Denali questions

[B the Hiker]

Hi all,

A while back I posted a question about gloves for my Denali attempt (flying out next Tuesday!) Per suggestions, I went with the expensive OR's, which are stunningly warm.

A bunch of folks generously also emailed me saying if I had questions, and I want to thank them for that as well.

Denali questions!

1) Handwarmers. I hate them, but was suggested to bring 6-8. I have two from a gift I was given. Should I bring 6-8?

2) Cell phone. I own a Blackberry Storm. Was told no coverage below 14,000 feet. If I charge the battery fully before I head out, and then take it out of the phone, and don't strap it to my body. Would it have any charge left if I turned the phone on at 17,000 after summiting? I would love to send out an "I made it" email and upload a picture or two. Or will the battery die?

3) Ipods. I'm bringing some good reading. Will I go out of my mind if I don't bring an ipod?

4) Whites. I own white tops and bottoms, and I loved them on Rainier. I can't get a sense of whether it'll be too cold this early in the season to need them, or will I basically be wrapped up warmer right from the start?

5) Pee bottles. Bring one or don't bother? (They're bulky)

6) Anybody bring something they really appreciated, that I should know about other than the obvious stuff?

Thanks for any thoughts you my be willing to share!


Brian

 

[Chugach001]

First off, congratulations in advance. No matter what, you will have a great trip.

Handwarmers - I never use them but I guess it is personal.

Cell Phone - battery should be fine. We called friends and family from the summit back in '97 with far lesser technology. You can also write a string of emails, even keep a diary and then send once up high and it will push out with minimal energy usage. I did this with my blackberry for several weeks after Hurricane Katrina and it went out once we had cell service restored.

Ipod would be nice. We had an old-school walkman and caught radio from 14k on up. NPR comes in strong.

Whites - I have used them extensively and did so on Denali at the lower elevations. It is a major slog up the glacier. Kahiltna base has recorded temps of 130f - seriously, it is like a solar reflector and anything dark absorbs all the heat. I sun blistered my mouth (gums, tongue, palette) while waiting for my flight out on a hot day. Bring zinc oxide for sun protection and one of those nose things.

Pee Bottle. I have used on expeditions and appreciated. It all depends on how tent-bound you are. If your water bottles are all cylindrical shaped, get a square pee bottle so there will not be confusion. Bulk is really not an issue because you have a monster pack and monster sled and the empty bottle weighs nothing.

Best Warm up trick I have is to take a hot water bottle and hold it between your legs at your crotch. You can actually shuffle about camp with this (hands free) and the heat goes right into your abdomen and femoral arteries.

I brought a monster shovel and enjoyed building a palace at 14 with it. I have too much energy to sit still in camp and a palace makes the stay that much better. Ski if you can. Getting down is a breeze with an efficient team. Guides will probably not let you do this.

If without guides, you can climb at a leisurely rate and ONLY in the sun. We didn't move until the sun hit our tent then ascended in sunlight and made camp during the set and quick off to bed.

Toilet paper is nice. Chocolate too. My wife and I did it as a 2 man team and we had a blast, took our time and had fun. If going without a guide, let me know and I can offer advice on more technical things like wands, camps, burying caches, and climbing gear.

Camp Booties are great. Most days you are only climbing about 6 hours so consider camp comfort.

Stop in to the Fairview Inn in Talkeetna and up your karma with a visit to the climber's memorial at the town cemetery. Also, The Mooses Tooth in Anchorage has world class gourmet pizza and home brew.

Enjoy!!!
Jeff

 

[HAMTERO]

Bring the pee bottle. Get a 1.5 litre Nalgene cantene (soft side). We couldn't get any cellphone service last year. Don't bring too much food. You can pick up FM stations at 14K.

Good luck, it's an awesome trip!

 

[jniehof]

Bring the pee bottle. Get a 1.5 litre Nalgene cantene (soft side).

B, ask Larry about that before you make that decision...he discovered the hard way why a soft-side pee bottle may not be a good idea. Sploosh.

 

[Snowflea]

You poor bas...

Kidding! Hope you have a great trip. For me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience; i.e. one I'm really glad to have undertaken but one that for a variety of reasons I have no desire to repeat.

Handwarmers: If your hands tend to get cold, definitely bring them. I brought about a dozen pair and used most of them.

Cell phone: My cell phone didn't work up there, but we rented a sat phone (which worked marginally). It was nice to let loved ones know we were still alive. It was also nice to "unplug" for awhile.

I really appreciated Hamtero's radio, especially when trying to sleep at 17,000 feet, when it helped relax my freaky Cheyne-Stokes respirations.

Definitely bring something to occupy your mind in the tent so you don't go out of your mind -- you will be spending a lot of time in there. This was one of the hardest parts of the trip for me. Over the 2+ weeks there, I lost fitness due to so much sitting around. I brought a couple of books and Sudoku (did hard level at 17,000 feet!).

Bring the white layers. The sun is intense. And don't forget to sunscreen the nostrils!

Absolutely, definitely bring a pee bottle. You will NOT want to exit your tent at night when it's 10 below and windy. And make sure it's big enough. You don't want to have to share with your tent partners; I may possibly be speaking from experience here. I used a soft Nalgene (w/Lady J) which promptly got trashed on our return to Talkeetna. (Didn't want to wonder if I got a bad bottle of wine on future backpacking trips.)

I brought way too much food and schlepped a lot of it back down. (A bit of it ended up in the 14 privy, just missed a step in the "process.") OTOH, my weight remained pretty stable, maybe a pound or two down at the end. Bring a variety of food, stuff you can get down even if you don't feel like eating.

Try to spend some time in Talkeetna afterward. It's a cool little town.

 

[B the Hiker]

I emailed a friend a few other questions off-line: Bringing fruit for the first couple of days, would it freeze? Do I really need four pair of wool socks and four pair of coolmax liners?

This is what he wrote me back:

# # #
f you don't like handwarmers, 6-8 sounds like a lot, and two for summit day a better thing to do. I bet you can always borrow some from groups going down if you use them early, too. And yeah, four pairs of socks seems excessive. I'd bring two sets but try to make sure they are both newish, not on their last legs. Three pair of underwear is not bad though. And make sure to bring lots of TP; they don't call it 'mountain money' for nothing. Some baby wipes are a good thing as well.

Make sure to have mosquito repellent for any down time in Talkeetna, plenty of the highest SPF sunblock you can find, and a little baggie or bottle of aspirin or your favorite NSAID hand on your person at all times against the inevitable altitude headaches. Make sure not to go nuts on lunch/snack food, bringing only what you will eat, not what you *should* eat. A spare pair of glacier or at least wrap-around sunglasses is nice, though you can probably count on someone else in your group to have them. Oh, and you should get a set of travel eyeshades (usually a few bucks in the travel section of most drug stores) to help you sleep, though a sock over the eyes will do in a pinch. A cheap thermometer to hang in the tent, or outside it, is nice too.

# # #

Thanks for all the comments so far! I know there are still of bunch of other folks out there from whom I could benefit hearing.

Brian

 

[The Lisa]

First off, have a GREAT time! I had a blast on Denali a few years and do want to go back and explore more technical routes. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

My 2c worth -
I used hand and FOOT warmers on summit day only - they were useful then but at no other time did I need them.

Do not bring too much food or fuel (seems to be a common mistake and you cannot return unused fuel, such a waste). Do bring food you know you will like for snacking during downtime or for passing around when having other tents over for tea (seriously, we had a very sociable time at 14,000' waiting for weather up high to clear). We played Frisbee too so maybe bring some toys.

Minimize changes of clothes and underwear - you will smell no worse than anyone else and will not feel like changing clothes a lot anyway.

Gear loft to hang in the tent - great for hanging boot liners, etc. up to dry.

Spare tarp for a kitchen roof - we had great fun making kitchens even if only staying 2 'nights' at a camp.

Purell/hand sanitizer - 2 little bottles go a long way - keep one with the toilet paper and one with kitchen stuff. (every time I smell cucumber-mint Purell it brings me back to Denali )

No need for headlamps and associated spare batteries.

 

[B the Hiker]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!

One last question: Haircut? Should I get my hair cut very short? Hair is very warm, and my hair at the moment isn't very long, but after some 19 days, I can't imagine it's pleasant.

Those with experience, suggestions?


Brian

 

[Jean]

1) Handwarmers.
Your call. I brought 8 and didn't use a single one.

2) Cell phone.
Useless if you ask me. One guy on our team brought his and it worked only at medical camp (14,200'). We also had a sat phone and only worked once.

3) Ipods.
Bring the Ipod. I would recommand light weight solar panel like this to recharge:
https://www.solio.com/charger/explore-solio/what-is-solio.html

4) Whites.
Sure. Didn't have any and sometimes wish I did. It gets surprisingly warm during the day.

5) Pee bottles.
We used the wide mouth 96oz Nalgene Cantene and I strongly recommand it.

6) Anybody bring something they really appreciated, that I should know about other than the obvious stuff?
Bring your favorite treat for when you get back to the tent on summit day.

 

[Jean]

Oh and like Stinkyfeet said.. sunscreen the nostrils!

 

[Tom Rankin]

Jean- what was the name of the guide service you used?

 

[Hampshire]

First of all have a great trip.

I brought an MP3 player with serveral audio books (a parnter had a solar charger that worked great).

The sun was very intense between base camp and 11,000 a hat and bandana worked for me.

[/URL]

I wear my hair very short and after 18 days on the mountain I needed a hair cut, trust me, you don't want your hair cut in Talkeetna.

Hit the Roadhouse for breakfast.

 

[B the Hiker]

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-repo...ceeding-or-not-on-denali-s-west-buttress.html

Someone emailed me this link off-line. It's very funny. If nothing else, check out the "The Completely Modern Denali Climber" halfway down on the right.


Brian

 

[Jean]

Jean- what was the name of the guide service you used?

I went with a freelance guide (Eric Remza) who worked with Mountain Trip for our expedition.

 

[Hampshire]

I asked my wife to write me a couple of notes to read during the climb.

These letters were the best / worst. They made me miss my wife and son very much / they made me miss my wife and son very very very much.

Examples:

Read before you start your climb.

Read when you are thinking of me.

Read at the "Edge of the World".

Read when you are tired or having a rough day.

Read when you are done climbing.