I was in a conversation today where it was pointed out to me that I used the words “makes my head hurt” (MMHH) in reference to a presentation that was done as part of a work project to me and a team.  What does this have to do with mountain climbing?
I had to think of [...]

Most of us get asked from time to time, why do you do what you do?  Why do you run marathons?  Why do you want to climb mountains?  Especially when the experience can be so - well - hard and distasteful.
Sir Edmund Hillary gave the supposedly flippant comment, “Because it’s there” - referring to his [...]

The most discussed topic on the mountain, besides when we will summit, is about food.  We fantasize about different meals that we will eat when we return and savor in our brains the different tastes and textures of food.  This is all understandable given that we are eating chocolate, nuts, packaged crackers and jerkey and [...]

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 [...]