p.2 #1A little bit further: To 18,200 ft on Denali with a Q2M.
Al Trujillo wrote:
These are incredible images and thank you for sharing them with us.
Thanks!
Al Trujillo wrote:
The expedition timeline...when you left your house until returning, how many days were you on this trip? My guess is three weeks but I'd love to hear more about the logistics of such a trip.
Yeah, 3 weeks is about right. It obviously varies from one season to the next. Even within a season, one team can have drastically different weather than the next team (following ~5 days behind).
For example, in 2023 we had fine weather in 14 camp, but further up the weather was poor, so we stayed put. When it became obvious that we would run out of food before the next weather window, we went back to base camp. By then even base camp had lousy weather so we were stuck there for 3 days before flying back to Talkeetna. Being stuck in base camp for 3 days after not summiting was lame. For this reason people stash really good food (and beer) in a base camp, so you can at least have a good time. One fun base camp activity was to stomp out a runway with our snow shoes for the ski plane. We did this on three occasions.
In 2025, there was a team who started one week ahead of us and bad weather trapped them in 11 camp for over 9 days. That was their high point.
In terms of logistics, I specifically picked a guided trip, so they would take care of most of the logistics for me. All I had to do was to buy climbing gear, get into shape, and show up. The guide company provided tents, food (breakfast and dinner only, lunch was my responsibility), and guides. While the guide company provided lots of things, the clients had to carry their own gear and a share of the team gear. I would not have wanted to climb any other way.