(Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom to see all the photos!)
The guys woke up early, and took advantage of their last hot showers and real breakfast at the hotel, before they were picked up by their shuttle. After a few stops to buy groceries and fuel, they made their way to Talkeetna.
In Talkeetna, they had their mandatory orientation with the park rangers. This is to ensure they know what they’re doing, have all the right supplies, etc. Denali is a popular climb, doing this lowers the chances of accidents and rescues on the mountain. This is also where they get their CMC’s. Whats that, you ask? Well, it’s the portable toilet cans they will carry to use on the mountain. Leave No Trace is important in fragile ecosystems like glaciers, so climbers are required to bring their #2 deposits back down to Talkeetna for proper disposal. If you want to learn more, you can read about CMC’s on the Parks website HERE!
After orientation, it was time to grab a quick lunch (Tacos, no one is surprised by this) and head back to the hangar to pack and organize gear. They will carry half the gear in their backpacks and the other half in their sleds. They each have around 100lbs of gear.
At around 2:30pm local time, they took off from Sheldon Air in Talkeetna to fly to the starting point for their summit attempt. They landed safely, and will pitch their tent to spend the first night at Base Camp (7,200 feet). When they landed it was a balmy 50° out.
Tomorrow they are planning for an early morning start to hike up towards Camp 1!
Good luck Jason and Brent, we are all rooting for you!
Super excited for you!!
It was such a big adventure!