If you have been following this since the beginning you may have seen some subtle changes in tone. From the start, this adventure has taken hold of me. It has been the reason I want to wake up and the reason I want to keep my eyes closed just a little bit longer. It drains me just to fill me back up and just when I feel it may be too big to handle I remember one thing... A dream is only a dream until I make it a reality. And the reality is there is so much more happening on the other side of the screen you are looking at right now than just the words you read. At this very moment there are nearly 1,000 people preparing themselves to climb Denali this spring. Of that 1,000 even fewer have decided to climb without the luxuries of a guide service. Not having a guide adds another dynamic to the climb that most do not realize. When dealing with a goal of such enormity the romantisism is put on the way side in order to better address the logistic side of things as they are so closely connected to the matters of life and death. The past few weeks have been spent watching the midnight hours reflect off my computer screen as I feverishly try and digest copious amounts of beta I find on the interweb then only to cross reference it with information I've read from the the pages of the latest mountaineering book I got my hands on. Maps and time lines, permits and plane flights, gear and food, acclimation day and caches, prusiks and jumars, crevasse rescue and pulley systems......... oh yeah and make a physical impact on the day. If you thought all of this was just putting one foot in front of the other on a long uphill trek then you are wrong, If you knew at some point I would come to this realization myself ...you are right and I am up for the challenge. Now as the curtains close on another day, again I bury my nose in the many things to help pacify a days eagerness to end. And all of this in preparation for the journey North.
Oh and keep your eye out as the fifth and final climbers bio will be up soon as well as a pretty cool interviews with people who have been to the top and are willing to give their insight on Denali.
