A tough winter "hike" - Denali solo in winter
- Thread starter SteveR
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BISCUT
Member
Winter on Denali ='s negative 60's and 100mph winds. And here I am thinking "cold" is single digits.
Brambor
Well-known member
amazing feat
No doubt, an amazing accomplishment.
But it was 45 degrees warmer this morning in Talkeetna than it was at my house in New York. I think he may have caught the "right" conditions.
But it was 45 degrees warmer this morning in Talkeetna than it was at my house in New York. I think he may have caught the "right" conditions.
marnof
New member
Agreed, simply an outstanding accomplishment. Try, try again -- and eventually you may catch the break you need. The weather gods were smiling on him this year.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local...cle_c57f0f8a-85c9-11e4-81f8-a72a0a07bac9.html
Chugach001
New member
Wonderful achievement
DougPaul
Well-known member
Or you may end up in a crevasse. A number of other winter soloists have disappeared without a trace, presumably in crevasses...
Doug
sierra
Well-known member
My memory is not the best, but I believe Vern Tejas did his climb tied into the middle of a large aluminum ladder to "Catch" him in the event of a crevasse fall. Personally, I always wanted to climb Denali, but two things kept me from doing it. The crowds, the cold, ok 3, the time involved.
Dunno about Tejas but I do remember Jon Krakauer writing about the ladder/crevasse technique on Devil's Thumb in Alaska in his original book Eiger Dreams.. Back before Into the Wild and Into Thin Air when he was an obscure climber.
Denali is a big time commitment for sure. Took a lot of years of planning to get my life in a place where I'll finally be able to spend a month in Alaska this coming June. Haven't yet decided if the warm winter is a good thing or a bad thing. If it continues, I would expect crevasse hazard to be more of a concern on the West Buttress route I'll be on and a huge issue on some of the more difficult approaches.
Denali is a big time commitment for sure. Took a lot of years of planning to get my life in a place where I'll finally be able to spend a month in Alaska this coming June. Haven't yet decided if the warm winter is a good thing or a bad thing. If it continues, I would expect crevasse hazard to be more of a concern on the West Buttress route I'll be on and a huge issue on some of the more difficult approaches.
I had not heard directly of Kraukaer until after his Everest reporting. I went back and read his older work. Decent writer, but he does hack a knack to keep you interested.
I had been following Lonnie's attempts for a couple years now. His prep and logistics work is amazing.
A month in AK? Enjoy that!
DougPaul
Well-known member
I don't recall who, but using a ladder to catch one in the event of a crevasse fall is a well-known technique. I don't know how often it is actually used.
(Must be hard to climb with a ladder around one's middle--balance, wind, etc...)
I was just pointing out that even with perfect weather there are some very serious risks in climbing Denali solo in winter.
Doug
