Some photos

PanShiBo

2018 (6 years ago)



2019 (5 years ago) At the border BC - Yukon, enroute to Alaska. Denali expedition 2019.

PanShiBo

 2010 (14 years ago) Mamquam

 

 

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2019 (5 years ago) Pioneer Motel, Palmer, AK. Expedition Denali-2019.  

Vera didn't waste time on the road from Vancouver (4 days). These will be very useful on the mountain.

 

 

 

Fun Fact: The West Buttress route starts at the Kahiltna Glacier and ascends the southwest side of Denali.

PanShiBo

2017 (7 years ago) Training at The Papoose


2019 (5 years ago) Denali-2019 expedition.
Talkeetna Air Taxi - checking 264 lb of our expedition gear.


Mandatory orientation in ranger's office and the climbing permit.




Talkeetna ranger's office


2020 (4 years ago) Mount Ford

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Denali Expedtion.
Trying to fly to the base camp, but bad weather on the glacier means it's a no-go.
Stickers for food caches.


Talkeetna Airport terminal.


Our plane, just for two passengers.


On board, shortly before the cancellation.


rying to fly to the base camp, but bad weather on the glacier means it's a no-go.

Back to Talkeetna


https://youtu.be/AlDCAmTvZ30

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Waiting for the weather, Talkeetna, Alaska

The best guide book on the standard route. I wish we had studied it better than we did.
'



Casually adjusting our cargo


In the dorm

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Denali Expedition, day 1/23

The day has come! After two years of hard training and research, we are finally flying to the Base camp on Denali.










At the Base Camp. Unloading our gear (246lb)


Digging up  our first emergency cache.


Leaving the Base Camp


Every next leg of the expedition will be harder than the previous, in geometrical progression.

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Denali Expedition, day 2/23

Our very first camp. Kahiltna Glacier. N63.02578 W151.18675 at 2,308m







"Ski Hill" - moving camp to 2,866m

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Denali Expedition, day 4/23

Well-deserved rest day at Camp 3. Summits so far: 0. Summit temperatures: below -30°C.


Climbing team returning home. No summit: "..it was cold, real cold.."




Inside tent


The Alaskan view from Kahiltna Glacier

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Denali Expedition, day 6/23
Moved the cache to below Windy Corner. Meanwhile, the weather turned bad with a whiteout and strong winds, so we didn't dare to cross the traverse (which was a very wise decision) and cached in the rocks. We are staying at the 11K camp.

Happy with current blood oxygen level


Our tent at 11K camp


Motorcycle Hill looks easy (but it is not). The mountain at the back is not Denali yet, it is "just" West Buttress.


Ready to move cache





Let's go!



We just reached the top of Motorcycle Hill, but not before Vera partially dropped into a small crevasse up to her waist. The West Buttress is visible in the distance, and Squirrel Hill rises on the right. We somehow underestimated Squirrel Hill, even though our guidebook clearly recommended 'protect it when icy.' A year later, at home, I read that a climber had lost their footing and fallen to their death on this hill. Although the hill looks 'easy,' especially after topping Motorcycle Hill, the consequences of a slip could be very severe, as the drop on the left is huge.


Whiteout



Finally, see the camp


Back at the 11K camp

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Denali Expedition, day 7/23 (already one week on the mountain!)

Moving to 14K camp at 4,346 m

Packing our camp at 11K


Weather looking good


Leaving behind stuff (snowshoes etc.) and one expedition sled. Even though it is so obvious, this will take some efforts to locate when we come back - all surroundings will change.


Ready to go!


At the "Polo Field" we met two young Canadians from Alberta going home - no summit (one got altitude sickness)


Arriving at 14K camp. Making our home for the next 10 (!) days.



Our neighbours.


This photo was taken at midnight. It is never dark on Denali this time of year. That's why nobody carries headlamps here.

PanShiBo

2003 (21 years ago) Golden, BC

Who still remembers these gas prices?


2004 (20 years ago) Nanjing, China






2014 (10 years ago) Alpine Practice



2019 (5 years ago) Denali Expedition, day 8/23, our tent at 14K camp (4,295m). Rest day - recovering from yesterday's horrific close call on Windy Corner.










-20C daytime..and we only half way up

PanShiBo

2014 (10 years ago) BCMC Trail (65min) + Thunderbird Ridge


2015 (9 years ago) Practice Alpine Rock YDS 5.4 at Murrin




2017 (7 years ago) Alpine Practice: Climbing Steep Snow at Pump Peak (photo by Gloria)


2018 (6 years ago) Mount Baker trip, Day 1 (photos by Vera)





2019 (5 years ago)
Denali Expedition, day 9/23
Retreived cache from below Windy Corner - carried it twice in the backpacks. Very strong wind.
17K camp to summit temperature: -35°C
From Denali Dispatches: "..Windy Corner still in challenging shape -- icy and exposed. Lots of crevasse falls and self-rescue at 13,200 feet.  ..Patrol #1 was the only team at high camp yesterday, and in light of a poor weather forecast, they descended to 14 camp today in snow and wind.  No teams (NPS or otherwise) are currently above 14,200 feet."





2020 (4 yeas ago)
Hiking Elk Mountain + Mount Thurston

PanShiBo

2004 (20 years ago) Suzhou, China


2006 (18 years ago) Fireworks over Fraser River in New Wst



2011 (13 years ago) Gambier Island Trip - Day 1 (from Vera's archive)






2017 (7 years ago) Alpine Practice - Crevasse Rescue Response




2018 (5 years ago) Mount Baker (from Vera's archive)








2018 (6 years ago) Practice Alpine Rock YDS 5.4






2019 (5 years ago) 14K camp. Denali Expedition, day 10/23
Windy. Vera keeps building snow wall.

Patrol #1 is glad they descended to 14 camp yesterday, as it is howling enough there today. High camp would have been brutal, and all are relieved that no teams are up high...Gorgeous skies, but definitely one of the windiest days this season with gusts at 14K clocked at 36 mph.  A big fat lenticular cloud is perched on the summit...Wilson and Oliver Hoogendorn of Nome, Alaska were the first two -- and so far the only two -- mountaineers to reach the summit of Denali this climbing season.  The brothers (age 20 and 21, respectively) began their West Buttress climb on May 5.  They reached the summit on Sunday, May 19, and returned to Talkeetna today.

- Denali Dispatches




Another climbing team is going home, no summit.

PanShiBo

2004 (20 years ago) Suzhou, China


2011 (13 years ago) Gambier Island Day 2/2 (from Vera's archive)






2017 (7 years ago) Chief - Alpine Edition






2019 (5 years ago) 14K camp, Denali Expedition, day 11/23
Talked to a ranger: "Snow storm is coming on Saturday, bad idea to be anywhere above 14K - better be down here by Friday (day after tomorrow". So we dropped original plan to cache on 16K ridge. Just walked up towards fixed lines a bit, for exercise. Everybody is building snow walls around their tents.
Met a climber from Mongolia, named Zhula - she climbs with her personal guide. They have stayed one week here,  already cached on 16K ridge, but for some reasons have never moved to 17K camp. They should have. Tomorrow would be too late - the big storm is coming.





Commercial tents




Commercial site (cook tent)


Socialising with Mongolians


Getting a taste of headwall, with 14K camp at the back below.


2020 (3 years ago) Alpine Practice

PanShiBo

2004 (20 years ago) Shanghai Museum






2016 (8 years ago) Mt. Adams, WA - Day 1


2017 (7 years ago) Final training for Grandwall Rappel project. Papoose, Shannon Falls




2019 (5 years ago)  14K camp. Denali Expedition, day 12/23
Storm is coming




Socializing with neigbors. A climber from Australia (his second attempt on Denali) trying to convince us the benefits of having this steel kettle for melting snow.


2020 (4 years ago) Fishing in Richmond

PanShiBo

2014 (10 years ago) Alpine 101 course






2016 (8 years ago) Mount Adams, WA










2019 (5 years ago) 14K Camp, Denali Expedition, day 13/23

Frank's patrol flew out of the range on Wednesday, May 22, attending a patient who collapsed at 9,800 feet, thus ending an eventful first patrol of the season.

- Denali Dispatches

Moved cache (seven days of fuel and food) above fixed lines to 5,000m with the plan to move to 17K camp tomorrow. Fixed lines were a bit steeper, longer and icier than we had expected. On the way up we passed two young guys . Next day we saw them at 14K camp going home. "Went to 17K. Gave up: no strength. Will come next year".


Headwall on left


All our food and fuel for the last, 17K camp at 5,200m



Nice day


Commercial guides bring the clients down to 14K camp


Topping the fixed lines at 5,000m




Going down

PanShiBo

2004 (20 years ago) China
Forbidden City



BaDaLing Great Wall





2017 (7 years ago) Mount Hood, WA
















2019 (5 years ago) 14K camp. Denali Expedition, day 15/23
First full day of snowstorm at 14K camp. Horrible sound from wind at 16K ridge, much like a passenger jet landing. Nonstop: all night and day. Zero activity outside: nobody moves in, out or around. Inside our tent is dry and comfortable. Sometimes wind gusts hit the tent hard, but it stands firm. Weather forecast for 17K: -30°C, winds up to 60 mph. Staying put.


Checking outside on tent guy lines and snow on roof.



Very comfortable inside. Warm and dry.


Our kitchen. We never cooked outside. That's why tents with side doors are preferred for non-guided expeditions.

PanShiBo

2019 (5 years ago) Summit Denali, Alaska
I woke up at 02:00 a.m. Vera already eyes wide open, waiting for me. It was quiet outside and the skies were clear. Digital thermometer measured snow temperature -19.7°C.

After melting snow and eating we dressed up and left the 17K camp at 04:45 a.m. Although we trained for the Autobahn traverse on Mt. Hood believing it was twice harder than the Autobahn, reality was precisely opposite: Autobahn turned out to be twice harder than what we expected. Hard snow, no self-belay possible, ice-axe is only good for balance. We didn't have extra ice tool, only one straight axe each. So when that 50m unprotected stretch did come, we both realized that one slip of any of us will end it all. It was only 20 meters of unprotected traverse, but we got enough adrenaline pumping!

Autobahn followed by Denali pass, then Zebra rocks, followed by Football field. Finally, Pig Hill came - real challenge left for the very end, 300m up to the ridge.  This got us a bit slower.

Two guides passed by, each with one client. One pair was very fast - I didn't see ropes, axes or big packs.  The other pair was slower. When we finally got on the summit ridge, the forecasted weather front started moving in - it was now a whiteout. The first pair guide-client was already descending, and the second pair was about to start summit ridge. Then we heard one guide saying to another: "..if you don't see us on the ridge by 6 p.m. then...". What "then" meant he didn't bother to explain, it was obvious. It was also obvious to us that we'd better hurry before the weather gets worse.

Now it was 100% milk. When my ice axe didn't meet the surface, I looked to the right, and realized we were walking on the edge. Fixed pros came handy.  Checking GPS - another 30 meters..10..and.. WE ARE ON THE SUMMIT OF DENALI!! It was exactly 15:00 p.m.

We were the only two people there. Wind was already blowing, so we only took one selfie and a couple of single hero shots with the summit mark. Also sent an InReach "On the summit" message. No time for our trademark - "California Climber's Salute" really. We must go down.

In a whiteout I lost our track on the ridge and dropped down too soon, where I tried to place an ice screw, when I saw a climber walking above me towards the summit. That was the track we just lost, luckily it cost me only a few meters down. So we reached the Pig Hill exit and saw another climber waiting for his partner to come up. We stopped for a drink, and learned that the guy was from BC, and from the BCMC club, which we used to be members of for many years. The world is small. His companion came up, no gloves. Why? "To keep things in balance" - strange answer.

At the foot of Pig Hill yet another team of three. Italians. They just finished climbing the route "Orient Express". "Do you have any water? Our stove is broken" - one of them produced MSR Whisperlite with a broken hose. Vera got our two thermoses and offered them all the remaining water we got - not much, one cup really, they mixed it with snow and shared. Three big guys, one shared cup of melted snow - I knew how terribly dry and thirsty it would feel, being that thirsty myself just one day ago.

The wind was blowing hard. When we passed Zebra rocks, a large commercial team was on the way up. I knew that the guides just took them for a walk - a storm was building up and the day was winding down. No way to reach the summit. Still, better than nothing. At least they made it through Autobahn.

On Denali pass the wind was pretty strong, and Vera later said to me that she was sure we were going to spend the night just there in an emergency snow pit.

However, descending the Autobahn was still doable, we saw all the markers and pros and even passed the 50m section without too much worry, protecting it with an ice axe.

The lower part of the Autobahn was not protected, but still steep enough to get hurt. I already saw the end of it, and the tents of the 17K camp when I heard a sound like seagulls make when flying around. "Scree-e-e-e". I thought it was rather strange and even looked up in the sky trying to see those strange birds - found no birds up there of course, and then looked back. It was Vera! She slipped and fell, now stopped in perfect self-arrest on her stomach, not moving. Wow! Would it be a bit more slippery, like in the Shasta accident, we would fall both. Just at the end of the climb, just as what the book said - many accidents happen on Autobahn on the way down and we could have added yet one of those.

Arrived at the tent, took off crampons. It was 21:00 p.m. We did Denali! - the thought made our blood boil. Nothing, absolutely nothing else mattered. We had our tent, enough fuel to melt snow, a lot of food and warm sleeping bags. And no more up, tomorrow we go home!


Ready!


Approaching Denali Pass


With Foraker at the back.


Approaching Zebra rocks




On Denali Pass




Zebra Rocks


Final steps




Official marker - Denali summit!!!


Summit photos








Back to Denali Pass


Autobahn








We are back!



Some footage

PanShiBo

2018 (6 years ago) At the summit of Mount Shasta (from Vera's archive)

PanShiBo

Fun Fact: Mount Rainier is the highest peak in Washington and the most glaciated peak in the United States, with at least 25 named glaciers.

 

Packing for the trip

 

That's with a 43lb backpack!

 

Looking exciting: entire day we heard no avalanches or ice falls.

 

Elevation gain for the day: 1,400m

 

Mt. Adams above the clouds

 

Snow temperature was perfect!

 

Let's do it!

 

Little Tahoma looks tall from this point

 

Blue skies and zero wind won't last long.

 

That's one of the ways to deal with the altitude

 

On the summit, for the third time!

Next morning the wind at our tent at camp Muir clocked 66mph (=106kmh) - the weather station sits just right there and posts data online, live. We were happy to head down.