Continued from Part 2.

Today is June 13th, 2010. Joel Gratz from Colorado Powder Forecast has given us the heads up and we put our eggs in the basket for today. Around mid morning we finally get moving up the skin track. It is somewhere around -20 degrees Fahrenheit and camp was in the shade. Walking with the majority of our layers on is a change from the normal and it is a welcome relief to hit sunlight at the base of the fixed lines.

On up the fixed lines for what we all hope will be the last time attaching our ascenders to the ropes. I’m feeling pretty good this morning, but Joe is feeling better. He breaks trail up the fixed ropes in snow anywhere from boot top to knee deep. No one can catch him. We give up even trying. A quick break at 16,200 is in order for food, water, and stripping layers.

Along the ridge again we find ourselves passing many a familiar rock.

We cruise right on by 17 camp and hit the traverse across and up to Denali Pass. I realize at this point that trying to keep anyone’s pace but my own will get me in trouble. I slow up for a bit and allow the group to get a ways in front of me to where they are outside of my competitive peripheral. My heart thanks me by not beating out of my chest. Up and across, up and across we finally end the traverse at 18,200 on Denali Pass. We regroup here for a bit of food and water and rest. The day is still gorgeous! Finally a breeze picks up and I feel the need to put on something more than my t-shirt. I think a softshell is in order.

Again, I feel the need to allow my speedier partners get ahead a little ways. I go back to my pace, one foot in front of the other and find myself moving farther and farther up the mountain. The path would be hard to stray from on as beautiful of a day as we have been blessed with today. I crest the top of a small knoll and find myself staring out at the famous football field. I feel as though a better analogy is needed here to put it in perspective, as rather than feeling like I need to make it a hundred yards or so across, in reality it is much more of an undertaking especially at 19,500 feet. Back to reality; it is only 830 feet to the top from here. Across the football field and up Pig Hill to the top of the Kahiltna Horn. Not far to go now. I can see the summit.

The rest of the route is along a short section of ridge, gaining just a bit of altitude.

I must admit, that I’m feeling strong, but tired at this point. I pass a climber on the ridge who is hunched over her ice axe like a cane. She can barely breath. I ask her if she is ok. She speaks back to me in what I believe to have been Russian, but motions for me to go on. A few moments later I find myself on the summit being greeted by Caleb, Tyler, Colby, and Joe. It’s cold. The wind is blowing around 15-20 mph and I would guess the temperature is around -20 degrees Fahrenheit. I dig furiously for my Parka. It provides near instant relief from the biting cold. We hide on the leeward side of the peak and talk about whether or not we think we can wait for Lou and Louie to arrive at the summit or not.

After about a half hour of taking pictures and hanging out, there are enough people with cold extremities that we feel as though we need to leave. The process of getting boots buckled down, overboots off, and clicking into Dynafits really seems to take a long time at this altitude. I make a point, as I do on most mountains that I come to ski, to ski off of the tippy top.

We ski down the climbing route on the ridge for just a little ways before running into Lou and Louie. I must admit, that one of my happiest moments on this trip was seeing them just minutes from the summit.

We drop in to the football field from where we see Lou and Louie. The turns pretty much consist of wind board and sastrugi, but what can you really expect at 20,000 feet?

The ski descent on the upper part of the mountain goes well; certainly not hero snow, but skiing up here just feels cool, yet exhausting.

We hit Denali Pass and continue across the traverse to the 17,200 camp where we finally take off our down parkas. Tyler, Colby, and Joe have some cold issues still with hands and feet, so they take off across the ridge heading for camp. Caleb and I opt to hang out at the start of the buttress to at least gain radio contact with Lou and Louie. Finally as they come around Denali pass we gain radio contact, and although they are tired (we all are), they are in good spirits and give us the go ahead to continue on.

I think it was a real treat being up here this late in the day as it is nearing midnight. The light is incredible, and Caleb and I take our time getting down the ridge, trying to capture as many photos as possible.

We ski the typical powder turns down from 16,200 to the top of the ski hill where we run into the ranger on duty, who is out for a nice 1 AM ski. On down to camp where we are greeted by the boys. Stoked to be done! What a great day!

End of a Long day from Jordan White on Vimeo.

Thoughts don’t go far beyond bed at this point, and that is where we all head as soon as Lou and Louie make it down safely. The next day is sunny when we get up. Colby, Tyler, and Joe are a bit worried about the prospect of not making it out in time to catch their flight back to Colorado, so they pack up early. We rally the whole crew to head on over to the edge of the world for a group shot.

On our way back over to camp, I stop to take a look at the weather board. It doesn’t look exactly pleasant for the next few days.

Caleb and I had planned to chill for one more day and head down the following with Lou and Louie, but the prospect of staying up here for another storm didn’t seem particularly appealing. We rally Lou and Louie to pack up and leave that afternoon and at least shoot for the 11,000 camp, from which escape is much easier. Having given away all of our food rations and loaded up our sleds we set out down the Kahiltna Highway towards windy corner. Skiing downhill with heavy sleds proves both comical and frustrating to the point of rage. We get close to windy corner and see the clouds moving through there at an incredible pace. We stop to put on wind gear. Going around windy corner is the worst weather of the entire trip. These winds are insatiable. Visibility is a mere 20-50 feet. The snow is drifting inches per minute. Louie and Lou switch to crampons, Caleb and I stick with skis. We make it to squirrel hill and the winds seem to have increased. We sit there for a few minutes trying to catch a view of Lou and Louie behind us. Nothing. A quick discussion leads to the realization that we can’t just sit here in the wind. We cowboy our sleds down to the top of motorcycle hill. I try to do a kick turn in the wind to look back uphill at Caleb and to try and spot Lou and Louie. The wind has other ideas and flips me upside down into Ostrich position with my pack driving my head into the snow. This is one of the most miserable positions/situations I’ve ever found myself in. I have to unbuckle my pack and take it off in order to get up. Caleb is just behind me having similar experiences. We head down motorcycle hill to 11,000 foot camp. Calm. Beautiful. In just 500 vertical feet the weather goes from blizzard force winds to a calm breeze. We opt to camp here. We quickly dig a spot out for our tent that will suffice for the evening. About the time we dig in we finally have radio contact from Lou and Louie. They are nearing the top of motorcycle hill. We encourage them by telling them about the weather we have. Cheese and Jerky provide dinner before bed that night. The following morning we wake up to calm, but rather cloudy weather. I’m itching to make our way on down the glacier. Caleb appeases me, and agrees. Lou and Louie opt for a few more hours of rest and decide to travel later that day. We start skiing down, going wand to wand.

Onward and downward, we finally come to the 7,800 foot camp. There seem to be far fewer people here than when we came through the first time. Someone inquires about our use of double whippets; it’s hard to explain until they come in handy in a scary situation. We pole our way across the highway from 7,800 to heartbreak hill. Heartbreak hill has the name that it does because it is a short (3-400 vert) climb back up to Kahiltna base. We throw the skins on and head on up the hill, knowing that PBR and Jim Beam await us at the top. The boys help us out with setting up camp, but not before a handle of whiskey gets shoved our way. How could I not? With our tent setup and having been checked in with the ranger station, our group is number 2 on the fly out sheet. Lou and Louie show up about 6 hours later; we are all together again. Little do we know, it will be another 5 days before the planes are able to land again. Whatever will we do besides eat and drink? We pass the first couple days with little activity save for finishing off our stash of PBR’s. One night we rally with some nearby skiers from Alaska Mountain School and go for a 1 am ski of Radio Beacon; a peak not too far out of basecamp. The following day we decide in the morning to build a terrain park in basecamp. We got as far as one kicker.

We are suddenly alerted to the fact that we will be flying out in the next hour. Madness ensues. There is some serious packing going on. We are ready in 20 minutes. The planes come in; one, two, three at a time. We get crammed into the first round of flights.

The flight is as good as the first one. The pictures probably tell a better story here than I do though.

As soon as Lou and Louie’s plane landed it was straight to the West Rib Tavern for grease and beer.

You might have thought we would have immediately sought out showers, but instead we found ourselves at the traditional Fairview Inn celebrating with other climbers and locals alike.

We had a few days before Colby, Joe, and Tyler had to be at the airport, so we opted for some Sockeye Fishing on the Kenai and Russian rivers.

What a way to end the trip. I look back on Denali as more then just a mountain, expedition, or trip. It was one, big overall experience. Some of it was good, some of it perhaps miserable. I wouldn’t trade any of those good or miserable moments for the world. I could not have gone with a better group of people. Lou, Tyler, Caleb, Louie, Colby, and Joe; You guys made this trip for me, and as much as it felt great to ski a big mountain and be in the Alaska wild, the biggest part of the trip for me was getting to hang with all you guys. Thanks so much for making it happen and taking the time from our busy lives to go climb some big old hill!

Thanks for Reading
JW