2001
Denali
Talkeetna
Main Street and The Fairview Inn in Talkeetna from where ski plane flights to the glacier depart.
The Alaska Range
View of The Alaska Range from Talkeetna: Foraker (17,400'), Hunter (14,573') and McKinley (20,320').
The Silver Tabasco Poodles
The team at Base Camp: me, Jeff, Pete, Chip, Flint, Brad, Allen and Pat.
Base Camp: 7,200'
Helicopters at base camp on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier.
May 17, 2001, 7:30pm, Denali Camp III, Alaska.
Hey Alpine Ascents it's Todd. We're at 11.5, it's about 7:30 at night, beautiful evening again, we did a carry up Motorcycle Hill and up past Squirrel Point up and around Windy Corner and did a cache just about an hour or so from the 14,000 foot camp. Tomorrow we'll move up to 14,000 feet. It was a good day and hopefully the weather will hold and we can move in tomorrow.
We got a message that Allen and Pat (Team II) have moved to the 7,900 foot camp, so they're away from Base Camp now, and Brian and Dave (Team Roadkill) are still at 14 tonight. They did a carry up to the fixed lines and they may take a rest day tomorrow and we may catch up with them and we'll be on the same schedule.
That's it for now everything's great up here, the climbing seems beautiful, the conditions are excellent, we're walking on hard surfaces, and skis and snowshoes are really unnecessary, we're just able to walk right on the surface. Its very harmonious and beautiful up here. That's all for now, bye bye.
Camp I: 7,900'
Me at Camp I.
May 18, 2001, 12:40pm, Denali Camp I, Alaska. Team II
Hello friends and family, this is Allen Carbert working with Pat Timson, leading Denali Expedition II. We're making our big carry to Kahiltna Pass today, we've been out of radio contact the last couple of days due to geographic features surrounding us, namely big mountains like Mt. Francis, and Kahiltna Peak and some other mountains like that. The group is doing exceptionally well, we've got a great group, we built a super awesome camp yesterday, it took us about two hours, the wind walls are really good, and that's a good thing, because we're expecting some weather tonight. We've got 40mph winds in the forecast and we have some snow expected, so we're ready to hunker down and take another day if necessary.
Everything's going really well, tomorrow we're going to make our move up to Kahiltna Pass or if the weather allows and people are feeling strong we might just trip our way up to the camp at 11,000 feet. Given the strength and experience of this group I'm confident that that's a realistic option. We're going to give you a call tomorrow and we're going to give you our official expedition name, we've got the wheels turning right now, the creative juices are flowing, and we'll come up with something that has a little panache. So for now this is Allen Carbert working along with Pat Timson again, and the motley crew of six hardcore climbers. So stay tuned for more thrills chills laughter and action from Denali Expedition II. This is Allen out.
Kahiltna Glacier
Flint on the Kahiltna Glacier on the way up to Camp II.
May 20, 2001, 12:09pm, Denali Camp II, Alaska. Team II
Hey folks this is Allen with Alpine Ascents Denali II expedition, we came down to pick up our cache today at Kahiltna Pass. Pat and I are both feeling pretty good about the group, everyone's real strong. We did skip the camp at Kahiltna Pass due to strong winds and some bad weather so we jumped right up to 11,000 feet and enjoyed a real nice evening; we could look down at the pass and see the clouds just streaming through, probably wind speed close to 30 miles an hour and a lot of blowing snow, so we're real satisfied with our decision to have skipped this camp, we were nestled against some mountain hillside outcrops, sort of nestled in a little cirque up here where camp III is at so we were well protected and got a good view of all the bad weather, happy to be above it all.
We did come up with an expedition name we are the 'Silver Tabasco Poodles'. As the expedition progresses we might let you all know how we came upon that name, but we're STP for short. Brad would like to say a special hello to his Family in South Africa and Nick and Flint and Jeff and Chip are all doing real well. So we're real happy we'll give you guys a call when we reach 14 in a couple of days, we will be out of communication for the duration unless we do get up to 14 with the carry tomorrow but that's fairly optimistic. So for now, this is Allen, signing off, and we'll catch up with you in a day or two.
Camp II: 11,000'
View of Motorcycle Hill from Camp II.
May 21, 2001, 2:39pm, Denali Camp II, Alaska. Team II
Hey folks this is the Silver Tabasco Poodles. We just completed our carry to Windy Corner. Everybody's doing real well, it's a little bit cold, but thing are real good. We're going to be out of reception for about twenty four to forty eight hours, so this will be the last you're going to hear from us. We'll try to get some more personalized messages of the expedition members, once we roll into 14 camp, which should be in a day or two. Pat sends special hello to Barbara and Miriam, we'll put that one on real quick. So for now this is AC saying stay tuned for more thrills chills laughter and action and we'll be in touch in a day or two, bye, bye.
May 24, 2001, 12:51pm, Denali Camp III, Alaska.
Hi everybody this is Todd at 14,000. I've got Allen and Pat's group (Team II) here and Brian Dave (Team I) are still at 17 waiting for some good weather to go for the summit. Vernon and Dave (Team III) are down moving up to Camp III today I believe. Everybody seems to be in good health. And Wally and Matt (Team IV) I believe are moving to their 8,000 foot camp. I'm going to let everyone here in Allen and Pat's group say a little bit and say hello to their families:
"Hey this is Chip, I just wanted to say thanks for the lightweight(?) Kelly, keep it coming. Momma and Poppa Grove: it's not that cold here don't worry about it, its only 25 below at night and I know you were concerned. Hi Jacob."
Peter: "I would like to say hi and send my love to my parents and my friends Vicki, Heather, Doug, Nathan, and Steve. All right, Bye."
"Hello this is Flint, I'm doing fine. Hello to friends and family. Janet how are you doing? I'm doing fine, no problems. Also, hello to the Alchemists' Club and also hello to the folks at Proxim."
"Hi, this is Jeff Bisgrove. I wanted to give my love to my wife Cindy and my boys, Benjamin and Daniel. Say hi to my folks, and yeah we're managing to stay warm here. Saying hi to all of my friends at Intel, keep working to get the stock up there guys. Talk to you later."
"Hi it's Nick, I'm calling from 14,000 feet I just want to say hi to friends and family and keep on checking the website."
"Hi this is Brad all my best to Sue, and to Mikey and Matt, missing you guys, love you lots, cheers."
Todd: Alright we've still got a strong signal. I guess you got all those messages. We'll give you an update later. The weather today is cloudy up top maybe a little bit of wind. We're getting light snows and a little bit of sunshine. But good moving weather down low. Most people are staying set at 14. Nobody's moving up the fixed lines. The weather's supposed to improve Friday, maybe Saturday morning, so I think you'll see a lot of action in those couple of days. Still waiting to get our first party up. That's all for now.
Camp III: 14,200'
The Alpine Ascents International enclave at 14,200'.
May 25, 2001, 5:51pm, Denali Camp III, Alaska. Team II (STP)
Hey folks, this is Allen Carbert working with Pat Timson, leading the Silver Tabasco Poodles to the summit of Denali. Today is a relatively uneventful day, being a rest day at the 14,000 foot camp. We're seeing some strong winds and a little bit of snow. At least today Pete, Jeff, Chip Flint, Brad, and Nick all built a big snow wall around the Posh House, just to make sure that our little social arena and dining room are safe from the inclement weather.
The plan is tomorrow that we will make a carry up to 16,000 feet and place a food cache. We'll ascend the fixed lines and maybe we'll get somewhere towards Washburn's Thumb and actually place our food there. Other than that, pretty slow day. Hope things are going well back there in the lower forty eight and other points in between. Pat and I both have a cold. he he he. We'll catch up with you later. Bye bye.
The Headwall
View of The Headwall and the fixed lines from Camp III.
May 27, 2001 5:11pm, Camp IV, Alaska. Team II (STP)
Hey folks, this is Allen Carbert working with Pat Timson leading the Silver Tabasco Poodles to the top of Denali. Yesterday, we made a carry to 16,000 feet, put in a nice cache of food and fuel and if the weather holds tomorrow we'll move up camp to 17,000 feet which will put us in position for the summit. I'd like to introduce the following members of the expedition by passing the phone around and giving them an opportunity to send a personal message back home so here we are:
"Hi this is Peter Denk just wanted to say hi to friends and family again, hopefully the pervious message got through. Any Med students: about twelve days to graduation and probably be eleven days by the time this message gets put on the web all right see you later bye."
"This is Chip, hopefully the other message got through. To all my friends and family: it's a beautiful day here at 14,000 feet and it's going to be a pretty nice day tomorrow. And I hope Kelly has a great last week in London and see you on the 6th, bye."
"Hello, this is Flint Pulskamp. I just wanted to say hello to my wife Janet I'm doing fine. Janet I hope you are doing well also and taking care of my tomatoes. Also wanted to say hi to all of my friends and family out there, take care."
"Hi it's Nick. Hello to friends and family. We had a great walk across to the edge of the world today beautiful views, I'm feeling healthy and strong and looking forward to moving to 17."
"Hi this is Jeff Bisgrove, I wanted to give my love to Cindy Benjamin and Daniel, say hi to my friends and family everywhere things are going really good here. We're looking forward to moving up tomorrow and hopefully everything's going well in Phoenix, its probably a balmy hundred and five, hundred and ten. bye."
Climbing The Headwall
Climbing The Headwall on the way up to the fixed lines, with Camp III below.
May 29, 2001 5:11pm, Camp IV, Alaska. Team II (STP)
Hey folks, this Allen Carbert with Alpine Ascents Denali Expedition #2, otherwise known as the Silver Tabasco Poodles. I'm calling you from 17,200 feet on Denali, this is going to be our high camp from which we'll make our summit attempt tomorrow morning. The team is in excellent shape and good health, everybody's acclimatized really well. I guess the only thing that could be said is they might be a little underfed, but I'm sure that the friends and family back in the states will help out with that when they all return.
We plan on departing for the summit tomorrow morning about nine-thirty or ten AM. We have an optimistic weather forecast: temperatures have been on the cool side as you would expect on a big mountain like this; probably nighttime temperatures close to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit with daytime highs reaching a balmy minus ten degrees Fahrenheit. However when the sun's on us, the radiant temperature seems much warmer; we can still run around in light clothing--the sun is quite intense as its reflected off of the snowpack. We expect that our summit attempt will probably take close to 10 maybe 12 hours: a good portion of our effort will be expended heading up Denali Pass, we're going to place some pickets to keep everybody safe and sound, the snowpack is very stable right now and it looks like we're going to have a good safe climb tomorrow providing that the weather forecast holds true.
No personal messages at this time, most of the fellas are crashed out in the tent right now: sleeping, eating, reading books, just generally relaxing. But from the summit tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll pass around the cell phone and you guys can actually hear what it's all about at 20,300 feet: maybe some lightheadedness maybe some people gasping for air in general. Gee, that's about all I have to say right now.
We'll be giving you a call tomorrow, that's what we call "Game Day," and its only about fifteen hours away, So I'm going to head back to the tent, feed the guys some hearty food, we're going to have some rice and some beef stroganoff tonight, should be a good dinner and give us enough fuel to make it up to the summit. So for now this is Allen Carbert working with Pat Timson, signing off. And stay tuned for tomorrow's summit climb update, take care everybody, bye bye.
View from Camp IV: 17,200'
View from Camp IV of Camp III 3,000' below.
May 30, 2001 5:14pm, High Camp, Alaska. Team II
Hey folks this is Allen Carbert working with Pat Timson leading the Silver Tabasco Poodles to the summit of Denali. Well today was supposed to be summit day but high winds and extremely cold temperatures have kept us in our tents. Everybody's doing real well, we're reading books, playing cards and eating all sorts of good food. The expedition members would like to send a special hello to friends and family. Jeff says hello to his sons Benjamin and Daniel. Pat says hello to his wife Barbara and his daughter Miriam. Flint would like to say hello to Jan and is really concerned that his tomatoes are doing well, Pete and Nick well let's just say that they don't have a lot to say right now, they are both sleeping, so I'm sure that they wish their friends and families well also.
Today we've probably got ambient air temperatures of minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit; that would be a high. We've got about 25-30mph winds, I'll let you all do the math there, it just means that it's darn cold. We're going to sit tight and hope for better weather. We'll keep you posted on our progress, that's all for now this is Allen Carbert at 17,000 feet on Denali saying goodbye, and I wish you all well.
Traverse to Denali Pass
The traverse to Denali Pass: careful footwork required.
May 31, 2001 3:29pm, Archdeacon's Tower, Alaska. Team II
Hey folks this is Allen Carbert with Pat Timson and the Silver Tabasco Poodles. Pete, Jeff, Nick, and Flint are all doing well. We're at Archdeacon's Tower right now looking down at the football field, the summit's in sight and we expect to be on top within the next two hours if all keeps going well. We'll give you a call from up there, stay tuned.
Approaching the Summit Ridge
At the top of Pig Hill, approaching the summit ridge.
May 31, 2001 5:40pm, Summit of Denali, Alaska. Team II
Hey folks, this is Allen working with Pat Timson. The Silver Tabasco Poodles have summited! We're on top of Denali and I want to pass the phone around and give everybody an opportunity to dedicate this climb to someone they love and care about, here we go:
"Hello Janet my lovely wife I'm sitting here on the top of Denali here. Yeah, looks great, a little cloudy but I feel quite good. So maybe in a couple days I'll do it again. Also, hello to mom and dad and all my friends and family. It sure feels good to be on top of North America anyway. Take care everybody."
"This is Jeff Bisgrove I dedicate this climb to Cindy, Benjamin, and Daniel. I'm happy to be up here, it's a great group of guys and lots of wonderful views."
"Hi it's Nick with a message from the top of North America to Mum, Dad, Sally, Grandpa, the Liddells, friends, colleagues, happy to be here. And hi to Brad and Chip, sorry you guys couldn't be here."
"Hey everyone, this is Peter Denk, I want to dedicate this climb to my parents Peter and Alvira Denk, and I want to thank you for all your love and help getting me through medical school. Allright back to the man..."
Allen: Pat's busy but I know he wants to say hi to Barbara and Miriam. Hey folks we're counting on a safe descent down, we'll give you all a call you tomorrow, take care.
The Summit: 20,320'
Me on the summit, the highest point in North America at 5:30pm Alaska time on May 31, 2001. We were blessed with incredible weather, so no need to wear any down!
The team at the summit: me, Jeff, Pete (in front), Allen, Flint and Pat.
Clouds Above 11,000'
On the way down, clouds rolling over the ridge above Camp II.
The Descent
Me on the descent, on the Kahiltna Glacier near Camp I.
Escape Vehicle
Our ski-plane pick-up arriving at Base Camp.
Looking Back
Looking back at The Alaska Range from the plane on the flight out to Talkeetna.
June 2, 2001, 10:42pm, Talkeetna, Alaska. Team II, STP
Allen Carbert: Hey friends family and followers of Alpine Ascents International's Denali Expedition #2, yes the Silver Tabasco Poodles have landed safely back in civilization. We're all in good health and we are all in good spirits. What I'm going to do now is pass the phone around and let some of the expedition members say a few parting words, and that's it, stay tuned for next time.
"Hi this is Flint, yeah after the summit we had a couple of grueling days of coming on down, but we are back in Talkeetna and I'm trying to get over this reverse altitude sickness. But I had a fantastic time and I highly recommend it to anyone else and I want to personally thank both of the guides, Pat and Allen, for the trip so take care everybody."
"Hi this is Jeff, we're back in Talkeetna, we've hydrated with a lot of beer and we've replenished our calories with some greasy food so things are getting back to normal. Outstanding trip, I highly recommend it, I look forward to doing it again some other time."
"Hey this is Pete, definitely glad to be back at close to sea level. Almost as good as summiting is actually getting back to the green, warm world. Thanks for listening to these cybercasts, I had a great time a lot of fun and I'm not shaving until I get back see you later."
"Hi this is Nick, good to be back at sea level we were able to tuck into a fresh Gorp bag when we got back and drink enough beer to simulate the effects of hypoxia. Hope everyone enjoyed following the trip, we had fun on the trip definitely, and we hope to be on another one soon."
Allen: Alright folks, ththththat's all!