Denali 2010

From CACWiki

Club members Stephen Becker, Justus Brevik and Sean Tulin climbed Denali in May 2010.

on the summit, wearing our Lucha Libre masks

our team name: "Leningrad Cowboys Go Alaska". We aspired to be like these guys in this ad from a Russian climbing magazine. The guys in the picture are actually on the West Buttress of Denali, like us. They are adding vodka to their soup, unlike us.

Pics, videos, and maps

Between Justus, Sean and me, we took over 1500 pictures. I've picked out 278 to make a Picasa Web Album for Denali. I recommend putting it on slideshow so that the pictures can be shown fullsize (also, hit F11 to make it go even larger).

We also have a bit of video, though Kim has informed me that they are very boring. Watch at your own risk. If you can't view the videos, try vlc video player.

• panorama from 11k camp 26 seconds
• stormbound in tent at 11k camp 21 seconds
• panorama from first day at 14k camp 27 seconds
• inside the igloo 25 seconds
• panorama from 14k camp 56 seconds
• panorama from 17k 26 seconds
• panorama from 17k later that day, 27 seconds
• 17k camp 2 days later on acclimatization hike, 22 seconds
• panorama from summit 31 seconds
• windy panorama from north summit 26 seconds
• sunset at 17k camp 36 seconds. This is my favorite video: at the very end, you can see the sunlight caught in the blowing snow.
• life at 14k camp 29 seconds
• the last bit of an avalanche seen from base camp, 19 seconds
• panorama from the river in Talkeetna, 27 seconds
• hand tram hike (1) 25 seconds
• hand tram hike (2) (us on the hand tram) 38 seconds
• hand tram hike (3) 14 seconds
• overlook above Homer 26 seconds
• moose near the side of the road; 20 seconds

Here's a Google Earth KMZ file of Denali, showing our route and camps. It contains a "tour" -- if you play this tour, it will take you along the route. Very cool!

You can also view the KMZ file in Google Maps (if you are lucky enough to have the right operating system and a recent web browser, Google Maps may support the new Google Earth plugin; if so, there is a "Earth" tab next to the "Map", "Satellite", and "Other" tabs. In this mode, you can change the angle of view by holding the Shift key when you move the mouse, just as in Google Earth ).

Brief summary of climb

Climbers: Stephen Becker, Justus Brevik, Sean Tulin. We climbed the West Buttress route, which is the standard route on the mountain. Our original intention was to climb the West Buttress but only for acclimatization purposes, and then go back down to 7,800' and climb either a slightly technical route (the West Rib) or a very classic technical route (the Cassin Ridge). Unfortunately, we ran out of time and motivation to follow-through on these plans, but at least we really enjoyed our time on the West Buttress.

The Picasa album pictures are annotated, so you can find more details there

Interesting links

• We met our friend Colin Haley on the mountain. He and his partner Bjorn-Eivind Artun were acclimatizing on the West Buttress route before attempting a speed ascent of the Cassin Ridge and then a new route on Mt. Foraker.
• The NPS press releases. There were several unfortunate accidents while we were there. Our friends Brad, Kevin and Russ were first on the scene for an accident near Motorcycle hill. Our condolences to friends and fammily of the victim.

Picasa Album

You can view the pictures here, or follow the link to the Picasa site and view them full-screen.

Itinerary

See also

• Denali on Mountain Project
• Denali on Summitpost
• Denali on SuperTopo