Scales the world's highest mountains. Refuses to let MS hold her back.
DENALI
Read Wendy's diary from the Denali climb
Final Update:
We are all back home safely. Still a little tired after the whirlwind of summit day, coming off the mountain, and rushing to catch a red-eye flight home, but every bit of it was worth it!
Here's a quick recap of our final day on the mountain. We left off the summit and beat it back to high camp. From there, everyone crashed out except me. I couldn't sleep. I was too excited and keyed up from reaching the summit. I counted 154 sheep, then moved on to porpoises, don't ask why, that's just what came to mind. It was all I could do to put the thoughts of what it had taken to get to this point. Four years, two attempts, 20 lbs. (the training this time was killer), and we had made it! It was just overwhelming.
The next morning, we packed up our gear and started heading down. We had to take advantage of the good weather. Summit day was 12.5 hours roundtrip, which seemed long, until we had climbed for 20 hours to get down to base camp. Yes, 20 hours is what it took us to get from 17, 200 to base. It was a long and harrowing descent.
We got down to 14 and took a break. We picked up our sleds and got ready for the most dangerous part of the trip between 14 and 11,000 ft. We had been told the mountain was basically crumbling because the weather had been so warm. Craig said it was closer to mid-July conditions. As we headed down, you could literally hear the water running as snow and ice melted. When we reached the area where the rock slide occurred, we literally started running. This was very difficult because we had our crampons on and full gear. In a few places, we had team members punch through into crevasses. It was scary but luckily everyone got out quickly and we kept moving.
At 11,000 ft. we took a dinner break and a nap. We didn't set up camp, just slept out on the snow. We had Dinty Moore Stew and it tasted WONDERFUL! We were all pretty whipped at that point. Our dinner and naps made a big difference. We started out from 11 at about 11:30 p.m. It was safer to travel then because the temperature was down. We picked up our cache at 9500 and kept going. The snow was really mushy and warm. As we headed down Ski Hill, we were exposed to a huge thunderstorm. There was lightning everywhere. This was extremely scary because we had nowhere to go. We were following another team and all of us were bewildered by the crazy weather.
We reached the 7,800 camp and it was still lightning. Craig took the lead and we had five miles of treacherous crevasse crossing. We had switched to our snowshoes at this point. We had to do a lot of zigzagging to avoid all of the crevasses on the lower Kahiltna. It was amazing how many there were and how long it took us to get through this section. We finally arrived at base camp at 8 a.m. Everyone was exhausted but relieved we had made it.
We could not fly out right away. Base camp was closed for flying because of smoke in between base and Talkeetna. One of the strikes had hit the forest near town and smoke had ruined visibility. We all lined up next to the runway and slept on our sleeping mats just waiting for it to clear up. We got lucky and about 11 p.m. the visibility was good enough so planes started flying in. We did have to help stamp down the runway though because of the warm temperatures it gets a little messy. I got on one of the last flights out before the wind changed and the smoke stopped flights again.
From there, we waited at the airport hangar for our shuttle to Anchorage. We all hopped in one van, drove for three hours, then ran to our respective gates to catch our flights home. It was sad to see everyone go, but after being separated from our loved ones for 3.5 weeks, we were excited to get home.
During our drive to the airport, we determined our favorite spots on the mountain. They were:
The Summit - The view from the summit was the most breathtaking site I have ever seen in my life. We spent 45 minutes on the top of North America. We made it in the average summit time (12.5 hrs.). The day was perfect and everyone felt so good at the top, we were practically having a party up there. It was very, very cool!
The Summit Ridge - it is beautiful and challenging at the same time. The path is only about 18 inches wide and if another team is coming down as you are going up, you have to keep one foot on the path and dangle the other off to give them room to pass. The foot off the path is suspended above an 8,000 ft. drop.
Washburn's Thumb - the real climbing begins above 14,200 ft. That's when we all stopped feeling like pack mules and started to feel like mountain climbers again.
I arrived at 9 a.m. into Boston and had a hot meal, a hot shower, and slept in a comfy bed. Life is good! This was an awesome experience and an incredible journey.
Overall, this trip was amazing! The team was the best and we all worked so well together. Their experience, great attitudes, and determination really pushed us to the top. The guides were fantastic. We achieved our goal and everyone is proud of our team.
June 27 - Summit Day
We did it! The team made it to the top of North America and it was awesome. It's hard to capture the feeling, but a few tears of joy were shed at the top.
On Sunday morning, Craig came knocking on each of our tents. We took a vote and the team wanted to go for it. About 9:30 a.m., we left camp and began climbing. The day was long and hard. We all had our moments, but we made it. Once we got to the top, we took a lot of pictures and celebrated. We could only spend about 45 minutes at the summit because we still had the long haul to get back to camp. Overall, it was about a 12 hour day! I was so keyed up and excited, I could hardly sleep last night. It was incredible. This team is so strong and capable, it really made the journey amazing.
Tomorrow, we'll begin heading back to base camp, then on to Talkeetna, and the Road house for a burger!
June 26
We made it to 17,200 ft. It was a long day of climbing, but we're glad we're here! We got in at 4:13 p.m. Alaska time.
Once we arrived, we started building our camp. It's critical to get the snow walls high enough around our tents to save us from the winds. They have to be bomber camp sites and the snow walls must be one brick higher than our tents. It took us more than three hours to set up camp and get everything done. The oxygen is pretty thin up here, so you feel like your doing everything in slow motion. You can really feel it.
Tomorrow, may be a rest day because we had such a long day today. We're getting closer.
June 25
We're stuck at 14,200 still due to the weather. We hoped to move up to high camp (17,200 ft.) yesterday, but weather forced us to stay put. It's wearing on us all a little but we're hanging together really well. Craig's leadership on this climb is amazing. He has been climbing and guiding for more than 20 years so he knows the mountain well. During our rest day, many of the team's took advantage of the good weather and moved up. We stayed here because the weather report sounded a bit sketchy. I'm glad we did because we've heard the winds were up to 70 mph last night up at high camp. It got up to 40 mph or so here at 14,200 and that was bad enough. Craig and his team are so impressive because they have kept everything going smoothly. No issues, everyone's doing well. His leadership is impressive!
Today, we got bacon and eggs as a treat. Anything to keep the team's spirit up. It's getting a little monotonous in the tent. We're in the book swapping stage now. Everyone's read their own book and is trading with their tentmate or one of the others on the team. I've made a new friend, Amy. She and I are two of very few women on the mountain. We've gotten together to gab a bit. Amy's from London. We've been on the mountain 13 days so it's getting easy to make new friends as we walk around camp. I talked to a couple people I know from New Hampshire this morning. The camp has a community feel, which is nice.
Today we are going to force ourselves to get out and walk around. You can't lounge for too long or you start to get lethargic. We roped up for a walk on our rest day to the "edge of the world." You can see down to the Kahiltna and all around - it was gorgeous! Today, we'll walk just to get our energy up. It's a little foggy, but the snow has stopped and the wind is down. The altitude is tough but we've got to stay sharp for the rest of the climb.
Depending on the weather, we will plan to move up to 17,200 tomorrow.
Hello to Brett - we're thinking of you!
June 23
The team successfully made the carry to 16,200 yesterday. WOO HOOO!!!! We titled yesterday, "Climbing the Headwall!" It was awesome, excruciating, and very worthy of a special title.
Our wake up call each morning is the hiss of the stove, once you hear it you know it's time to get moving. It sounds like a small jet engine! We start the day with our "hots." "Hots" are the warm drinks we consume first off each morning and when we pitch camp each evening. Our options for drinks are: cider, cocoa, tea, coffee, or soup. You know when the water is ready by the "Get your hots" call from the kitchen tent. As we are drinking the hots, the water is readied for our breakfast. We have either oatmeal or Cream of Wheat. I'm partial to oatmeal. More hot water is prepared and then we fill our water bottles. Water is a vital component to keeping our energy up and to acclimatizing, so we each fill our bottles every chance we get. After breakfast, we started out to carry up to 16,200 ft.
For the carry, we took food, fuel, and our can toilets. We left our clothes, tents, and other non-essentials at our camp site at 14, 200. It was a heavy load but will make our move up to high camp tomorrow a bit easier. To get to 16,200, we had to get through the Headwall. It is a massive wall that requires climbing up the 50 degree incline for 1,000 ft. It's tough and was, by far, the hardest climbing day we've had. I was struggling to get enough oxygen most of the day.
To climb the Headwall, you have to go up the six lines that are placed on the Headwall by the National Parks Service at the beginning of the season. These are six rope lines fixed with anchors into the ice wall. To make it up, we each need a mechanical ascender. It's a process getting up there! Each time you come to an anchor, you have to yell out, "anchor" and the team stops climbing. You have to get all of your stuff past the anchor, then yell out, "climbing" so the team can get going again. You are always ready for the anchor stop, though, because it give you a chance to catch your breath. Adam kept saying, "bridge to engine room, I need more power." It's really tough climbing up that wall.
Once we got up, we cached our load at 16,200, then headed back down. We walked down, crampons on, in the heavy snow to avoid packing down the path for all the other teams. The waist-deep snow is really hard to climb through and I was wiped out when we got back to camp. Everyone was pretty well spent which meant an early night for our team. We got back, ate dinner, and were in bed before 8 p.m. Today, we're all feeling tired so it is nice to have a rest day.
Adam and I have dinner duty tonight so we'll be hard at it in the kitchen around 4 p.m. We haven't checked the menu but can safely assume it's noodles, rice, or chili with chicken.
The team overall is doing well. Andrew is a rock star. He can't get enough! We've been away for about 12 days so we're missing our families. Everyone wants to send their love to their families at home. Adam says hello to his kids, especially.
We are moving up to high camp tomorrow, so it will be another long day. Craig has told us it will be a cold and isolated camp, but we're getting closer to the top. The key at high camp is to build very fortified snow wall around our tents for extra wind protection. We'll get up about 6 a.m. and start off at 8:30 a.m. We expect it to take about six hours of climbing. I'm looking forward to it but am also nervous about taking on the headwall again.
June 21
We moved up to 14,200 yesterday and it was a good move. Unfortunately, one of our teammates made the decision to descend due to altitude sickness. Brett, our big, strong anchor, was battling a blinding headache when we got to 14,200 on our carry day. He talked with the medical team and they indicated he needed treatment. When we got back to 11,000 ft., Brett thought it would be best to go down. We'll miss him, but know it was the best decision.
Today, we have a rest day at 14. My quads are sore and I have a few blisters on my toes, but overall I'm hanging in there. This morning, we decided we weren't getting up until we were baked out of the tent! I stayed in until the sun had warmed it to about 50 degrees. The sun is out and it's a nice day. The team is tired but it's nice to be up here.
We heard the big storm earlier this week caused many people at high camp to lose their tents and they were forced in to snow caves. We battled the high winds at 14 so I can only imagine how tough it was in high camp! I'm hoping the good weather holds up as we prepare to move to 16,200.
Adam and I are playing gummy bear poker today and reading books. During my training, I had to give up all the junk food so I'm hoping for good cards today!
Adam has perfected a special bagel sandwich for us. We think it gave us the extra energy during the move to 14. It's got salami and all sorts of goodies on it. We'll be packing those for the Headwall tomorrow!
Tomorrow, if the weather stays good, we'll carry up to 16,200, cache some gear, then come back down to 14. The theory on adjusting to the altitude is climb high, sleep low. It's tough walking today at 14,200 because I'm still adjusting to less oxygen. We're forcing ourselves to drink more water and rest up for the big day tomorrow.
We may not get a chance to check in tomorrow as the day will be long (about 8 hrs.). Wish us luck as we tackle the Headwall!
June 20
The team successfully made it to 14,200 ft. It was a long two days and we are excited for a rest day - Yeah!!! We carried up on Saturday. It was a long day of hauling gear and then returning to 11,000 ft. Then on Sunday (happy Father's Day, everyone!), we climbed back up and are settled in for a day off. More later but now, it's bed time.
June 18
We're still sitting at 11 but the blizzard is over! We had a long night of snow shoveling duty and had to move tents. It was a long night of all hands on deck. The whole team was working together to shovel the heavy snow and keep tents clear. The winds were about 70-100 mph. Today, the sun is out. It's still windy so we are not climbing. Some folks just came from 14,200 and said it's pretty impassable. Very deserving of the nickname "windy corner"!
We've got our gear and clothes hanging outside to dry out. Yes, there are clothes everywhere. You name it and it's out there, everything is wet. It's still pretty windy today so everything has to be firmly attached. Hopefully, no socks or anything will get blown away, we'll need them for the rest of the trip.
Last night was our night to cook again. We got in the kitchen around 4 and were there until 10:30 or so. It was a long one but good to be out of our tent for a change of scenery.
Tomorrow, we hope to make the carry up to 14,200 ft. We'll keep you posted.
The next update will be posted on Monday, June 21.
June 17
Not much is new from yesterday, the weather is ugly again so we're staying at 11,000 ft. We're all fine and hunkered down in our tents for another day. The weather is pretty bad all over the mountain so we'll wait it out. We're spending our time playing cards, listening to iPods, reading books, and shoveling snow every few hours.
June 16
Today is a typical Denali day. We're stuck in our tents due to a blizzard. It started snowing last night and hasn't let up. You can barely see to the neighbor's tent. Every couple hours we have to get out of the tent and clean off the snow so the tent doesn't get too heavy. We also have to shovel around our tent site. So far, we've had about a foot of snow. The wind is howling too, so when the storm really gets going, the tent feels like it's rocking and rolling. We've got all of our gear on to stay warm. This morning, Craig brought everyone hot drinks in their tents - who knew we'd get room service on the mountain! A few of us got up and went to the kitchen tent for breakfast but most of the day we've been in our tents. This is the hardest part, because you have to be careful not to get too lethargic.
We were going to make a carry from 11,000 to 14,000 today, but that has been put on hold until tomorrow due to the snow. We'll carry gear and food tomorrow, then move to 14,200 on Friday (hopefully). Adam and I keep reorganizing the tent and sorting our gear to pass the time. There are a few things you never part with when you are climbing. The first aid kit always stays with you and the avalanche beacon. The beacon is something new this time around and is required for us to wear at all times. We got them from the Park Service, and it's a pretty cool little system.
In a little bit, Adam and I are going to venture out of the tent to stretch our legs. It gets a little boring so we figured we'd walk around to check out the neighborhood. We've counted about 80 climbers in this camp. Things have really been picking up. We heard a bunch of people come in last night.
Everyone is still feeling good. No issues with the altitude. We're all trying to drink enough water. Our goal is five liters per day. We also make a point to journal each day. So far that's going pretty well. I also have my iPod full of music. Last time, my son filled it full of tunes. He gave me a wide spectrum from Johnny Cash to hip hop. This time, I picked the music and will be enjoying it as the blizzard continues.
Last night, Luke cooked dinner. We had Thai chicken and noodles. For breakfast we usually have one of the following: granola, cream of wheat, or oatmeal. The meals are pretty cool. When it's your turn to cook, you report to the kitchen and choose the appropriately numbered food bag (numbered by days). The bag contains everything you will need for dinner and breakfast. That means if there is butter in the recipe, there's butter in the bag. One stop shopping! The meals are put together ahead of time by the guides. The meals have been good and nutritious which is key to keeping up our strength on the route.
Tomorrow will be a long day, so I may not get a chance to check in. We'll climb for approximately eight hours in our roundtrip journey from 11 to 14. The following day, we'll move up to 14,200 for good.
June 15
We've made it to 11,000 ft. camp! Hard to believe we've only been on the mountain for a few days and we're already this high. Today felt easier than yesterday for some reason. We started climbing around 6 a.m. today and got in to camp about 10 a.m. It was 22 degrees when we started out this morning.
Adam and I are the slowest at putting together our campsite but we've been having fun with music trivia during our downtime. We're planning to learn some card games for the rest days that are coming up. Last night was our turn to cook dinner. We made chili with rice and tortilla chips.
Our lunch today was bacon and eggs - it was wonderful. A good hot lunch is nice up here. We're getting ready for a nap and then dinner tonight around 4:30 p.m. Tomorrow, we will take a load up to 14,200 ft. Tonight before dinner, we'll all go through and sort the items to carry up high and what to leave low. We'll make the climb up to 14 then back down to 11,000 for a day of rest. Then we'll move up to 14,200. I already cached some of my stuff at 9,700 so I've lightened my load a little. I put my cream cheese, mustard, half brick of cheese, and a few other things in a cache. It saved me about three pounds which will make a difference as we get higher up!
We've been working great together as a team. The team is assigned in their rope teams. There is one guide to each rope team. I'm on a team with Craig (guide), Patrick, and Adam. The next group is Matt (guide), Rob, and Andrew. The third group is Chris (guide), Luke, and Brett. My tentmate, Adam, has climbed Kilimanjaro and Rainier. Everyone on the team has impressive climbing experience. They are really an awesome group.
I'm off for the afternoon nap!
June 14
It's another early morning for the team. We reached the 9,700 camp, and it was a long day. We are carrying full loads, and it felt hard today. Packing my 120 lbs. wore me out but it's a good tired. We got up at 1:30 a.m. and continue to climb when the glacier is most frozen. We made it to camp in good time but now are in white out conditions.
It's my night to cook dinner. My tentmate and I are on duty which means we have the following jobs:
·Set up kitchen
·Start boiling the water
·Provide hot drinks to the team
·Fill the water bottles
·More hot drinks for the team
Then everyone heads to their tents for a nap. Around 3 p.m. Adam and I will be back in the kitchen. It's chili night, and we plan to eat around 4 p.m. It's our job to clean up and get more hot drinks for the team, as well as fill the water bottles. We'll be scrubbing pots and making sure everything is ready for breakfast around 2 a.m.
The team is in good spirits, and everyone is so focused. They have all trained so hard and are accomplished climbers. Tomorrow morning we leave 9,700 camp and push on to 11,000 ft.
June 13
We made it to 7,800 ft camp (camp 1) and are bedding down for the night! We're climbing at night because the snow and glacier is too soft during the day. Everything went well tonight and everyone is feeling good. We had a quick dinner after setting up camp. We'll get up at 11 p.m. break down camp and then start climbing by 2 a.m. We're headed to Camp 2 at 9,700 ft. (also referred to as 10,000 ft. camp). I'm off to bed and will report back tomorrow.
June 12
Mt. McKinley is just as awe inspiring as the first time I saw it in 2002. I am excited about the team, and everyone is ready to get climbing.
Our day will include a quick stop at base camp to practice crevasse rescue; dinner around 4 or so, and then bedtime. We'll plan to leave base camp at 2 a.m. and climb to camp 1 at 7,800 ft. This is a very different itinerary from last time but everyone is excited.
It's nice to finally be here on the mountain!
June 7-11
I arrived in Anchorage June 7. The team met in the airport June 8 and started up to Talkeetna. We made a stop for final food shopping in Wasilla. On June 9, we all met in an airport hangar to go through each item in our pack. Craig and the other two guides looked over each piece we were planning to take. Pack weight and the proper gear are critical to each person's success. My backpack weighed 43 pounds and my duffle came in at 41. One of my teammates is amazing, his pack only weighed 19 pounds. We're still trying to figure out how he did it - AMAZING!
After our gear check, we went to the airport with hopes of flying up to base camp. Instead, it turned into a weather watch. We found out no flights had been up to the glacier since Sunday, and Thursday wasn't looking good. We were shut out and returned to the Talkeetna Motel for another night. We came back on Friday morning and they were ready to send out some planes. We watched two take off loaded with gear and climbers, only to return 15 minutes later due to the cloud coverage and weather between Talkeetna and the mountain. To kill some time, five of us went for a run through Talkeetna. I think people were shocked to see us running through the streets. It was a good release of our energy. We headed back to the airstrip to wait some more. At five p.m., they let us know we wouldn't be getting up today due to the fog at base camp.
Finally, on Saturday morning, we got the call that we'd be flying out. I can't describe how excited we all were. We got our stuff to the airstrip and loaded up. The flight in is magnificent. You can see for miles and Mt. McKinley dominates the horizon.
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