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: