This May I found myself playing musical partners and talking the talk around "Kahiltna International Airport". We spent alot of time staring at this beautiful face and letting feelings of dread build.
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 The North Buttress in storm Credit: Jdizzle |
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1stly: A write up by the indomitable Brett Baekey, aka Pump Bandit, about our ascent of Deprivation. We climbed to the top of the buttress, finishing via the Bibler exit in a 21 hr push, and then rapped the wall in storm and heinous spindrift.
(in all truth an attempt: it was our intention to go to the summit.)
Registered NPS team name: Two dopes on a rope.
A big thanks to the Kellog Family and the Ritt Kellog Memorial Fund for making this life-changing trip possible.
DEPRIVATION:
Pronunciation: /dɛprɪˈveɪʃən/
Etymology: < medieval Latin dēprīvātiōn-em, noun of action from dēprīvāre to deprive v.
1.a. The action of depriving or fact of being deprived; the taking away of anything enjoyed; dispossession, loss.
despite the word itself being sortof raw, the route really was fun.
However I wouldn't recommend it to my friends; not many people like over-vert snice.
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 The upper Northeast ridge of hunter Credit: Jdizzle |
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We got a better weather window a week later...
2ndly: All-in on The French Route, aka Grison-Tedeschi, with Kurt Ross. We climbed to the summit, with descent via the West ridge, for the likely 5th ascent, in a 75 hr push round-trip.
Team name: Crevasseholes. (unaffiliated with CC or the RKMF).
Kurt's writeup:
"At the top of “ski hill,” J.D. mentioned, “I’m not nervous because I think we can’t do it, but because I think we can.” I agreed. We stashed our ski boots and planks at the base, then went into business mode."
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 An overhanging wave of snice in the north couloir, still 3400 feet below the crux of the french route. Credit: Jdizzle |
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In these stories you'll find some recurring motifs including:
-hunger
-cold
-95 degree unprotectable snice
-1500ft simulblocks at race pace
-sleep deprivation
-frozen waterfalls
-unfrozen waterfalls
-disintegrating harnesses
-hallucination
-joy
-pain
-success
-failure
-But most of all: finding peace and solace in the impossibility of retreat...
...and an upward pull after the tipping point
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 7 pitches of steep mixed climbing on the upper headwall. Kurt reaches the belay at first light. Credit: Jdizzle |
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 leading another block in the unending steepness of the upper headwall Credit: Jdizzle |
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 the second zig-zag on the 1984 french route Credit: Jdizzle |
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The long polar day makes it easy to "hotwire" the circadian rhythm. This helped us through the long pushes and ensuing sleep deprivation.
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 Brett Baekey contemplates tea, carbon-monoxide poisoning, and alpine style without a tent or sleeping bags. Credit: Jdizzle |
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On both of these pushes, we planned to sleep during the warmest hours of the day or not at all(mostly the latter), because our light kits were not warm enough to sleep through the night.
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 A foreshortened North Buttress. the middle 2000 feet of the french route are visible, but the line is nearly indescernable, weaving it's way through the few weaknesses that exist on this beautiful wall. Credit: Jdizzle |
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A big thanks to Brett and Kurt, everyone who supported us at every step of the way, all the wonderful people we met in KIA base camp, and the Ritt Kellog Memorial Fund.
After this trip I ate untold amounts of ice cream. It will be a while before I seek out another mind-bending experience like this again.
