The team and the plan

There are five converging in Anchorage tonight. Two from Boulder, one from Manhattan, one also from the east coast and one from the west. There are two ladies and three gentlemen. Two who have been up Everest, two who have attempted, and five who have climbed in Nepal. There are two who have summited Denali before, one who has attempted, and two who are new to the mountain. Two in their 30's, one in their 40's, one in their 50's, and one in their 60's. Throw them all together and it should be a good mix! The team started with Jaroslaw, who is working on his 7 summits, expanded to Jim and Pete, who love climbing in Alaska, then finished up with Cindy and myself from Boulder, who have climbed together a lot previously and are excited to give Denali a try.

The plan involves getting on the mountain quickly (by Saturday eve if flights are flying in--the weather looks promising), moving up the mountain using four camps (7,800 ft, 11k, 14k, and 17.2k), carrying on the order of 90 lbs combined in our backpacks and sleds, and hoping that it only snows (if it must) on our planned rest days :) We of course have flexible days in our plan, as anyone who goes to the mountain must, but we're hoping the weather and the mountain treats us well.