Anchorage to Talkeetna, meet at AMS, run and dinner at the brewery with Xav, Kai and Marc

Arrived in Anchorage, final shopping before driving to the mountain tomorrow.

It’s 330am here, and after a 12hr flight to Seattle, a 2-hr connection and a 3 1/2 hour flights to anchorage I am finally in the hotel. Quick shower, earplugs to cover the noise of all the other rooms that seem to all be partying on the late Saturday night Sunday morning, and off to […]

After 2 days of intense packing the day has come to say goodbye to loved ones and get on the plane for the long journey to Anchorage, Alaska. The result: 2 x 100-liter expedition duffle bags packed with technical mountain gear & all the necessary clothing. I spent most of today with Sarah and Oscar […]

This is it, the week that we have been waiting for almost 2 years has come. The project has grown while our team of climbers has dwindled. We were 9, then 8, then 5, then 4 and now 3 after Josh pulled out last week. A bit of panic at first wondering if AMS (Alaska […]

We were 9 expedition members in December, then 8 in January when Mike’s vineyard took priority over climbing, fair enough. Then 7 a week ago when Patrick announced that his personal situation forced him to stay (we knew it was likely so it was sad but not a surprise). Then 4 members remaining when David […]

It has been over a year in the making, hundreds of emails, whatsapps, phone calls between all potential team members, guiding company, family, friends. We used to think of it as a project in the distant future. It is finally here and now, 3 weeks before our meeting with the Denali park rangers in Talkeetna, […]

Climbing Denali, like any high mountain, is a long journey not only a summit climb. It requires preparation, dedication, commitment. Training is at the center of the journey. Training, for me, started officially in January. Before that, I was lightly training while recovering from my trail running race ankle sprain. Mike Tse, who coached me […]

Listening to the Rich Roll podcast last December I stumbled upon a fascinating episode. It was about the ‘iceman’, Dutch modern era primal breathing guru, Wim Hof. Wim Hof is famous for taking on extraordinary challenges in the extreme cold such as swimming under arctic ice, running a marathon distance from the Everest base camp […]