,500', 1300' gain
14	May 23
15	May 24					2	Summit 20320', 800' gain
						2	Return, 2.5 miles, 3200' drop
16	May 25	Descend to 14k camp			14200	2	1.75 miles (3000' drop to 14k)
17	May 26	Walk to 11k camp			11000	2	2.75 miles (3200' drop to 11k)
18	May 27	Ski to Kahiltna base camp
			descend to the bottom of Heartbreak Hill			5	8.5 miles (3800' drop to 6600')
			climb Heartbreak Hill		7200	1	1 mile, 600' gain to 7200'
19	May 28	Fly to the Outside					repack for the plane, fly out
			drive to Anchorage			2.5
			Dinner with Gene
	May 29	Fly home

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