Blog Posts for 2008

AJ Linnell adjusts his Wagner Custom snowboard and approach skis on Denali's upper west ridge

I woke up on the morning of June 14th to temperatures well below zero, with frost caked around the hood of my sleeping bag and a layer of the stuff coating the inside of the tent walls. Every move brought a shower down from the ceiling. I could hear Jaime firing up the stoves in the cook Megamid while we blearily put on layer after layer of clothing and rammed our feet into frozen boot shells. The snow squeaked underfoot as we walked around camp, strapping snowboard and skis to our packs and donning harnesses that we wouldn’t remove until well past dinnertime. Looking up, I saw with apprehension a curl of spindrift blowing off the summit plateau, but the lower half of our climbing route was clear, and though the sun was hours away from us on the other side of the mountain I had a good feeling about what we would find once we got up on the Rib.

Mount Foraker in the background - AJ works towards Denali's summit

Juiced up on coffee and oatmeal, we walked out of 14-Camp and deeper into the shadow of the upper mountain, breaking trail through 20cm of fresh snow from the last few days’ flurries. We roped up to cross some bigger crevasses and work our way across the head of the glacier, arriving at the West Rib cutoff (16,200’) just as the sun hit the Russian team that was camped there. Looking down the lower Rib, it seemed like there could be some potential for a 7000’ snowboard/ski descent down to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, but on another day, on a different trip. (First descent, possibly?) Our objective was to climb the Upper West Rib for 4000’ to the summit and then ride/ski the Messner Couloir back down to 14-Camp, 6000’ below.

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On June 26th my bud Grayson and I decided to go search for some snow and landed on climbing the main chute in Gold King Basin. The main “problem” we ran into actually accrued the night before when at around 1:00 in the morning we decided to go the next day. We were going to try and start walking at about 8:00am so we would have some time to chill out and take it in at the top. Needless to say we ended up getting a late start and didn’t arrive there until around 9:00. Although we had our doubts about how the snow would be once we got to the top, the conditions turned out to be ideal. It managed to stay cold enough to provide us with a nice thin layer of corn atop the firm under layer. I was stoked on the conditions and got to ski the chute switch top to bottom on my new Wagner Custom sticks. Grayson also tore it up after not being on skis for several months. The only low point to the entire expedition was my realization of how out of shape my vacation has made me, other than that we had a bright sunny day with some sick turns. Looking back we got incredibly lucky with the conditions and weather, which made for an epic day. The next trip we have planned at the moment is the Lunar Cup up in Savage Basin. It should be sick with all the snow we got this year! -Woody

So I’m just back from guiding a successful Denali climb with a great friend of mine, recuperating and trying to regain some of the weight that I lost while we were stuck in a storm at high camp for a week. (17,200′) Hanging around in Palmer at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) base has been wonderful, eating five or six meals a day and catching up with old friends, but it took only about 15 minutes of being here for me to start getting excited about my next “project”. I’m prepping another Denali climb right now, with the intention of heading into the Range with a few friends and trying to ride some lines off of both summits. (Denali has two summits, the Southern being the actual summit and the Northern being a bit lower.) The riding potential in there is mind-blowing, with HUGE couloirs and hanging faces all around, including some first- and second-descents. I get blown away just thinking that I have the opportunity to make this trip happen, and that I have three close friends who can do it with me.

Having made our unavoidable trip to Anchorage yesterday, we spent today packing, repairing worn gear, re-sizing crampons to our ski boots, insulating our ice axes, consuming lots of calories, and generally doing all of the stuff one has to do before a 3-week trip at altitude. In some ways it feels like any other trip that we’ve worked together. Except that this time I get to bring my board, and they get to bring skis, and we get to do it our way. No clients, no students. Mmmm… I’m looking forward so much to traveling on my Wagner Custom approach skis after using snowshoes with my clients last month. And getting to ride lines that I’ve only dreamed about on past trips?! Holy crap!!! I will admit to being a bit disheartened after watching much of the snow on the upper mountain blow away during our high-camp storm, but it’s gotta snow before we arrive up there again, right? And if not, the Messner Couloir and the lines off the North Summit still had snow in them when we left. Just not powder. Any way you slice it, we’re going to have an amazing time, and I’m going to get the opportunity to put my board and approach skis from Wagner Custom through the wringer in the ultimate testing ground. Wahoo.

Cheers,
AJ

Skinning away from the truck at 4:30 in the morning can be rough. It’s dark. It’s cold. And it’s 4:30 for god’s sake. Doubts creep in, and I find it easy to invent reasons we should turn around, get back in the truck, and make the hour drive back to my warm bed where my wife lies sleeping. But then I look up at the massive starry sky and at the craggy shapes of the Tetons I love, snowfields subtly lit up by the half moon, and I find it easy to anticipate magnificent things to come. So I keep moving forward, away from the truck and the warmth it could offer, and choose the unsure experience ahead. Embracing the cold and dark I skin up towards the days objective, today’s being the Southeast Face of the South Teton, and I enjoy the work and sweat and mild discomfort of it all. At least until the coffee wears off.

Yesterday brought a break in the storm of the past week, but Alex and I knew that the cold temps up high had maintained the snow quality while the sun had started the stabilization process. The sun rose as we passed the Platforms in Garnet Canyon, and a biting cold wind blew in our faces for the last three hours of our climb. We walked the summit ridge under bluebird skies 7 hours after leaving the parking lot, with a stiff breeze blowing us along and unobstructed views in every direction. Amazing.

The view down the Southeast Face was surprisingly frightening, at least initially. An initial 300′ of 60-degree turns led down to a more moderate, wide open 45-degree face that ran 1200′ before ending abruptly in an 800′ cliff. Traversing left would bring us into the cirque below the South and Matternaught Peak, and down through the narrows into Avalanche Canyon. Hand shears showed 15cm of warming powder over a firm base–we couldn’t have asked for better conditions! I led down the first pitch, making controlled, confident turns on my new Wagner board. (I’ve been astonished at how fun this board is, and was further impressed at its stability and power in steep terrain.) The surface sluffed behind me with every turn, causing a bit of vertigo as I rode down a face that seemed to be moving with me. I stopped near our intended traverse and called for Alex to join me. He whooped as he carved through the firm pow, and after meeting up we swapped leads down through the narrows and to a sunny picnic spot on the edge of Lake Taminah.

The snow got wetter and stickier as we finished our descent out of the canyon, and we stripped down to t-shirts for the glide across Taggart Lake and through the moraines to the parking lot. Today was a phenomenal day in the mountains, successfully making a big descent of a big peak with a great friend. Awesome.