Thread: DesLauriers Attempts to Become 1st Woman to Ski Denali

The decent is pretty impressive just my the numbers, it would be nice to see some footy of it.



Anchorage, Alaska (Ski Press)-On May 4th, Kit DesLauriers commenced the attempt to be the first woman to ski Denali (Mt. McKinley) from its summit. Among a team of four American alpinists from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Kit will ascend the West Buttress Route before their attempt to ski and snowboard the Messner Couloir or Orient Express. She is joined by her husband and skier, Rob DesLauriers, snowboarder, John Griber and skier/photographer, Chis Figenshau.

May 1st the “D-Ski” Expedition left Anchorage for the Base Camp at the 7,200 feet on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. They then skinned up to Advanced Base Camp at 14,200 feet pulling all personal equipment with them via sleds. Utilizing alpine touring gear including the ultra-light 1 pound 8 ounce Dynafit Tour Lite Tech Bindings, the team will skin up the lower slopes on skis and then carry their gear up the increasingly steep terrain before attempting to ski from the summit.

The descent will include a 4,800 couloir of 40-55 degrees, which should prove the ultimate test on the descent. The planned summit window will be between May 15th and May 24th, 2004.

At 20,320 feet above sea level, extreme latitude and cold temperatures, a ski or snowboard descent of Denali is one of the premier ski mountaineering challenges. The first descent by a woman would be a particular prize to Kit DesLauriers who has also added a Women’s World Cup Extreme Skiing Championship and a First Descent by a woman of Mt. Aspiring in New Zealand to her resume in the past year. Rob DesLauriers literally wrote the book on steep skiing, titled, “Ski the Whole Mountain” and is one of the top steep ski coaches in the world. John Griber has a long list of pioneering snowboard descents from the Himalayas to the Tetons. Finally, skier Chris Figenshau will document the ascent and descent with video and photo footage.

Link

Good article here

[Cartman voice]

I said "Hey!!! Get back in the kitchen and make me some PIE!!!"

[/Cartman voice]