I have now been back for 14 full days since Denali.  It took me a few days to get back to the gym, but by Wednesday, I had restarted weight training and by Friday had done my first run.  Legs were and still sore or achy but I’ve started reasonably slow progressing from 3 miles [...]

I was thinking of what I brought that worked well and what could have been better. Here is my short list:
1. Boots - The Everest Millet boots were worn on the mountain for the first time. They saved a lot of time with avoiding gaiters and overboots and except for banging around [...]

As I had written in previous post, a lot of people ask how you go to the bathroom on a big mountain such as Mt Denali. The answer: very very carefully
First, for us guys, we have a much easier experience for half the time. We can take a pee most anywhere [...]

Sam and Alex were a wonderful couple from UK that are both about 21 years old (three years younger than my Youngest (Nick).  I and everyone had nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for them.  They were eternally cheerful and happy and (I think) Sam was the strongest climber in the group (especially since [...]

The other four members of our climbing expedition were Sandra (from Canada), Laine (from South Africa) and Alex and Sam from UK. Here’s a bit of memories of each:
Sandra
Sandra and I had communicated prior to the climb on email and via our Facebook accounts. She had put together a nice piece on Denali [...]

When you climb a big mountain such as Denali, you get the opportunity to spend lots of time with your guides and fellow climbers, who are also responsible as a team for our success and in some cases, our lives. Here’s some afterthoughts on our team-members:
THE GUIDES: Nate Opp and Joey McBrayer
It sounds trite [...]

A short update to the blog with more to follow going backward and posting of pictures.  We summited on July 8th (9 hours up and 4.5 down) getting in to high camp at 17,200 around midnight.  We unfortunately had to past the body (in snow) of the young Indonesian man who had perished the night [...]

I awoke at around 830am and started getting all of the stuff ready to be transported home. Once this was done, it was a very satisfying moment and seeing everything buttoned up.
We had breakfast in the hotel and I had a massive meal of omelet, bacon, potatoes, muffins and juices. We went shopping [...]

Sandra, Mitch, Alex, Paula and Sam in Talkeetna
On Saturday morning we got up and sorted through all of our equipment and gear to get packed up in the duffel bag and pack for the return journey. We had a 1/2 standard breakfast at the Roadhouse Cafe again (eggs, toast, bacon, hashbrowns, tea and juice).
It [...]

We rushed down to 7800′ without snowshoes and the walking was great. The moon was out, the light from the night was amazing and to know we were so close and climbing in the middle of the night with great tunes playing in my ears was wonderful We could see Venus in the [...]