Peak of the Northern American Continent, 6.194m, Alsaka.
| The team : |
Climbers : Jon-Kristian Prietz (Norway), Malcom Mac Kellar (Scotland), Paul Rose (USA), Agnes Sauvage (France), Sébastien Glorie (Belgium);
Guides : Joey Elton, Paul Ivaska. |
| Climbed with : |
American Alpine Institute |
| Duration, period : |
21 days, may 2006 |
| Summiters : |
None of us |
| Route : |
West Buttress |
| Advice : |
On the Denali, physical training is more important than an excellent technical
training. Loads are extremely heavy from the first day. |
Couldn't reach the summit.
Did you peak? Did you reach the summit? ... Questions that you always hear when you come back from an expedition. For some people, the only purpose seems to be reaching the summit. When you tell them that you haven't reach it, deception, disinterest or a feeling of failure is read in their eyes. There are many exogenous elements (weather, equipment, health, the group,...) that can prevent a climber from reaching the top. It took me some time also to understand that being able to peak shouldn't be the only purpose of an expedition. There are different kinds of peaks and it's not always the most obvious one that grows richer.
The amazing views offered every day during the ascent just blow your mind. Every tough moment you might have on the mountain is quickly wiped out by the impressive environment.
Harsh climb from day 1
The beginning of our trip was already tough. For our second day, our guides told us that we should be able to reach camp one within 5 to 7 hours. After walking during 8h30 (with our 30 kg backpack and 40 kg
sled) in poor visibility due to a snow fall we hadn't reached camp 1. As we were all extremely tired from this exhausting climb without having had time and weather condition to eat lunch, we decided to set the camp where we were standing. The next day, we realized that we were just 200 meters from the camp that we couldn't see with the whiteout.
Day 4, one member has to be brought back to BC.
On day four, we had to bring a member from our team back to the airstrip due to early exhaustion. It took us (Paul, Jon and I) a day to bring him back to base camp and return to camp 1. This was our first forced "rest day". A few days later, after reaching camp 2 at 11'000 feet, one of our team members fell sick and we took another rest day.
At camp 3 (14'000 feet) the weather deteriorated, and stuck the advance of our expedition for 2 extra days. When we eventually got the chance to move to our last camp (camp 4, 17'000 feet), during the ascent of the headwall, another member of the team couldn't move any further and had to be brought back. The rest of the group reached the last camp at 11pm. At that time we still had to set the camp and boil water to drink. By 1 am we were able to drink our soup and try to get some sleep. All climbers were extremely tired and exhausted by that day.
Last camp, only 50% of the team is ready for the summit push
At 17'000 feet we had to wait for a weather window to reach the summit : patience was essential for the last 6 of us. The wind started to blow really strong (100-140km/h) and destroyed our snow walls around the tents. We were stuck 4 nights at camp 4, losing strength and hope for the summit everyday. Gas and food reserve were getting low and we had to wait at that last camp with one meal per day. The fourth day the wind dropped a little bit and allowed us to move. None of us was even thinking about the summit. We just wanted to go home to see people we love. It took us 20h to get back to base camp that we reached at 4 in the morning.
"Failure is the mother of succes"
It's not despite of all the difficulties and the unexpected events but it's thanks to them that I can say that my expedition to the highest mountain on the northern American continent was a success. During this ascent, I learned a lot about mountaineering and about the different purposes of a climb. After this climb, I had to re-think my whole project to reach the seven summits..... But I kept my beliefs and started training for my first 8.000m: Cho Oyu.
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"I learn ten times more from every miscarry than from any success"
Mark F.Twight
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