SKI DENALI Expedition - My Experience Climbing Denali and Skiing the Messner
Some of you may have seen my posts about Denali elsewhere, but I figured I’d post about it here for those of you who may be interested but hadn’t seen it.
This past June I had the adventure of a lifetime skiing Denali with my good friend Josh. Skiing one of the 7 summits had been a goal of mine since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Getting to check it off the “Life Goals” list, and doing it in the conditions we did it in, was a dream come true.
Among other routes, we were fortunate enough to ski the Messner Couloir in amazing snow – something that is very rare. Skiing Denali (especially the Messner) put the exclamation point at the end of an amazing ski-mountaineering season in which I was also fortunate enough to tag The Grand, Longs and North Maroon.
It was a 3 week expedition and I put a lot of time into the documentary and in-depth write-ups. I’ve posted all the videos and some of my favorite pictures in this thread, but I don’t want to redo all of the writing work in this thread. So, at the risk of people flaming me for spamming, I’m going to provide links to the write-ups. Not trying to spam…if you don’t want to see them, don’t click on them.
(If anyone can tell me how to display the images smaller in the forums please let me know. I tried several things with the bbcode but had no luck.)
10-26-2014, 09:59 PM
grinch
awesome post. wouldn't change the size on those pics a bit. thanks for sharing
10-26-2014, 10:32 PM
LSeed
^keep um big. So rad!!!
10-26-2014, 11:17 PM
LightRanger
Nice fucking work. A+.
10-26-2014, 11:23 PM
bfree
Badass, thanks for posting! I've been waiting for this one! And yeah, pics are good size as-is. If anyone complains, they need a monitor with more resolution.
10-27-2014, 12:33 AM
cat in january
What a year you had in the mountains and what amazing conditions you had for the descent Denali. Amazing, thanks for sharing.
10-27-2014, 03:12 AM
irratator
Great, Fn Great........
10-27-2014, 04:45 AM
Vt-Freeheel
Nice....
10-27-2014, 05:00 AM
MMP
Siiiiick,
10-27-2014, 07:40 AM
skifishbum
cream rises to the top again
thanks for churnin up the goods
10-27-2014, 09:02 AM
mtnbiker/boarder
just awesome .. thanks for sharing...
10-27-2014, 09:22 AM
hutash
Very cool, what a great trip, and and even greater season, way to get after it.
IMHO, link to your blog is perfectly fine as long as there is a reasonable TR posted here. It is the one pic wonders that bother me.
A few quick captions on so of the photos would be nice, though.
10-27-2014, 10:08 AM
jbski
Quote:
Originally Posted by hutash
A few quick captions on so of the photos would be nice, though.
Done.
10-27-2014, 10:12 AM
dark_star
FKNA. First rate.
10-27-2014, 10:32 AM
Tye 1on
well played sir!
FKNA!!!!:D
10-27-2014, 10:57 AM
thefrush
Inspiring. Wonderfully done and congrats on an incredible season. Thanks so much for sharing.
10-27-2014, 01:12 PM
xyz
not bad.
10-27-2014, 01:29 PM
406
WOW!
10-27-2014, 02:37 PM
_Aaron_
You guys killed it up there. Nice job waiting out the weather. Any interest in a north summit? 2017 maybe?
10-27-2014, 03:06 PM
jbski
Quote:
Originally Posted by _Aaron_
You guys killed it up there. Nice job waiting out the weather. Any interest in a north summit? 2017 maybe?
We killed it? Uhh...YOU GUYS KILLED IT up there!
For those that don't know, Aaron and crew skied the Big 3 all in one expedition (Hunter, Foraker, Denali). First time it has ever been done like that and only one other person (the legendary Andrew McClean) has ever skied all of them at any point. Really incredible. I was fortunate enough to see them on their way out on our second day on the mountain. They looked haggard but satisfied.
And to answer your question Aaron - yes. North Summit, Black Rock Peak, Wickrasham Wall and a first descent that we were eyeing on the West Buttress (had hoped to do it on this trip but it wasn't even plausible due to ice)...they all have me interested in getting back up there. The trick will be getting it cleared by the boss (=wife), haha.
10-27-2014, 03:26 PM
_Aaron_
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbski
And to answer your question Aaron - yes. North Summit, Black Rock Peak, Wickrasham Wall and a first descent that we were eyeing on the West Buttress (had hoped to do it on this trip but it wasn't even plausible due to ice)...they all have me interested in getting back up there. The trick will be getting it cleared by the boss (=wife), haha.
Sick. Lets talk about it next time I see you. You talk to the boss. I'll talk to myself. :fm:
10-27-2014, 06:06 PM
ak_powder_monkey
well that's something I want to do really bad, even more now. Maybe I should stop eating bacon poutine!
thanks for the inspiration!
10-27-2014, 07:07 PM
robrox
Beautiful work!
Loved the viddy: pacing, stoke and sound track.