Date: 06/23/2007

Greetings,

We heard from the Denali expedition. On the evening of 6/21, they reached Browne’s Tower at 14,000′. Thus, they have climbed what is probably technically most difficult part–Karsten’s Ridge. Though now the altitude will play a larger role.

Yesterday was a rest day. Today, given decent weather they may be ferrying loads to high camp at approximately 17,000′ on the Harper Glacier. Then tomorrow they could move to that high camp. Often courses take a rest day before attempting to go for the top. Much depends on the weather now. It was a brief exchange, but one thing they said was, “All students and instructor are doing well–strong and healthy.” They said they had a week of good weather (for Denali). They plan call again around 6/28.

Date: 06/14/2007

Greetings,

News from the evacuees: Erin’s crew saw a fox den with kits on the hike out. Seth’s group saw a couple of grizzly bears 100-200 yards away while in the vehicle on the drive out. Erin flew home last night and Seth flew home this morning. They got to spend time sharing stories. It was sad to see them go.

I heard from the expedition again this morning (6/14) and I have a correction: Last time I heard from Erica and crew, she was at 7,300 feet, not 10,500′. They were about to back-ferry down through the Lower Icefall to the cache at 5,700′ yesterday, then go back up to camp at 7,300′. I misunderstood their elevation over a garbled satellite connection, which is why I was astonished at their progress.

The whole group of 13 reunited at 7,300 feet on the Muldrow Glacier at 7 pm last night approximately here:

This was quite a push for the evacuation teams, so they are taking a rest day today. Erica and all the folks who originally stayed on the mountain are working on putting in a route through the Great Icefall to 10,000′ at the base of Karsten’s Ridge today. Everyone plans to camp together at 7,300′ tonight and hopefully move to 10,000′ tomorrow.

During the expedition, Rick Rochelle from NOLS AK kept sending emails to the family members and close friends of the expedition members. I include all the emails here so that my dear readers can learn the whole expedition in a nutshell before I sort out my personal journal.

The First Update: (Date: 06/13/2007)

Hello,

I have been in touch with the NOLS Denali Expedition. It has been a busy few days on the mountain! Unfortunately, this has included two expedition members leaving due to minor medical issues (sore hips and a 1″ long cut). Those two climbers have been in touch with their families, so if you are receiving this you can rest assured that your climber (child, spouse, or friend) is healthy!

My name is Rick Rochelle and I’m the Assistant Director of NOLS Alaska. We collected an email address or two from each participant of the expedition anticipating that we would hear from the expedition leaders occasionally. They carry a satellite phone (and walkie-talkies and a ground-to-air radio), primarily for emergency use, but also to call us for a few minutes every 7-10 days to let us know how things are going. From experience, we know that you care deeply about their progress!

Our Denali group arrived safely in NOLS Alaska in Palmer, AK last evening. Ten out of thirteen expedition members made to the top. I personally didn’t summit – I turned around at 19,400 feet because of AMS (acute mountain sickness); however it was still an accomplishment for me, and which gave me a reason to try again! I’ll be back home on Independence Day and will write about this expedition more.

I am in Alaska again!!! The mountain range and the weather is gorgerous. My purpose of being here this time is to participate in another NOLS course, which is the Denali Mountaineering course, and the main objective of this 34-day long expedition is of course to summit Mt McKinley. Please do wish me good luck, as for this time I do need some luck. I’ll be back to the civilization in early July. Until then, my friends, enjoy your summer.

On Wednesday, March 7th, our Katahdin group was hauling sleds retreating from the Roaring Brook campsite in Baxter State Park toward Abol Bridge campground parking lot. The sky looked like a blue bird; the temperature was cold, -10 F perhaps; the air was crispy and our cheeks were rosy due to the chill. There was no wind; it was as quiet as if we could trace every step the red squirrels put on the snow; however, my heart was stormy, “this could have been our summit day! How come we had to encounter over 35 mph gusts and below -35 F of temperature due to wind chill effect?” I kept looking at the peak on our way down, “Katahdin, you awed me the other day, and why do you look so inviting now?”

After a long, uneventful drive home, I’ve been putting a lot of thoughts toward this trip. I understand a mountaineer must have more turn backs than summits over her whole career, but I couldn’t get rid of the slight disappointment – the fact deviated too much from the ideal situation I was hoping for in which each of our group members had a chance to push their limits and taste the sweetness of the summit after hard work. I started to analyze every other possible scenario and finally drew this conclusion: although the outcome didn’t fulfill my ideal expectation, experiencing harsh conditions and having to make a tough decision to abandon the summit attempt catalyzed the integration and growth of our group. And this can be difficult to accomplish if we were in perfect conditions and everybody made their way to the summit without sweat.

KATAHDIN, MAINE - MARCH 2nd-8th 2007

The road trip northward started on a rainy Friday morning. As I proceeded east on route 78 into New Jersey I had the first thoughts of what this drive might be like, slow and wet. Little did I know I would not make the destination until the next day? After fighting rain that changed to snow around the New Hampshire/Maine boarder, then finally to a moderate to heavy snow that covered the road north of Portland, ME I realized I needed to stop short of the destination. Thirteen hours after starting out I ended up in a motel in Bangor, Maine ready for some rest. After speaking to Szu-ting and Yaroslav who were coming from the west via New Hampshire, Alex, Heather and Pasha who were several hours behind me, we decided it best for all of us to stop when we had enough of the terrible driving. We would meet the next day in Millinocket, Maine.

This year I haven’t been blogging much. One reason is that I’m tyring to graduate and the other reason is that the winter is too short and I had to use all my free time being outdoors skiing, climbing and mountaineering. Gladly, I still managed to do a 6-day Katahdin quest, enduring the risk of putting my defense in jeopardy. Although the group after all didn’t summit, the trip was phenomenal: Firstly, the driving from Philadelphia to Millionocket, Maine was obstructed by a storm (heavy rain in the south/snow in the north); Secondly, on the scheduled climbing day, the wind was blowing over 35 mph and with wind chill effect it was below -35 F; therefore we had to abandon the climbing plan.

Our group is compiling photos, videos and writeups for the trip and I’ll put them up here shortly. Before that, let’s enjoy this summit photo obtained from http://www.katahdincam.com/.

A view from Chimney Pond; photo credit: Bill Steinmetz

Katahdin: last winter I learned this name the first time. I was sitting in a cozy restaurant surrounded by my fellow winter hikers, enjoying the early hot coffee with a giant blueberry pancake, I overheard that the hike leader, Bill, was to attempt Katahdin in a few weeks. “Katahdin? What is it? Is it a trail and…where is it?” I couldn’t suppress my curiosity arisen from my adventurous blood. “It seems like some nice place to go,” I drew this conclusion based on the mild commotion observed from the group, “and…it must be a place to go if it requires Bill to train for it.”

The second time I heard Katahdin, was on a bus ride to NOLS headquarters in Palmer, Alaska. The bus driver moved to Alaska many years ago from Maine. She described how much she was in love with the mountains in Alaska and she mentioned Katahdin when she laid Alaska and Maine in parallel for comparison. At that moment, Katahdin won its place in my to-do list. But not until I started to plan it last November, did I realize that this trip was to be a great one!

Make a donation!

I signed up to participate in “summit for someone” which makes me obliged to raise at least $3500.00 to help teenage youth expand their wilderness experience. I have never done any fund-raising events before – this is the first time – so it’s indeed a very big commitment for me, especially since $3500.00 is a large sum. I am doing this because I believe it is meaningful and because climbing mountains has always been my dream. If you approve of the mission and are willing to help, please denote money online through this link: Help Szu-Ting Summit For Someone . All denotations are tax-deductible and your kind help is greatly appreciated.

Below details my driving forces in this fundraise:

1. I can climb and climbing mountains is my dream
2. At-risk youth can expand their wilderness horizon