FUNDING!! We Both Win Mountain Fellowships from the American Alpine Club

Funding an expedition like this, as you might imagine, is a job unto itself.  We haven't spent much time documenting our monetary struggles because - well - it's been a bit depressing.  But two days ago we won our second victory in the fundraising war, as both Max and I were awarded Mountain Fellowship Grants of $600 from the American Alpine Club.

"Started in 1966, the Mountain Fellowship Fund grants encourage young American climbers age 25 years and under to go into remote areas and seek out climbs more difficult than they might ordinarily be able to do."

With $1,200 from the AAC, we expect to able to purchase about half of the gear we still need (see upcoming posts).  We're still a long way from finding all the funding we need, especially considering we have yet to purchase our tickets, permits or food.  But these grants certainly help.

Keep your fingers crossed, as our applications for the McNeill-Nott Award from the AAC and the Jim Wilcox Award from the Ragged Mountain Foundation are still being considered.  

Training Update #2

Waterfall climbing is NOT training for Denali.  I freely acnkowledge this.  But really... it's all I want to do right now.  And it trains the head, if not the lungs, and that counts for something.

Today Rita Ciambra and I headed to Frankenstein and managed to snag Dracula in thin conditions.

FIRST ICE! (Thanksgiving Day)

The Black Dike - a bit thin

Max and I finally got first ice yesterday, up on Cannon Cliff.

We awoke at about 3:45, left by 4, and were at the base of the Black Dike (WI4 M3) at about 7 AM.

Then we got held up by another party, who'd arrived in the parking lot about 10 minutes before us.  Still, we topped out around 1 and got back for Turkey by 3:30.

What a great way to start the season.

Some lessons:

Max is in love with his new tools.  If they could belay him, I have little doubt that I'd be dropped like a hot brick.

The ultra-lightweight CAMP Air CR harness I was wearing for the first time is NOT designed for climbing, unless you're soloing, I suppose.  Going back to my old Petzl until I can afford a Xenos.

Cold Front Coming In!

The weather is supposed to be getting nice and cold for the next few days, hopefully enough to bring the early season ice back.  Looking forward to getting some good climbing in on my next "weekend" (Mon, Tues, Wed).

Starting to get excited, bought a new pair of ice tools a couple weeks ago, sharpening crampons, getting my winter climbing gear ready.  Getting into the mindset, just need to make it through the next four days of work.

-Max

VERMONT

I'm back!  It's beautiful, my tools are sharp, and it's too fucking warm.

But Max and I are now on the same coast, meaning we can train together, hopefully starting tomorrow at Smugg's.

Joe Puryear falls to his death on LaBuche Kang (7,367m) in Tibet

Our hearts go out to Michelle, Gail and Shirley Puryear, to David Gottlieb, his climbing partner, and to all of Joe's friends.

My connection is a distant one: my uncles and father met Dave on Rainier a few years ago, and subsequently turned me on to his and Joe's blogs.  Reading Joe's stories in the Alpinist, his Alaska guidebook, and his blog posts has been a bit more meaningful to me because of that connection, though it is a distant one.  Actually, I was always just a bit amazed that regular schlubs like my dad and uncles could just randomly befriend a world-class alpinist.

Anyway, it should be fairly obvious at this point that this blog is modeled on Joe and Dave's blogs, both visually and in purpose.  So it seems this is another appropriate place to lament Joe's death, and to wish his family well.

He was truly one of mountaineering's greats, and always climbed in the finest style.

Please visit their most recent blog and make a donation to the fund to bring Joe home.

Early Season Ice (Sort of)

Pike and I taking shelter from the wind halfway up Odell's Gully

Hiked into Huntington Ravine 11/1 realized how out of shape I am. Ice conditions weren't great, thin, hollow ice over running water most of the way. Pinnacle gully was still a waterfall as was much of Odell's but we still managed the right side of Odell's. Super easy low angle ice to brutal swimming through waist deep snowdrift for the last 500 feet of the gully led to high winds in the alpine gardens and finally a cozy night in the hermit lake lean-tos.

A great trip overall, my shoulder's killing me but I can't wait to get back next week, the ice should be better and I'll be in better shape.

-Max

Perhaps we're taking this too far?

The Chicken rides the Pig on Leaning Tower - the Cow was on lead.

The Chicken Storms Yosemite; This is Training, Right?

So here I am, sitting at the pizza deck in Curry Village, which apparently is the only location in the Valley with free internet.  Miles Turner and I have been tearing up Yosemite (along with park employees Eric Bissell and David Aguasca) - by which I mean we've been practicing our big-wall techniques for a go at the Nose with Mr. Ryan Dilts.  Meanwhile, our pal the Chicken has been taking Yosemite by storm:

 

The Chicken slots a nut on Royal Arches. 

 

The Chicken uses his wing on Generator Crack. 

... this is training, right??

HTML and Other Headaches of the Blogosphere

Encouraged by friends who say they're adding this thing to their Google Reader (yikes!), I've decided to start updating a bit more often.  Also because we got our first comment, and it was positive (thanks Libby!).
So for those of you considering starting blogs - to help raise money for a trip, to keep your friends in the loop, or just because you're kind of tacky and haven't heard of Twitter - be aware that it comes with certain obligations.

One of which, I discovered the other day, is teaching yourself HTML.  It turns out that embedding video that is a. high quality, b. centered, c. has a splash screen d. autobuffers but doesn't autoload e. etc. etc. is REALLY DIFFICULT.  Perfectionism is a desirable quality in an alpinist,  I think, but by nature of the game it's never really possible.  At some point things have to be "good enough."  Not so with HTML.  With HTML it has to be perfect or it doesn't work at all.  

In case you haven't gotten the picture by now, it took me approximately six hours the other day to post that video.  Fortunately I saved the code, so it should be easier in the future.  But aspiring bloggers, beware!

Fitness Update #1

1.  Fuck! Max messed himself up and will barely be back for the waterfall ice season.  What the fuck was he thinking, playing rugby?  If we were on the same coast, I'd probably break his other collarbone.

2.  I'm not so fit myself.  A summer of backpacking and a Sept. of bumming around and sailing hasn't done much for my fitness level.  There were two brief forays up Grand Teton, one successful and one not (see video-it should be noted that we had no ice pro with us), but those hardly count for much.  Here's where I am:

Pull-ups: 11 (1st set only)
Miles able to run: 0
Pushups: 25
Resting HR: 74 (up from about 58 earlier this summer)
Weight: 163

It's a pretty sorry state, I'll be the first to admit.

- Jacon

Climbers Shouldn't Play Rugby

I have experienced a small setback in my training. I refractured my left clavicle playing rugby on Saturday and can't climb or wear a heavy pack for at least 6 weeks. Trail running and hiking are still in, but I was finally back up to full strength from the last time a broke my collar bone and then destroyed all the healing bone that joined the two separated sides of the bone.

In the scheme of things, not horrible as I also need to work and earn enough money for all the gear I need to deal with the sub-zero temps of Denali, but it is certainly a set-back in terms of training and strength.

Overall, I'm trying to stay positive and have no doubt in my ability to push hard for four months of training through the winter and be as ready as possible for what Alaska has to throw at me.

-Max

Obstacle #1: Location

Obstacle #1 is a big one: about 3,000 miles.  I'm in Conway, WA and Max is in Hanover, NH.  Somehow we both need to get to Driggs, ID, find a place to live, find jobs and begin training for our expedition.

First post: the objective

This is the chronicle of our journey to climb the Cassin Ridge (Alaska Grade V, 5.8, AI 4), an 8,000' line up Mt. Mckinley.  We're not sponsored climbers, we're mostly broke, and we've never attempted an objective of this scale before. So with all that it mind... it should be one hell of an adventure.  It's September 4th, and there are a whole bunch of obstacles lying between us and our objective. Stay tuned.

Here's a Washburn photo, with the Cassin marked in red: