Mt. McKinley 20,320ft.: West Buttress, June 15-30, 1999
Team: Invertebrates On Ice - Bill Frans, Joe Pearce and Sam Avaiusini
Click here for a map of our route: 
Our trip couldn't have gone much smoother. Round trip, we took 16 days and had only 3-4 days of cloudy weather. We were fortunate to be able to ski from the top of North America's highest peak on June 27th, 1999.
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The West Buttress: 7,200ft.-20,320ft.
photo: Bradford Washburn |
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Close-up: 16,200ft.-17,200ft.
photo: Bradford Washburn |
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Summit Day: 17,200ft.-20,320ft.
photo: Bradford Washburn |
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Denali as seen from Talkeetna
photo: Bill Frans |
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Joe poses in town
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We used Talkeetna Air Taxi
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Zee plane!
photo: Bill Frans |
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The plane is equipped with skis to land on the glacier.
photo: Bill Frans |
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All our crap, ready to go!
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Takeoff!
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The 45 minute flight takes us through some amazing scenery.
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Final approach: SE Fork, Kahiltna Glacier
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We land at the base on Mt. Hunter.
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dork #1 (Bill)
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dork #2 (Joe)
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dork #3 (Sam)
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We spent the first night at the airstrip.
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clouds part at the NE Fork
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break at the base of "Ski Hill"
photo: Bill Frans |
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Sam carrys a load to camp at 8,500ft
photo: Bill Frans |
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after making the drop, Bill harvests some corn
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Joe on Ski Hill
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Joe and Sam arrive at camp 2, 8,500ft. Mt. Crosson in background.
photo: Bill Frans |
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view back down the glacier from camp 2
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slummin', McKinley style
photo: Bill Frans |
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| Date: | Camp altitude: | Day's events: |
| June 14th: | 800ft. | fly to Anchorage, shuttle to Talkeetna |
| June 15th: | 7,200ft. | Talkeetna Air Taxi flight to SE fork, Kahiltna |
| June 16th: | 8,500ft. | move camp to Ski Hill, freeskied |
| June 17th: | 9,700ft. | move camp to 9,700ft., whiteout |
| June 18th: | 11,000ft. | move camp to Motorcycle Hill, freeskied |
| June 19th: | 11,000ft. | carry to Windy Corner (13,200ft.), cached sleds and skied original Washburn route back to camp, more freeskiing at camp |
| June 20th: | 14,200ft. | move camp to Genet Basin |
| June 21st: | 14,200ft. | retrieved sleds at Windy Corner, skied laps on the headwall to base of fixed lines |
| June 22nd: | 14,200ft. | Rest Day - walked to "Edge of the World", freeskied the headwall |
| June 23rd: | 14,200ft. | Recon into Orient Express, 16,200ft. High avalanche danger turns us back to camp. Change plans: climb standard route to summit, ski the Rescue Gully on the descent. |
| June 24th: | 17,200ft. | climb standard route up headwall on to "High Camp" |
| June 25th: | 17,200ft. | summit attempt - turned around at Denali Pass due to weather, skied back to camp |
| June 26th: | 17,200ft. | Rest Day |
| June 27th: | 17,200ft. | 2nd summit attempt - at Denali Pass, Bill must turn around due to freezing feet, Sam and Joe continue to the top and ski down. |
| June 28th: | 17,200ft. | Rest Day for Sam and Joe - Bill summits with two Swiss climbers |
| June 29th: | 14,200ft. | skied Rescue Gully back down to 14,200ft. |
| June 30th: | 800ft. | skied entire route back to Kahiltna Base Camp in 6 hours, TAT flight back to Talkeetna |
| July 1st: | 30ft. | Fly home to Seattle |
