Towering above the vast Alaska Range in Central Alaska, lies the crown jewel of North American mountaineering. Officially known as Mount McKinley, most people call it by the Athabaskan name Denali, meaning "The Great One."
Denali is a mountain of superlatives, as it is the highest point in North America, has a higher vertical relief than Mount Everest and is home to some of the cruelest weather in the world. Climbers venturing onto its flanks need to be highly organized and very well prepared.
In late June, 2010, a team of climbers will attempt to climb the iconic West Buttress route to the summit of the mountain. Led by a team of experienced guides from the long standing guide service Mountain Trip, the team will meet in Anchorage, Alaska before heading up to the village of Talkeetna to fly into the heavily glaciated Alaska Range.
The team will consist of:
Guides:
David Marchi of Mount Shasta, CA
Caitlin Hague of Girdwood, AK
Bill Dwyer of Seattle, WA
Kelly Ryan of Ophir, CO
Jason Buttrick of Anchorage, AK
Climbers:
Art Huseonica of Crofton, MD
Bob Baker of Anacortes, WA
Shlomo Waser of Sunnyvale, CA
Pierre Godart Augsburg, Germany
Tony Scheuller of Reno, NV
We will do our best to update this blog daily, while the team is on the mountain, but please keep in mind that many factors can, and often will, conspire to make communication from such a remote place very challenging. Feel free to contact us for the latest update, but also keep in mind the old axiom, "No news is good news!"
We encourage friends and family to post comments and will do our best to relay comments to the climbers, but this is not always feasible, and is not really the intent of this dispatch blog. We want to help you readers follow the progress of the team and thereby feel closer to the team members. If you ever need to get word to a team member, please call us and we will relay your message. Our office phone number is +1-970-369-1153 (GMT-6).
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Thx Todd for putting this very special Denali Ice Agers expedition together. I'm very much looking forward to climbing with Mountain Trip. Cheers, Art Huseonica, Maryland, USA
ReplyDeleteTodd, great job with the blog. I`m hoping all team members are in contact prior to the climb.
ReplyDeleteBob 360-420-2905
Looks like the guide team is set with David Marchi as our lead guide. Onward and upward. Art H.
ReplyDeleteThe Denali Ice Agers team was formed in the fall of 2007. While it's members come and go, the team concept and Ice Agers name still signifies mature climbers seeking to climb the world's toughest mountains.
ReplyDelete