Team Dom Denali Attempt Day by Day

Nice report Mats. Thanks. What great team work. Really exciting trip, thanks for sharing the details and congratulations to all of you.

Thanks for sharing your adventure!

Great trip and amazing pics..can't wait to see more!

Sounds like an awesome trip, fatastic report!

Great trip report....did you make it to The Great Alaskan Bush Company?

skiguy said:

....did you make it to The Great Alaskan Bush Company?

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Makes you wonder what profession "Bush Pilots" are in

Seriously.....we had so much fun on this trip......no need to find entertainment at TGABC......

Every time the rope teams met you could hear Sue: "How you doing?" with a big smile

Arm always helpful, Lloyd always unselfish, Garett "Obe Wan Kenobi" the wise man on Denali, Rob always ready on time and always have the camera ready, Frodo always making good decisions and Jeff always willing to take the lead on the rope.

A once in a lifetime experience........we should try to fill every day with those......remember Robert Duval (as the Texas Ranger) on his death bed in Lonesome Dove when he utters his last words: "Life's been a party...."

It's the interaction with our fellow humans in different situations which makes the party happen. In an adventure setting it's even better

Hey Mats -

Thanks for sharing the tale! What an amazing adventure....!

Sue

Mats Roing said:

First a plane with tourists comes out. They want to have pictures with climbers. I think Frodo became the favorite of one older couple.

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Frodo was wearing his Yankees cap, right?

Fun reading, thanks Mats!

Hope that some of you are ready for another trip to Denali in a year or two, as I am planning on one more.

great trip reports ... thanks to Frodo for putting this trip together and to Team Dom for making it the best trip ever

thanks to ChinookTrail for updating our Friends and Family back home

random highlights ...

while packing for the trip the night before flying to Alaska, watching Jon Lester pitch a no-hitter for the Red Sox ... seemed like a very good omen

acclimating on the second floor of the hotel in Anchorage

never quite getting used to Alaska never getting dark this time of year

naming our Rope Teams after our two teammates, Thom and Charles

Yukon Cornelius, digging for silver & gold at 13,500' cache ... nuthin'

Hamtero, opening his down jacket to reveal a Giant "S" on his chest, climbing Denali's Headwall up from 14 Camp ... congrats to you and Erin on bringing Lloyd IV into the world ... glad you got home in time

cranking the Dead on Denali at basecamps ... just when we thought it couldn't get any better, live music kicked it up a notch

RunSueRunning up 16 Ridge on our way to our 17200' cache


reaching Pig Hill, 400' from Denali's summit ... following wands through eerie fog, we couldn't tell where the sky ended and the mountain began ... watching Rob stagger toward us, a shell of a man with a 100-mile stare ... when he told us we had another 90-minute half-mile walk we believed him, after the excruciating progress we'd made since Denali Pass

we were felling fuzzy by that point ... with winds increasing and temps decreasing, the decision to head back to 17 Camp was easy ... it was hell on earth setting up a running belay to descend around the corner near Denali Pass, and we would have had to endure hours more of it if we pushed on for the summit

bivying near Denali Pass would have meant frostbite for five of us ... we were toast by the time we reached 17 Camp, but it was worth walking down from Denali Pass


walking down Kahiltna Glacier towards 7200' Camp, admiring views of snow-covered peaks that just didn't seem "real" ... as if someone created them as part of a larger-than-life movie screen backdrop

partying like rock stars at 7200' Camp ... getting back to Camp around midnight, expecting everyone to crawl into their sleeping bags after walking 12 miles down from 14 Camp ... Frodo walks over to our tent and suggests we end the trip in style ... consuming whatever food and beverages we could, listening to great tunes all night, loving life ... we'll never forget that night

waiting at 7200' camp under socked-in conditions all day ... then playing songs related to good weather ("Here Comes The Sun", "Blue Sky", etc) ... then watching the Camp come to life when skies cleared and that first plane flew over the Pass, buzzing the Camp ... homeward bound

watching tourists exit that plane, who were out for a quick "go stand on a real glacier" tour ... they ran up to Frodo, shouting, "look, a real mountaineer!" and interviewed him

walking into West Rib Pub right after we flew back from Kahiltna Glacier, hoping to quench thirst ... bartender walks up with a plate full of prime rib, king crab legs and king salmon, "do you want this ? someone ordered it then left" (dumb question?) ... i asked if they had any dehydrated eggs, then settled for surf & turf ... best meal ever

Talkeetna Pub Crawl ... West Rib Pub > Latitude 62 > Fairview

meeting up with Leaf in Talkeetna, ChinookTrail in Anchorage, Brent Okita (RMI Guide) on Denali ... small world

hope Jean & Nat are having the time of their lives on Denali right now

coming home to the unreal world with all 21 digits in working order

feeling very fortunate to have the opportunity and good health to join a strong team of great friends to explore Alaska

we carried Dom's ice axe, as a symbol of his spirit and love for the mountains ... thanks to Neil and Sylvie for granting us the honor and privilege ...

dreaming of Denali ? go for it ! it's "wicked awesome"

good training for Gasherbrum IV or Mount Olympus

might head back someday ... but New Zealand, Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Elbrus and so many more are calling my name ...

.

What a great adventure story it has been to follow. I enjoyed keeping up with the progress and reading about the details this fine team shared together. Felt like a part of me was there. Looking forward to getting out on some new adventures of my own soon.

arm said:

naming our Rope Teams after our two teammates, Thom and Charles.

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arm said:

watching tourists exit that plane, who were out for a quick "go stand on a real glacier" tour ... they ran up to Frodo, shouting, "look, a real mountaineer!" and interviewed him.

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Frodo actually looks like a real professional mountain guide, except for the Yankees cap!

arm said:

watching tourists exit that plane, who were out for a quick "go stand on a real glacier" tour ... they ran up to Frodo, shouting, "look, a real mountaineer!" and interviewed him


.

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If I were a tourist, and saw that hat, I would probably attempt to pummel frodo!
Just kidding dude, you rule!
" Frodo 2012 " !!!
Excellent summary Arm!

Dr. Dasypodidae said:

Frodo actually looks like a real professional mountain guide, except for the Yankees cap!

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No, It's the cap that MAKES the man! Go Yankees!

I'll give Frodo a lot of credit for wearing that Yankees cap in pretty much any and all hiking conditions (Even when his team is 5 games behind the first place Red Sox ). It's fans like him that make baseball a great sport and make the rivalry enjoyable.

Tim

arm said:

walking down Kahiltna Glacier towards 7200' Camp, admiring views of snow-covered peaks that just didn't seem "real"

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I've heard that called the Alaska Factor or somesuch

Some people ride their sleds down, did you have the wrong snow or the wrong sleds or what?

Nice additional summary Arm!

Enjoyed reading some of the things that stuck out for you from your adventure!

I agree so many mountains to climb.....and places to see!

Mont Blanc & the Matterhorn are on my list within the next couple years....

Thanks for sharing!!

RoySwkr said:

Some people ride their sleds down, did you have the wrong snow or the wrong sleds or what?

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That's a good point.....if sledding real fast there is less loading of the snowbridges over the crevasses and hence less need to rope up......it works great until one of these shows up

Gotta make the 8pm flight off the glacier.....

Great job all! I truly enjoyed all of it. Your reality is still my fantasy

Awesome read guys. I really liked everyone's perspective - Arm, really dug the highlights, puts you right in there having a good time with yall.

Great read Mats! It all sounds so familiar...

Nat and I are in Anchorage now, flying out early Wednesday morning.
We summited on the 19th at 7:15PM...admittedly one of the toughest day of our lives. We got really lucky with the weather compared to you guys.

Looking forward to share stories at Bearly Live 08.