Denali 2011

Expedition Training Begins...
We haven't bought permits or plane tickets yet, but it's getting pretty official so I thought I'd start to mention it on my blog.  Dad and I are gearing up for a ski expedition to climb Denali, the highest point in North America this coming June.  I spent most of Friday afternoon rigging up sleds to pull up Big Mountain with weights to train and our first sled-pull came shortly thereafter that evening.  We climbed with 30 pound sleds and 20 pound packs for about half an hour.  I found that it wasn't that difficult, but that weight is still chump change compared to the 80 pound sleds and 70 pound packs we'll have to be able to shuttle from Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier.  The sled training configuration needs some work especially the ability to ski down; helpful if we hope to drag them to the top of Big Mountain, let alone 14 thousand feet on Denali.

I know there will be a lot of this the next coming months:

As if we didn't already know we were going the "wrong way"
they had to go and put a big, red sign pointing "Uphill"...

...but thankfully moving uphill on skis more often than not means good partners and equally good conversation.  I can't wait until we can be on skis or in the mountains together again, brother Tim.