Alaska 2011

In Anchorage

2011-05-30T20:53:00.001-07:00

Wes and Curtis got into Anchorage at about 11:30 a.m. They spent the day resting and going through their gear. They've got the tent set up in the room. They are trying to dry everything out before packing it up to go home. Tomorrow Wes plans to have a little adventure and go white water rafting. He will be driving to a small town called Hope about an hour from Anchorage. He is going to go rafting with a company called Nova. The tour will be about four and a half hours long. There is a section on the tour that is called 6 Mile Creek where the rapids are Class III to V. Right now they are enjoying dinner at Club Paris.

One more update

2011-05-29T18:14:00.001-07:00

So, due to the satellite phone cutting in and out this morning I misheard some information. To clarify, the guys did not get into Base Camp last night at 8:02 p.m. They got in this MORNING at 8:02 a.m. They were then flown off at 9:00 a.m. So they basically climbed for about 17 hours to get from High Camp to Base Camp. They did take a three hour break at 11,000 to eat and rest. Wes said that while climbing through the night it really never got fully dark. He took off his sunglasses at 11 pm but put them back on by 5:30 am.

Wes said Talkeetna feels almost hot! It is maybe 70 degrees. It is very lush and green.

Both Curtis and Wes will be leaving Talkeetna tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. on the Denali Overland shuttle. Curtis decided to go back to Anchorage tomorrow, too. The guys will spend the night at the Historic Anchorage Inn. The earliest flights they could get are on Wednesday so both will be home Wednesday night!

Back in Talkeetna

2011-05-29T11:31:00.001-07:00

The guys are safe and sound in Talkeetna. They just arrived about an hour ago. Yesterday they left High Camp at about 3:00 p.m. They went down to 14,000 and dug out their cache. They then climbed down to about 11,000 feet and rested for a while. They made water and cooked up some food. Since their systems were replenished and they felt good they decided to head all the way down to Base Camp. They pulled in to Base Camp at 8:02 p.m. They spent the night there. This morning the owner of Sheldon Air, Dave, was there and said he could fly the guys off the mountain. They are now at the Roadhouse where there are some bunks and showers at the back of the restaurant. They are going to get cleaned up and enjoy a shower for the first time in weeks. I guess the rest of the day they will just hang out in Talkeetna. Tonight they are going to stay at one of the hostels there. Wes is going to go talk to the shuttle service Denali Overland and see if he can get a ride back to Anchorage tomorrow. Curtis plans to spend a few more days in Talkeetna. Wes is hoping to fly out of Anchorage on Tuesday.

Resting at High Camp

2011-05-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

The guys are safely back at High Camp and are trying to get a lot of fluid in them. They did not get back to camp until 1:30 am. Coming down was an adventure. Apparently they got stuck behind a Mountain Trip group going up to the summit and then coming down the guys were accused by this same group of stealing their carabiners. Coming down Denali Pass not all of the pickets had carabiners for some reason. Since the guys were in front of this group they got accused of stealing the carabiners. Curtis would put one of his carabiners in the picket and then when Wes got to that point he would pick it up and they would continue down the Pass that way. Anyway, the group behind them ended up falling on Denali Pass. Luckily they did not get hurt. However, Wes and Curtis ended up climbing back up to the top of Denali Pass to try and help the group. Once back in camp they could hear the guides talking about Wes and Curtis (not nicely), still going on about the carabiners.

Three nights ago a group from Alpine Ascents decided to go for the summit at 6:30 p.m. The weather was decent at that time. At midnight the weather turned. The group was trying to get down Denali Pass. Apparently there are two routes to go down. The original route was not picketed. The new route for this season had the pickets on it. The guide ended up take the old route by mistake. The team of four fell 1,500 feet down Denali Pass. One climber and the guide died. Another climber was critically injured. A helicopter came in at 5:30 a.m. at High Camp to rescue the climber. Wes said it was pretty amazing that a helicopter was able to get in to High Camp because the weather was really bad. The last climber ended up without a scratch. Each time Wes climbs it is always an epic adventure - all this turmoil going on around him but he still manages to be safe and unhurt.

Today the plan is to head down to 14,000, pick up their cache, and then head down to Camp I at 7,800 feet. They will the rest and hopefully fly off the mountain tomorrow.

SUMMIT!!!!!!!

2011-05-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

Wes and Curtis are currently on the summit of Denali (8:30 p.m. Alaska time). Great weather, sun is still out, no wind. They already took their "trophy" shots with the summit marker. Started their climb this morning at 10:20 a.m. Took a long time to get up there because they got behind some slow groups. However, they weren't in any hurry since the weather was so nice. Congrats to Wes and Curtis!

Enjoying 17,000

2011-05-25T20:05:00.001-07:00

Wes and Curtis are still at High Camp. Yesterday they spent the day cutting blocks for their ice walls and visiting people around camp. Talked to the Army Rangers again and their new friends Max and Jason. The winds were about 25 mph so they didn't want to chance going for the summit. Today it was better but they decided not to go for the summit because the winds were still blowing. Also neither of them slept that well last night so thought it would be better to rest and acclimate another day. It has been about -5 degrees for the high during the day and about -15 degrees at night. They spent today making a double wall around their campsite to help protect them even more from the winds. Mike's group from RMI summited today so Wes was waiting for them with lots of hot water for them to drink when they got back into camp. The winds are supposed to be even lower tomorrow so the guys plan to make their summit attempt in the morning. That is, if they both feel well and the weather really does cooperate. They have a little bit of food and fuel left with them at High Camp. They have a cache down at 14,000 with a lot of food. They will pick up that cache once they are on their way down the mountain.

High Camp

2011-05-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Wes and Curtis made the move to High Camp today at about 17,300 feet. They got in about an hour ago (7:30 pm Alaska time) and Wes said they had about 2 to 3 hours of work to do to finish setting up camp. They need to build their ice walls - only have them halfway built. Then they need to start making water and eat dinner. Their camp is dug into the side of the mountain. They have connected their campsite with Mike Walter's group.

Wes was getting really antsy at Medical Base after being there for about a week. He said at 3 am this morning the wind had died down significantly so he started packing things up to make the move higher. The weather ended up being really nice today. It was a long day of climbing. They left Camp IV at about 1:30 p.m. so that they could climb after the crowd had left. However, they ended up catching up to the crowd on the head wall so it was slow going from there. There are a bunch of Army Rangers in camp. Apparently they were jealous because yesterday morning Wes was making pancakes and bacon for breakfast and the aroma kept wafting into their camp. They wanted those pancakes!

Currently there isn't any wind blowing. The guys can see a layer of clouds and the whole valley below them.

Tomorrow the wind is supposed to be only about 20 mph. It may be a good day to go for the summit. On Wednesday the wind is supposed to pick up but only to about 35 mph. The guys will see how well they feel tomorrow morning and then will decide if they will go for the summit. Otherwise they may acclimate another day before their attempt.

Feeling at Home at Camp IV

2011-05-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Wes and Curtis took a hike up to about 15,300 feet today to acclimate. They would have gone higher but got sidelined by a bergschrund (a crevasse) and had to turn around. They were trying to get up to the West Rib route to see what it was like.

They spent most of the day walking around camp talking to different climbers. Wes met Max and Jason who are from New Hampshire. They had ice climbed up a route to get all the way to high camp today. Wes also met Alex who is from Germany (seems there are a lot of Germans on the mountain right now). He is climbing with a group of Americans who are para jumpers. Wes says there are a lot of climbers on the mountain right now who are in the military. Mike Walter just walked by and waved. Wes surprised Billy today by accident while Billy was doing his thing in the latrine.

Today started off nice but now it is pretty miserable - very windy and cold.

Tomorrow the guys hope to take another day climb and go up the fixed lines to get further acclimated.

Wes said that Monday is still looking like a good day to move to high camp. There will be a mass exodus at Medical Base Camp because everyone is waiting to make the move.

Still at Medical Base

2011-05-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

Wes and Curtis are still at Medical Base Camp. Yesterday they were unable to make their day hike due to the bad weather. They mostly spent the day in their tent. There were gusts up to 55 mph and a complete white out. They did spend a little time fortifying the ice walls around their tent.

A big storm came in last night and it snowed all day today. Again, they spent most of the day hanging in the tent. They got about 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow. They spent a couple of hours shoveling snow and digging out their kitchen area. They also spent a lot of time boiling water. I think they also visited with Mike and his crew again. Wes said it was really cold and there were icicles inside the tent.

There was a small earthquake on the mountain a couple of days ago around 8:30 am that brought down some snow on the route.

The guys were about to make dinner which was going to be mashed potatoes, bacon and cheese. They had this dinner last night too. This morning they had banana pancakes for breakfast.

They are hoping to be able to do their day hike tomorrow if the weather gets better. There is supposed to be a relatively good weather window on Monday and Tuesday. They are hoping to move up to high camp on Monday with maybe a summit attempt on Tuesday.

Hanging tight at Camp IV

2011-05-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Wes and Curtis are still at Medical Base Camp. Today they went down to 13,500 ft to pick up their cache. It was only about an hour and 45 minute climb today. They also watched a helicopter come in to drop off supplies at camp. They even got to see some old friends. Their lead guide from RMI, Mike Walter, is at Camp IV with his team. He's been there for a few days now. Wes and Curtis went over to Mike's camp to get his clients pumped up about the rest of the climb. Billy, another of their guides from RMI, pulled in to camp today so Curtis went over to talk to him for awhile. Corey, the guys were aware of the Swiss climber that died with Mountain Trip. They also heard about the Italian climber that died on Monday in a 1,000 foot fall off Denali Pass.

Wes and Curtis will not be able to move up to High Camp at around 17,500 until at least Sunday or Monday. There is some bad weather moving in. The winds are predicted to be at 50 mph tonight and tomorrow and increasing to 70 mph Friday to Sunday.

If the weather is okay tomorrow the guys plan to do a day hike up to about 16,500. They want to climb up to where the route connects with the West Rib route to check it out.

Medical Base Camp

2011-05-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

Wes and Curtis are currently at Medical Base Camp at around 14,300 feet. They got in a couple of hours ago. Wes said he is currently looking at Hunter and Foraker. Said it is nice out but really cold!

Yesterday they climbed from Camp III up to about 13,500 feet and made a cache. They then went back to Camp III to spend the night.

Today was a long day of climbing. Their packs were very heavy. Once they got in to Camp IV they spent a couple of hours making some high ice walls to protect them from the wind. Wes is currently making water (which is a long process and goes on continuously while in camp).

It is supposed to be about -15 degrees tonight. There is a low pressure system coming in with high winds expected.

The guys have not seen the German couple since the woman got sick and went back down at 10,000 feet. However, they saw the two Germans that they met when they were in Talkeetna and climbed a little with them today. But Wes and Curtis wanted to beat the Germans into camp so that they could find a campsite that was already partially built up so that they wouldn't have to start building walls from scratch. I guess they succeeded in that endeavor. There are about 40 people currently at Camp IV.

If the weather is good tomorrow then the plan is to down climb to 13,500 to retrieve their cache and then spend the rest of the day at Camp IV.

Curtis wanted everyone to know that he will not be able to update his site for the rest of the time on the mountain because the spot connection is currently out of service.

Camp III

2011-05-14T20:26:00.001-07:00

Wes and Curtis climbed to Camp III yesterday. It is at about 11,000 feet. There are about 30 other people at this camp.

Today they down climbed to about 10,000 feet to retrieve their cache. It took about 30 minutes to get there and about an hour and twenty minutes to climb back up to Camp III. On the way back up they passed Ed Viesturs coming down. Wes didn't realize it was him until after they had passed him. For those of you not familiar with Ed Viesturs, he is the first American to have climbed all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters without supplemental oxygen. It was an exciting moment for the guys.

Tonight it is burritos for dinner. The weather is pretty nice right now. Wes said there are some low clouds coming up through the valley. They can see Mt. Foraker in the distance and the Kahiltna Dome.

Wes and Curtis are both feeling good. Keeping hydrated. Wes said he got a huge blister on his left foot the very first day they were climbing but he has it all wrapped up so it should be fine now. Yesterday Wes was making his freeze dried dinner and was keeping it warm inside his jacket when the packet spilled and he ended up with most of his dinner down his pants!

The plan for tomorrow is to climb up to Windy Corner and then head for about 14,000 feet to make another cache. They will then go back to Camp III for another night. On Monday if they are feeling good and the weather is right they plan to climb to their next camp which should be Medical Base Camp at around 14,500.

Wes said any comments or questions are welcome!

Moving up the Mountain

2011-05-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

Due to the site being down for maintenance since Wednesday, I had been unable to make any new posts. However, it seems we are back in business so here is the latest!

Wes and Curtis spent all day Wednesday in their tent at Camp I. The weather was bad - very cold and very windy.

Yesterday they climbed up to about 10,000 feet and made a cache. They were able to drop off a lot of their gear and left one of their sleds behind. They marked their cache with their team flag marker. For those of you who don't know their team name it is Big Test Icicles. Get it? They climbed back down to Camp I. All day they played "tag team" with a German couple. Wes and Curtis would lead and then take a break and then the Germans would lead for awhile. One of the Germans got really sick when they hit 10,000 feet. She had summited Denali before so this was something unusual to happen to her. It was about an eight hour day of climbing for the guys. Wes said it was a pretty "warm" day up there. They were going to enjoy a dinner of chicken ramen and freeze dried broccoli. There is only one other team at Camp I right now. It is a team from Mountain Trips.

Today the plan is to pack up Camp I and go to about 11,000 feet. This is actually Camp III. They plan to skip Camp II. They will spend the night there and then tomorrow go back down to pick up their cache. The guys may then take a rest day before heading higher up.

If you want to see on a map exactly where the guys are then go to www.whereiscurtis.com and you can get a day and time stamp of their progress.

Camp I

2011-05-10T21:32:00.001-07:00

Wes and Curtis are currently at Camp I at about 7,800 feet. They flew in this morning on a Beaver and landed on the glacier at about 11:30 a.m. There were two other climbers on their flight - two Germans. Those guys were carrying so much gear - two duffel bags each. It looked like they were planning to relocate to Denali permanently. Wes and Curtis then spent about an hour at base camp getting geared up. They officially started their climb at 1:00 p.m. They first tackled Heartbreak Hill. They made it through the crevasses without a problem. They did not see too many other climbers besides the Germans who were behind them. They did see a couple of guided teams up ahead of them but that was it. They hiked for about 5 1/2 hours to Camp I. They had the headwind on their faces for the climb so that made it colder. Wes said it is about 8 degrees with 25 to 30 mph winds. Tomorrow they plan to climb Ski Hill weather permitting.

In Talkeetna

2011-05-09T21:16:00.001-07:00

Wes and Curtis began their Alaskan journey yesterday. They arrived in Anchorage about midnight and stayed at the Marriott Hotel. Before going to bed they decided to take a little walk around and check out their surroundings.

Denali Overland picked them up this morning at 11:00 a.m. to drive to Talkeetna. They stopped off in Wasilla at the Fred Meyers there to get more group food for the trip. They arrived in Talkeetna at about 2:30 p.m. They went out to the hangar to get all their gear ready. They unpacked everything and then combined all the group gear and food. All together, they will carry about 120 pounds each!

They had dinner tonight at Mountain High Pizza Pie and then got some cobbler at the Roadhouse. They are staying at the House of 7 Trees Hostel. They were lucky because they got an upstairs room with just two bunks so they have the room to themselves.

Tomorrow they plan to head back to the Roadhouse at about 7:00 a.m. for breakfast. They will then be off to the Ranger Station at 8:30 a.m. for their orientation. The orientation should last about an hour. Once they are done with that they will head back to the airport to pick up their sleds and fuel. Weather permitting they hope to fly out tomorrow morning to be on the glacier by noon. Depending on how all of that works out they hope to start their trek to their first camp in the afternoon.

They met a couple of guys from France today who are also planning on heading up to base camp tomorrow.

The weather in Talkeetna was about 54 degrees during the day. Looks like it will be about 34 degrees tonight. Hope they enjoy the "warm" days before they head up the mountain!

It Begins

2011-05-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

The journey begins. Pictures wouldn't do it justice and my feeble attempt to describe the moment will probably miss the mark. In short I'm chasing sunsets. I'm cruising at 34,000 ft glancing at my watch which displays a digital image of 10:30 P.M. and the distant sky still glows with excitement yet to come.

It's still light outside. This time of year Alaska is mostly daylight. It's hard to adjust at first, but the body has to rest sometime.

Last Minute Checks

2011-05-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

Everything is pretty much packed and it's starting to look a little crazy. So far everything, including food, weighs in at a whopping 115 pounds. We still have to purchase some additional group food items and 3 gallons of fuel.

United Airlines is going to love me. Now for the tricky part trying to balance each bag so they weigh less than 50 lbs each and cramming what's left over into a carry on.