I spent the month of June hanging out on Denali with Colin Haley. Ultimately, we didn’t succeed on our main objective. It’s always difficult to fail after investing a month of time and energy, and in this case it was particularly difficult because it was mostly my fault.
In any case, climbing with Colin was a great learning experience and although this was my third trip to Denali, spending a month in such beautiful surroundings was as inspiring as ever.
However, I’ve yet to be inspired to write anything particularly insightful or soul-searching about the trip, so what follows are simply some photos.
Colin. Besides being a world-class alpinist, he was also a pretty fun guy to hang out with for a month
Colin skiing towards the West Rib cut-off on the first of many acclimatization forays above the 14 thousand foot camp.
Colin climbing in the Rescue Gully. We turned around due to some avalanche concerns; a bit of an ongoing theme during our acclimatization climbs.
Avoiding the lineups on the fixed ropes of the West Buttress headwall.
Scenic hiking above the clouds on the West Buttress.
Scrambling around on the upper mountain on a cold and windy day. Photo: Colin Haley.
Colin slogging above Denali Pass.
A rather chilly evening on the summit. My second time on the summit (the first was after climbing the Cassin Ridge in 2006) and Colin’s twelfth.
Colin descending the summit ridge.
A lovely evening on the West Buttress.
Scrambling on the Upper West Rib. Photo: Colin Haley.
Climbing in the Orient Express. Photo: Colin Haley.
Returning to camp after bailing as a lenticular cloud forms on Mt. Foraker.
Your “fail” would be most of we-mere-mortal’s adventure trip of a lifetime!
Great photos.