Denali tips/tricks

I'm headed to Denali this summer for a West Buttress climb with a guided group. I'm looking for weird tips/tricks that only someone who has done that route or something similar would know.

For example, someone told me to mark my eating utensils well because everyone shows up with the same plastic spoon from REI. Stuff like that.

Research taking the supplement Octacosanol for beter performance at atltitude. Here is a recent discussion:

mountainproject.com/v/good-…

Multiple Nalgene w/ INSULATED covers. Separate (obviously) piss bottle. Be sure your crampons fit your boots both naked (lower glacier) & adjust easily for over overboots (upper mt)[I had to solo past the fixed ropes because of a twit (guided group) who hadn't modified his overboots (neoprene) to work with his crampons]. Pack socks for day, separate for night (dry & clean), & pair for summit day. Statistics: failure to summit for factors under your control are 1)Hydration & 2)foot care [out of your control is weather, snow conditions, etc.]. Conserve energy-it can be several weeks. Weather can rule-second time I was up there didn't summit; consolation was nobody summited that May (first time there [solo] had almost perfect summit day).

KevinCO wrote:Research taking the supplement Octacosanol for beter performance at atltitude. Here is a recent discussion: mountainproject.com/v/good-…

Thanks Kevin, I have a few questions:
1) A lot of what I read online didn't deal directly with better altitude performance, but you've used this and it worked?
2) Is this something you start taking while at altitude, or beforehand (training) to allow your body to acclimate better once you start climbing? Or both?
3) Dosage? It's sold in everything from 5000 mcg to 20000 mcg capsules.

Ben Beckerich wrote:Up, down, left, right, A, B at base camp will unlock a secret passage to the summit from the ice cave at 17,000

You've got all kinds of alpine ticks on your profile. For someone that obviously knows what they're doing out there, I'm surprised you don't have anything of actual substance to contribute...

it's actually at 17,356, everybody knows this

don't get stuck hauling a sled with shitload of weight, learn to love suffering, and periodically check your pack for rock insertion.

For your duffel bags and stuff sacks - avoid dark colors, really hard to find your stuff especially in glaring sun. Same goes for the tent, if you sit in a dark colored tent for days, it could be pretty depressing.

You will be spending quite a bit of time in your tent vestibule (melting snow, cooking, gearing up, etc). When selecting expedition tents, I essentially go for the largest vestibule. It makes life a lot easier. Keep it as organized as possible.

For reference, I have been using the Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT tent.

Never leave your boot liners in the vestibule. Put them in your sleeping bag every night or you'll regret it.

doligo wrote:For your duffel bags and stuff sacks - avoid dark colors, really hard to find your stuff especially in glaring sun. Same goes for the tent, if you sit in a dark colored tent for days, it could be pretty depressing.

that's a good one, thanks

A lot will depend on what time of the year you go (early vs. late season) and the peculiarities of your year, e.g. heavy snow year, etc. I say that because unless you are going early season or it's an unusually cold year, Denali can also get pretty hot on the lower sections (7-9'K) when you're pulling your heaviest loads. I packed a baseball hat with an attached cloth shield for the neck and it was a great addition. I also occasionally used Zinka for those lower sections to prevent sunburn via reflection off the snow. I also found a collapsible (accordion-style) pee bottle; nice to collapse it when empty. Bring a paperback or light e-reader; you'll go crazy if storm-bound for days like we were. Don't skimp on your glacier glasses, and consider a lighter colored lens or photo chromatic pair for cloudier days; I speak from experience, snow blindness is pure misery. Also don't skimp on your mitts for up high; if things hit the fan you can survive frozen toes, but frozen fingers could be a game ender if you need to clip into fixed lines, self arrest, etc. And if you're going later in May/June, no real need for a headlamp, duh. And although it's not gear related, have your fixed line technique dialed in. No fun fumbling that and slowing everyone down. Just my opinions and what I experienced on Denali.

Have a great trip, be safe.

Rollies and booze

Mint Gold Bond

Lots of hand-sani and baby wipes; because HAFE and poo kegs don't go well together. On that note, make sure your Hep A immunization is up to date.

Dexamethasone. Once you start sleeping above 11,000ft, crush these up and mix it in with your rollies and increase the dose as you ascend, it's like a nebulizer.

$1 bills for the Bush Co.

Mark your plastic spoon from REI. Mark. It. Well.

Tom Pierce wrote:A lot will depend on what time of the year you go (early vs. late season) and the peculiarities of your year, e.g. heavy snow year, etc. I say that because unless you are going early season or it's an unusually cold year, Denali can also get pretty hot on the lower sections (7-9'K) when you're pulling your heaviest loads. I packed a baseball hat with an attached cloth shield for the neck and it was a great addition. I also occasionally used Zinka for those lower sections to prevent sunburn via reflection off the snow. I also found a collapsible (accordion-style) pee bottle; nice to collapse it when empty. Bring a paperback or light e-reader; you'll go crazy if storm-bound for days like we were. Don't skimp on your glacier glasses, and consider a lighter colored lens or photo chromatic pair for cloudier days; I speak from experience, snow blindness is pure misery. Also don't skimp on your mitts for up high; if things hit the fan you can survive frozen toes, but frozen fingers could be a game ender if you need to clip into fixed lines, self arrest, etc. And if you're going later in May/June, no real need for a headlamp, duh. And although it's not gear related, have your fixed line technique dialed in. No fun fumbling that and slowing everyone down. Just my opinions and what I experienced on Denali. Have a great trip, be safe.

great stuff, thanks!

Do interval training. Really. Run your miles daily, but
do sprints in the middle of them. Wear a pack
during your runs. Workout wearing a heavy
pack. Hike with a heavy pack. Repeat.

I highly recommend going for a metal/lexan spork instead of those plastic light my fire bologna's. They, will, break. Every single Denali trip I've worked, someone has one that breaks. I'm not interested in how long you've kept yours alive, I just know that I highly encourage people away from them because it eventually will break. REI makes a stronger plastic version for a dollar more. Metal doesn't really break.

GSI makes an awesome bowl/cup with lid called the fairshare. Your guides will likely/accidentally give you more food because it's a large mug. Get or make the insulating sleeve and you can do your soups in it as well. shop.alpineinstitute.com/co… It's also easy to clean, which you shouldn't really care about anyway but people always do. After your meal, put 100ml of water in the mug, shut the lid, shake it like mad, unscrew and drink up. Extra calories, be thankful for them, mug is clean enough. Mark your mug.

For your pee bottle, go with a 1.5L collapsible nalgene with a wide mouth. Harder to confuse with your hardsided nalgene bottles, and it's trustworthy. shop.alpineinstitute.com/co… Also, make sure to know which bottles your tentmates are using for urine too. I don't feel like telling the story where one guy grabbed his hardsided water bottle to drink in the night, only to find out it was his tentmate's pee bottle. Oh wait, I just told it.

Bring a cotton t-shirt. Hide it. Put it on at 14,200. Feel like a million bucks.

If you go early season where the days don't warm up to much, take a roll of tollhouse cookie dough and eat it at 11,200 camp. Awesome. If you're afraid of salmonella, then don't I guess.

Also, only bring nalgene bottles. I make no money from making this recommendation, but nalgene bottles are the only bottles I've never had lead when you put hot liquids in them. Other brands leak. I don't care about BPA/non-BPA potentially killing me in the future, I care about my sleeping bag getting wet and freezing to death in the immediate.

Bring a clean t-shirt, clean pair of boxers, a book you haven't read and a food treat you aren't bringing on the trip. Put this in a gallon ziploc. Ask your guides nicely if you can bury it at basecamp along with the basecamp cache. If you get back to basecamp and you don't fly out for a day or two, you will be so happy for a fresh pair of underwear, t-shirt, a book to read, and something to eat which you haven't had in 21 days and aren't already sick of.

You eat your way up the mountain, you will eat your way down it too. Don't turn off your appetite, and when it does involuntarily, force it back on.

Whoever said zipper pulls is correct. 2mm or 3mm cord does a great job of this. Make sure you can operate all zippers in you biggest gloves.

Buff. If you don't have one, get one. It has replaced bandanas. The bandana is dead.

Photochromatic lenses are great if you don't have them for your glasses. I just bring one pair of glasses and can comfortably use them in all lighting conditions. Anti-fog is helpful too.

Brush your teeth.

Goldbond for foot powder is nice. Get a travel size from Target (sorry you have to go to Target) for $1 and share amongst your tentmates.

Work hard, be nice. There will be days you feel like a superhero. There will be days when you are having a hard time carrying your own weight. Be patient with yourself. Be patient with your teammates who are going through the same thing. Be the first person to step up and help a teammate out. They will reciprocate, probably. If they don't, that's fine. The mountain will not be nicer to you if you are nicer to your teammates. But I promise you will feel better about standing on top (if you have the opportunity) because you know you got there while helping others, whether they "deserved it" or not. Don't get too hung up on that.

Just a few tips in a list of many. Full disclosure, I'm a guide and I work for the American Alpine Institute. 5 trips on Denali so far, all successful in that we came home safe and sound and happy. Enjoy whichever service you've chose, Denali is beautiful.

Awesome Andrew, thanks a ton!

Adding to Andrews very good list:

-An extra bungee cord that can be wrapped around the bottom of the plastic sled to serve as a brake when descending. Usually 1 wrap will suffice. Very annoying having the pig try to run you over the entire descent.

_Pee bottle is essential. However, practice before your trip. It is amazing how conditioned we are to not pee when we are laying down.

_ Maybe a bit controversial, but consider a vapor barrier liner for your sleeping bag. Keeps the bag clean and free of the cumulative effects of putting a sweaty body in the sleeping bag for weeks. Having a sleeping bag with lots of loft at 17K camp is worth its' weight in gold.

-One pair of clean socks that live in the bottom of your sleeping bag that are only worn when you are in your bag. Your feet will thank you.

-Purchase or make a nose guard for your sunglasses.

-Calculate the amount of Scotch you think you will need and double that.

Have a great trip.

- Get as fit as possible. Sounds obvious but I was surprised how many people we met on the W Buttress whose fitness level was dubious.
- Spend the winter and spring climbing, hiking or skiing up as many big, snow-covered, windswept peaks as you can manage. Go out in marginal weather. They don't have to be technical climbs, the main idea is to get used to nasty conditions. Colorado is ideal for this. Just check the CAIC bulletins first.
- Acetazolamide 125mg/day
- Instead of overboots I replaced my boot's factory liners with Intuition Denali liners and wore insulated supergaiters (I brought a few Grabber toe warmers just in case). Less clumsy than overboots and you don't have to worry about getting your crampons to fit.
- Camp XLC Nanotech or Tour Nanotech crampons ( camp-usa.com/products/categ… ). Half the weight of regular crampons. I wouldn't climb vertical ice in them but for the W Buttress they're fine.

While not specific to Denali a couple things I did on Aconcagua this January turned out really well and were good ideas that could pertain to any expedition type of climb.

First have patience. You will need it along the way. Whether it's on the climb itself, waiting for a slower group member, waiting out weather for hours or days or just acclimating. Maximo Kausch told me in base camp one day when we were hanging out waiting for the winds to die down up top that patience is often overlooked. Not being patient could cost you your life.

Pick up some of these:

backcountry.com/western-mou…

they are perfect in camp or after a long day of climbing. Your feet will love you for it.

Take foods you like to eat and that taste good. It sounds funny but somewhere along the line you will need to force yourself to eat so the food better be good. And take a lot of it, you'll need it.

I took an eye patch for sleeping and ear plugs. Both came in handy when either trying to get a nap in a bright sunny tent or when the sustained winds howled upwards of 60MPH and it was just plain noisy in the tent.

I took 2 bags with me cause I had room a 30 degree bag for the lower elevations and a 0 degree bag for the upper camps. I just couldn't see sleeping a 0 degree bag when the temps were barely at or just below freezing. It would have been a sweat factory and that can cause problems.

I second the collapseable pee bottle. They take up less space and you're only gonna use it as a pee bottle. The other 1L nalgenes ended up getting stuff packed in them for the flight home. Just make sure it gets dried out good before bedtime...... nothing worse than a midnight scurry in the tent via headlamp only to find the damn thing is partially frozen an inch down and doesn't thaw at the same rate that it's being filled. Not sayin I know first hand..... just sayin. :)

Otherwise just have a blast cause if it ain't fun you're doing something wrong. Enjoy every moment like it's your last and live it when you're there.

Good advice so far.. Here's a few tips I picked up..

i-pod with AM/FM- your tentmates will snore. NPR on the mtn is a good escape to reality too.

put everything you will wear in the AM inside your bag (boot liners, gloves, socks, hats, etc). Make sure your bag is large enough to fit it all.

Gold Bond. 1000 little fairy's blowing sweet little kisses on your balls. Trust me. its nice. Everyone will be jealous. Good for the feet too. Stay clean. Baby wipes.

Keep candies, shot blocks, munchies etc easily accessible, especially on the lower glacier.

Bandana AND Buff. buff is hot for sun protection and the 'dana has several additional uses...

Bungee cord in the sled line for the uphill will reduce the shock when pulling the pig.

Pictures of loved ones.

Patagonia Houdini.

Hand warmers. 3 pair. Dont be tempted to use them until 17k and above.

Be social. Lots of amazing people up there.

talkinrocks thanks for reminding me about the photos of loved ones. I had a double sided photo I took with me everywhere. Even to the can. On a trip like this you just never know when something bad or catastrophic might happen and I wanted for them to be the last thing I saw. Case in point, 2 people died on Aconcagua when I was there. One from my home state which sent people into somewhat of a frenzy at home until they heard from me.

I think this was indirectly related to what Maximo was talking to me about. I had no idea who he was or what he was doing. After a day or so I figured him to be guiding a group but you'd never know it from talking with him. It was almost ironic that he talked so much about being deliberate and patient. I googled him after returning to Mendoza only to find he had set some sort of record. He had climbed 59 peaks over 6000M in the Andes in 2013 but yet was talking about patience and how important it was.

If you have a small video camera I would take that or buy one for the trip. Who knows when you might return if you ever do.