Denali Climb to Camp IV, Advanced Base Camp

My gosh, it is less than 18 degrees in the tent. It was 20 degrees only 10 minutes ago. My breath is foggy and it is in the way of my writing. At least my pen unfroze, so much for the expensive space pen idea. Today was a great day. I got up at 9 a.m. started the water even though I do not use it but it is a great tool to get the group out of bed. We left 11,000 camp at noon with great weather, heavy packs, plus my empty sled with crapper in it. Windy Corner was almost windless corner. Once past, I put the tent in the sled. It was easy from there. Now its 16 degrees in the tent. Soon we hit the 14,200 high base camp. What a spot, people way up on the route to 16,000 looked like dots. We found a spot, dug better platforms and built some walls. Then someone yelled in camp to take a look at a tent coming down the headwall! Way up at 16,000 feet a tent was blowing down. It would go a long way, and then slow down. It crossed over the trail just above some people. At about 14,800 feet it went into a giant crevasse. Everyone here at the 14 camp were hooting and hollering. We were all getting quite a kick out of it. Then it popped out of the crevasse and kept going down. It blew way below our 14,200 camp out of sight. Who knows where it went. I continued working on the snow walls. Bruce got the cell phone working and I got to call home. I think everyone was very surprised to hear from me. Nobody really had any questions, probably because they did not think a call was coming. Dad did ask if any had fallen in a crevasse. After that was dinner. After dinner I went back to work fortifying camp. Here at 14,200 I feel great. But all of us walk real slow or you get out of breath. I tried walking real fast after dinner and puked a bit of it up. It made me laugh. Around this time we saw 2 guys helping walk a guy down to the medical tent. About 1 hour later a helicopter shows up to pick him up. I guess he had Cerebral Edema. Believe this, they spent 10 days getting to 14 and have been at 14 for 3 days. It just hit him suddenly I guess. Certain people get it. After this, most of the camp went to bed or back to bed. My last great adventure of the day was using the toilet up here. Barely any privacy and you normally have someone waiting on you. There is more but I will not go into it, it is freezing now at 1 a.m.

Today was to be our 14,200 rest day but it would only drive me crazy to rest here all day, so I decided to go take a few things up to 16,200. I woke up late, started climbing at 11:45. I was the first to go up. Climbing solo was nice after weeks of being roped up. I motored up to the base of the fixed lines in 1 hour. From there I hooked into the fixed lines and started up. They were very icy, and it was a real pain in the butt. Finally I got to the top and what a view it was. At 16,000, I was now well above Hunter and about even with Mt. Foraker. Above all Alaska now except McKinley. I went up to 16,200 camp to deposit the gallon of fuel, stove and shovel. The 16,200 camp is very small and very exposed. I felt great at this altitude. I passed my altitude record today and it was great. I did not take my cache to 17,200 only to save my legs. Tomorrow we are taking 5 days of food and summit stuff up. If the weather holds, we will move camp the next day to 17,200. On the way down the fixed ropes I got several good pictures, including one of Philip who went up to 17 for a look. After I got off the fixed lines, I cruised down. I even ran in places down the hill. People coming up looked at me strange but as always back home I usually have a lot of energy going down. I slid on my butt the last 150 feet. Back in camp I am eating and drinking, and feeling great. Its 6:25 p.m., almost time for dinner. I got back in camp around 4 p.m. Now its 10 p.m. and almost sleep time. Dinner was good. I am stuffed. Took another crap on the John with the best view, just too bad everyone can view you. The big news is that the weather is supposed to stay good. This means I may be on the summit in 3 days. Tomorrow we shuttle a load up to 17,200. The next day we move camp, and the day after we summit. That means summiting on the 30th. The neat thing is that no matter what, other than weather, I am going up, alone if necessary. Cortland's arm is bothering him. If it is not better by morning he may not be able to get up the fixed lines. We will see.

Today was tough, partly my fault at the end. I got up at the scheduled time of 9 a.m. Nobody else was getting up so I figured I would be alone again. Bruce got somewhat dressed but Cortland and River were still sleeping. After 1 hour I was dressed, fed, and packed to do a load to 17,200. I told Bruce I was leaving and he said ok. I took off feeling a bit tired but ready for the load. I was caring all my summit stuff. I did not stop much. I wanted to get to the fixed lines before most everyone else. I passed a couple of groups, then a big one near the lines. It was an RMI group led by Phil Ershler who said, Dont worry, you can go ahead of us, as I was passing. Weird. The fixed lines were much nicer since their seemed to be better foot placements in the ice. At the top was another beautiful sight but I was very tired since I had just climbed from 14-16,000 on 1 pop tart and swig of water. From there I climbed 200 feet to the 16,200 camp. I dug out yesterdays cash of a gallon of gas, my shovel, stove, and 33oz fuel bottle. Now my pack was heavy. I continued up taking several large stops suckin the O2. When I got to Washburns Thumb there was a line of climbers waiting to go up. It was something like the Hillary step on Everest, always clogged. Then it was just a line of climbers on the West Buttress. When I say on it I mean right on it. It drops on both sides steeply. Phil Urshler was leading his group behind me and he said it is probably the most scenic spot on the route. That it was. Phil and I were commenting about how stupid the guide was in front of us. They were so slow because they were placing pickets every rope length. We slowly followed the 10 climbers in front of us. Phil was starting to curse behind me because of it. Then I saw a way to pass. I took a rocky\snow ridge about 30 feet above the trail instead of the safer lower trail route. By the time I was back on the trail I had passed all 9. It was not far and I was dropping into the 17,200 camp. I had run out of water at 16,200 so I had a headache. I dug a big cache and threw in all my stuff. Then I started down. It felt really good going down. About 300 feet down, I ran into 2 guys that I saw on the way up (around Washburns Thumb) earlier coming down with huge sleds on their backs. Now they were coming back up to 17,200 to pick up another load. They had gone up the Muldrow Glacier and even climbed a new route somewhere. One (James Wilson) who owns some sort of outdoor store in Montana joked about me taking his sled down. I for some reason agreed, probably because I was loosing the headache, agreed that I just might. Soon I was down to 16,000 and rigging up a way to bring down a sled. The darn thing was probably 60 pounds. Going down the fixed lines was a pain in the rear. The sled was pulling me down and the worst part about it was the sled did not slide down well at all. It had runners on the bottom that made it want to go sideways. Finally I made it all the way down. At the bottom of the fixed lines I ran into the Fire on the Mountain group. Also on the way back down near Washburns Thumb, I ran into River and Bruce. They were also going to 17,200. I was very glad to see that. We talked, and they told me Cortland was sick and could not make it out of bed. Back at camp I have been talking to Cortland and I guess he did not sleep all night. Several people are sick, its going around camp. Yesterday when I was gone, the rangers who are somewhat sick asked a bunch of climbers to help dig a new pit toilet. I guess a bunch of those who helped got sick. River and Bruce at 6 p.m. were on the CB saying they were at 17,200 and ETA was 8 p.m. at camp. It is almost 8 now and they are not back yet. Cortland is starting the water but we need the cook. Well at 8 we got the weather tomorrow (good) but the next day snow. So we probably will not move camp up to 17,200. Also at 8 we turned to channel 14 and talked to Bruce and River. They said they were just below the Burgshrund on the fixed line. Sure enough, way up there was them. They got back around 8:30 for dinner. After dinner I saw the 2 guys that came from the Muldrow coming down. I went over to meet one, the other was much further back. We took their gear and sleds and found a good camp spot. They were very happy I pulled a sled down. I could see why. They looked wasted. They had been out 41 days, climbed a new route and it showed. They even carried their skis over the summit. Their names were James Wilson and Jim Blow. One owns a mountain shop in Butte Montana called Pipestone Mountaineering. (Editors Note: They climbed Karsten's Ridge from Traleika, 35 pitches 5.10 Al WI4)

Well we decided yesterday not to move camp to 17,200 because the next day (summit day) would be bad. We awoke to a cap on the summit. Today was supposed to be good but it is cloudy and the winds are picking up. We have been building the snow walls around camp and just lazing around. It appears we may be here awhile. Tomorrow as we heard is to be mostly cloudy and possible snow. The day after is to be snow everywhere. After that it is suppose to clear up on a Sunday. That makes today a Thursday I believe. We will be strong when the next good weather hits. We will move camp to 17,200 and summit the next day.

I do not know how to start. It is now past 3 a.m. on the 30th. All hell has broken loose; the crap has hit the fan. Today was predicted to be good weather but it turned real bad around 3-4 p.m. A real white out and snowstorm came in. It has now snowed well over a foot since then. Groups were headed for or on the summit when it hit. After dinner we lazed around and River made a huge wall protecting our site. Soon I got out of the tent to help shovel snow because it was covering the tent and burying our camp. Philip even came over to our tent and beat Bruce at a game of chess. When Philip went back to his camp, his tent was buried. We thought it would be best to move his camp out of the pit he was in. We did this and returned to our camp. Not much longer a guy named Penn asked if we would be an extra ear for him because he had 2 friends coming down from the fixed ropes. We had Bruce grab some wands and soon we were venturing into the storm to the base of the hill looking for Chris and Dave. Dave was on his way down from the summit and called around 17,200 saying he was on his way down. Chris went up to the fixed lines to wait for him at the bottom only. He was not going to go any further.
After searching in the worst white out we heard something off toward the rescue gully but soon someone said, LOOK and off to our left and up high was a black spot in the white. We waived and yelled. We all went up to him. It was Dave. He was actually able to follow the original trails wands. Ours we were setting were off a bit. He had ice all over him and his eyelids were ice balls. He was safe but where was Chris. He should have been at the base of the fixed lines or on the trail when Dave came threw. He went up to meet him at 8 p.m. It was now 12 midnight. Something has happened, he must have fallen in a crevasse. Then we thought we heard voices off to the right towards the rescue gully or the Orient Express. I headed that way. At one point I knew so much someone was over there that I ran threw the deep snow. We had to be careful. We were not roped, walking around a fairly safe area but not void of crevasses. River was about 200 feet above me. I hear people talking, I yelled. River agreed. I know some people were up the gullies or snow chutes up above us. We yelled but no real response. It was like they were talking to each other and ignoring us. So faint but they were real, or were they. After a bit of silence I decided to go back to camp for more cloths. I was wearing my Gore-Tex over my heavyweight thermal underwear. I also only had my booties as my boot liners. I did not know I was getting involved in something so big. Back in camp I decided just to grab my whistle and give another try. I went back out to the end of the wands that we placed toward the rescue gully and there alone blew my whistle. After a few blows I heard voices again. Wow, I was going to lead them in. I blew several more times over the next few minutes but the voices stopped. I listened for 5-10 minutes. No voices. Had I imagined it. Someone was up there I swore I heard it. I finally gave up and headed back to the camp. At the edge of camp were Penn, Bruce and Dave. I asked Penn if he had a plan. Nope, he said but we got talking and agreed to go looking for them being roped up. We decided to talk on the radio at 12:45. Penn needed to warm his feet and we needed to gear up. We went back to our tents and Bruce, River and I began getting ready for the search. On the radio were the Rangers talking about the groups stuck up at Denali Pass and the Football Field. Then Penn got on the line and said Dave was back safe but now Chris was missing. He said he was getting a team together to go search. The Rangers said that was good and good luck. Then at 12:45 we talked to Penn and he said he and a guide friend would head up toward the fixed ropes. He asked us to just search the area toward the Rescue Gully and Orient Express because Penn figured Chris was just lost. I also went over to Penns tent while he was talking to Anne at Base Camp about our plan. Both rescue groups had radios. Bruce had his on his shoulder strap. We started out first and found our wands heading toward the gullies. Only a minute into it River yells LISTEN. In the distance was a voice. We were still in sight and yelling distance of Penn at camp to signal we found him. We started hurrying toward the voice. We went into the white out about 5 minutes when we saw them. Two people. This explained the voices of more than 1 person, but who was the second person? We were getting closer and we asked if he was Chris. Yes, he was. Bruce is on the radio going, We found Chris! Then Chris yells, one is injured. For what seemed forever we finally met. Chris sayed, I found this British climber yelling for help, his partner and he took a fall, his partner is dead!

This is how it hits the fan on Denali. Someone is DEAD! Chris gets on the radio to report he is ok and reports the dead climber. Chris had been going to meet Dave at the bottom of the fixed lines when he heard the British guy yelling for help. He traversed over to him and found the British climber yelling, I need a helicopter, my partner is dead. The British climber was shivering and in bad shape. They had taken a fall off the West Buttress between the 16,200 camp and 17,200 camp. There is no good place to fall there. I was amazed this guy was alive. To go threw a fall of probably 2000 feet before stopping. Chris saved his life by helping him get down. Chris says he was planning and building a snow cave when he heard our yelling and my whistles. He short roped the survivor toward the noise. I do not know what he did while we changed cloths for 45 minutes but when we went back out to search he was not too far away. He was very happy to see us. He wanted to be clipped into our rope so I gave him a knot. I guess all that time walking around crevasses unroped scared the hell out of him. Understandable, and this guy is a hero, but he kept thanking us. The British guy would have surly died. He was not fully there if you know what I mean. We got back to the camp and they all headed for the medical tent. We went back to our camp, and dug it out of the snow. I also went over to Philips tent to dig him out. He was almost completely buried. Now I sit in my tent writing this before I forget. I hear monstrous thundering avalanches above dropping below. Others are lost, avalanches are everywhere, more are bound to die! We will see tomorrow.

Well only 1 hour after I finished that last entry, Philip comes to the tent saying his tent is broken or crushed. I had the biggest headache so Bruce dealt with him. He told him to take a shovel and dig out his sleeping bag. Then go to the ranger tent and sleep there. I slept for another 3 hours before getting up at 9 a.m. Snow was halfway up the walls of the tent. I crawled out threw the top off the vestibule. Unbelievable, the sun was coming over the mountain and the weather was great. I could see the entire mountain and the area where the British guy must have fell. I spent a long time digging us out. Soon the others got up. All of camp was digging out. We listened to the radio for more info. The groups that got stuck above 17,200 were spotted. A group of 4, 3, and 1 were coming down ok. They also talked about notifying next of kin on the dead Brit. The surviving British climber's name was Paul. He had frostbite, as well as several other climbers above 17,200. News traveled around camp and a lot of people left. The snow was nearing waist deep. People were making trails to the toilets and to other camps. Now there is a series of established trails around the 14,200 camp. It turns out Philips tent is fine; he thinks its bad but its not. He is in some tent of climbers who are at 17,200. The rangers have some sort of binoculars and see what they think is a pack on the Orient Express. I guess there are still a few climbers missing. Most are safe though. The morning was good. Now it is almost 5 p.m., its snowing again but much lighter than yesterday. Now its 10:30 and not much has happened. Most people have bailed out. We are collecting quite a fuel collection. I think we have as much as we started with, around 7 gallons. We have collected tons of food too. The weather is still predicted as bad with tomorrow getting heavy snow, more the day after.

Well over the past day we have pieced the story of the British climber better. We have talked to Paul the survivor and the Rangers. There were 4 British guys. Two turned back before the summit. The other 2 made the summit but the weather came in. Somewhere near the football field they slipped. Now off course, they decided to take a traverse down to 17,200 instead of going down to Denali Pass. While in or above the Messner Couloir, the snow they were on slid and they slid down the whole couloir. Paul the survivor was unconscious for an unknown amount of time. When he awoke he found his partner dead. Now some where near the flats of 14,200 he yelled for help not knowing where he was. Now Chris, who went after Dave, had come down the wrong way and was headed toward the Messner, not camp. Luckily, since he was lost he ran into the British climber. They were both lost and Chris was going to build a cave but he heard our team yelling and whistling. That is what got them into camp. That is the story as best as we got. We even heard the story told on a Talkeetna Radio Station. Now it is 1:11 p.m. and the weather is great. All day it has been nice. They just can not predict weather here. There are a lot of clouds below and nobodies moving because we know how fast it can white out around here.

Now it is late at night and I am not tired since I got so much sleep. It is also Saturday night and I am listening to an Anchorage station 101.3 that is playing party music. Bruce has put a pulley system between our tents. They are chatting between tents passing a drink back and forth. They may be drunk I can not tell. Anyway, I am trying to finish a book called Victory by Joseph Conrad. It is ok, getting better near the end. The temp is 20 degrees in the tent, fairly warm since I am not wearing gloves. The temperature outside is around -5 to -8 and at times very windy. Bruce is now calling a radio station to request a song. O my gosh, hes threw! They are taking the info. They are going to mention us within 3 minutes and play our song. His request is Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane. Unbelievable, they just said our names on 100.5. She got all the info right saying she got a call from the 14,200 thousand camp on Mt. McKinley, its -9 there and they are waiting out a storm to actually climb the mountain. Then she said, good luck to Bruce, Cortland, River and Eric. We all were screaming after she said that at 12:20 at night. How funny! I will close tonight by giving a few feelings. We have been here for 7 nights now. For the first time on the trip I have a few mixed feelings about a trip like this. I am having a great time but I feel like spending so many days stuck in one spot is kinda lame when I think of all the other stuff I could do. I know these will be great stories when I get back, and that the summit will be worth it. That we have going for us. Unlike many, we have the food, fuel, and drive to wait here until we summit. That we will, but I understand why a lot of people like to get to 14,200 as quick as possible. Most people waiting out this storm have only been here from 3-8 days. I think we are on our 16th day. But hay, we have seen everyone from the beginning of the season to nearly the end when we are done. The most fun I have had with this whole trip is seeing our progress getting further and higher. I think our tent is about to take off!

14,200 Camp IV, Advanced Base Camp