Folks, the day is upon us. Justin and his 4 teammates have landed at Denali’s base camp at 7,200 feet (Denali’s summit is 20,310 feet).


The team sorted all their gear on Sunday and left it in the K2 Aviation hanger in Talkeetna, then stayed at an Airbnb in Talkeetna owned by a friend of ours.





Monday morning, they had their prep meeting with the NPS rangers. You’ll see from the ranger station sign pic below, there are more than 1,000 climbers registered, and 166 on the mountain. No one has summited, and 9 have come down already. The wind has been BAD. So terrible that teams couldn’t even get onto the mountain (there’s 1 team that had flown there TWICE, only to return to Talkeetna because they couldn’t land the plane; they are on the mountain now).

Amazingly, after 4 days of not flying due to weather, K2 Aviation in Talkeetna had planes flying Monday, the day Justin’s team hoped to get on! Let’s hope the weather gods keep smiling upon Justin’s team.

Thanks to the SPOT X satellite messenger, I hope to get pretty regular updates on their progress. So my plan is to update you guys maybe every few days. As a reminder, the climb could take anywhere from 15-35 days. Justin was on the mountain for 23 days last time. He has enough food for 28 days this time.
He certainly is carrying more gear and food than his climb in 2016, mainly because this is an unguided trip. Last time with RMI Expeditions, the guides carried much of the cookware, group gear (i.e., wands, ropes, etc) and group food. In this case, the 5 guys are splitting it all up, which adds more weight to their personal loads.
I really don’t know how he does it, but the grand total of his personal gear is … 137 pounds! He is wearing his 100-liter backpack and pulling a sled with 2 duffle bags.
You guys, he weighs 141 pounds! Actually, with his clothing & mountaineering boots, he weighs 153 pounds. I’m not a math person, but somehow this seems crazy!!
Gear for the team of 5 weighed in at 750 pounds.


His gear changed some since 2016 (see the gear review post here), and here is the grand list for 2019:
Gregory Denali 100 Liter Backpack
Gregory Alpaca Duffle (1st bag on sled)
Big Agnes Battle Mountain Tent 2P (personal tent)
Big Agnes Battle Mountain Footprint
Sierra Designs Mountain Guide Tarp (tent for team kitchen/meeting room)
Therm-a-Rest Polar Ranger Sleeping Bag -20
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir X-Therm Max Sleeping Pad
Therm-a-Rest Ridgerest Pad
Therm-a-Rest Sleeping Liner
Therm-a-rest Air Head Light Pillow
Therm-a-Rest Z Seat
Zen Bivy Pillow
MSR Pro Bivy (emergencies)
Leki Condor Poles
FOOTWEAR
La Sportiva Spantik Boots
Superfeet Redhot Insoles
Exped Down Booty WB
Superfeet Merino Wool Insoles
Outdoor Research Expedition Crocodile Gaitors
40 Below Purple Haze Overboots
Farm to Feet Denali Socks
Cloudline Compression Socks
3 pairs Lorpen T3 Inferno Expedition Polartec Socks
CLOTHING
Black Diamond Rhythm Tee (testing for Backpacker)
Columbia Short Sleeved Tech Shirt
Black Diamond Alpenglow Sun Hoody
Ortovox Fleece Lite Grid Jacket (testing for Backpacker)
Ice Breaker Body Fit Midlayer Botton
Brynje of Norway Arctic Merino Wool Baselayers (Tops & Bottoms)
Mountain Hardware Touren Softshell Pants
Eddie Bauer First Ascent BC Alpine Pants
Mountain Hardware Compressor Insulated Pants
ArcTeryc Proton Hoody
Blackyak Pasiega Hardshell (testing for Backpacker)
Big Agnes Jacket (testing)
ExOfficio Give N Go Boxers
Outdoor Research Alti Mitts
Gordini Camber Mitts
Black Diamond Patrol Gloves
Shower Pass Waterproof Light Gloves
First Ascent Guide Trigger Mitts
CTR Headwall Versatile Glove
4 beanie caps (Mountain Hardware, The North Face, CTR Tempest Cap)
1 Buff
1 Serius Face Mask
Trucker Ball Cap with Brim
OTHER ESSENTIALS
SPOT Gen X 2-Way Satellite Messenger
Powertraveller Falcon Panel 40
Powertraveller Falcon Panel 20
Powertraveller Extreme Solar
Powertraveller Extreme Powerbank
Sawyer First Aid Kit
Sawyer Stay Put Sunblock SPF 30
Beko 2013 Nose Guard
Jublo Dolgan Glacier Glasses x 2
Stage Stunt Photo-chromatic Googles
Hand Warmers
Sea to Summit XLarge Airlite Towel
Journal
Suunto 9 GPS Watch
2 iPad Minis full of movies/games
1 iPod full of music
1 iPhone
1 Pentax Optio WG2 Waterproof Camera
Kindle Paperwhite
COOKWARE
MSR Personal Windburner Stove System
MSR XGK – Ex with arctic pump
MSR Trillium Stove Base
Stanley Coffee Cup
Klean Kanteen TK Pro Thermos
3 Nalgene Bottles (1 is a pee bottle)
2 Outdoor Research Bottle Insulators
Morsel Spork
Gerber ComplEAT Cook, Eat & Clean Tool
TECHNICAL GEAR THAT ONLY MOUNTAINEERS MIGHT UNDERSTAND
Atlas Snowshoes (new – testing for Backpacker)
Black Diamond Raven Pro Ice Axe
Black Diamond Helmet
Black Diamon Contact Crampons
Mammut Alugator Pro Light Shovel
MSR CX 320 Striker Probe
MSR Cable Pickets 5
MSR Snow Tough Stakes 10
Brooks Range Snow Saw
Black Diamond Vision Harness
2 Black Diamon Ice Screws
7 Various Locking Carabiners
3-piece pulley crevasse system
Petzl belay device
Ascender
12 Black Diamond Quickwire non-locking carabiners
2 bale prussiks
2 long slings
2 short slings 5 assorted cordalets
2 Motorola Walkie Talkies
Big Agnes Rolling Stagecoach 125L Duffle (not on the mountain, just for transport to Alaska)
And here are some snippets of his food stash. 28 days worth … Climbers need about 5,000 calories a day, which is not easy to accumulate with oatmeal, hummus, tuna, pringles, bars, dehydrated meals …


Stay tuned!
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so fascinating and love the food stash pics- totally my area!! wishing him best of luck!
Good luck and God speed. Enjoy the adventure!
He’s a champion! As are you for keeping us all in the loop!