Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > The North Thread
 
  • Locked thread
Epitope
Nov 27, 2006

Grimey Drawer

bromplicated posted:

I'm planning a backcountry trip through Denali this Summer. I've been backpacking through Yosemite and the Grand Canyon a few times, but still consider myself a novice backpacker, especially considering Denali doesn't have trails. I've been reading up on Denali NP's website, and it's very informative. Could anyone who's been there recommend me any literature about it or drop me an email?

This guy did a pretty good job of capturing the essence of the experience. His trip report is on pages 7 to 9.

http://www.mtnclubak.org/layouts/layout_mca/files/scree/2015/SCREE_01-2015.pdf

For a fun game, try charting his route from his description.


E:
Excerpt if you don't want to wade into a pdf-
(This is early July)

quote:

I
found myself in a full on s---storm – snow and sleet blown by
winds gusting to 30 miles per hour and visibility dropping fast. I
faced a three-way dilemma:

a) Backtrack along the ridge and/or drop down to the right
and return from whence I came. I wasn’t at all confident
of finding a safe strip of scree to descend the north-
facing slope in the whiteout and the avalanche activity
on north aspects over the past few days had me
genuinely concerned with the rapidly falling new snow.

b) Drop down the ridge to the left on a south-facing slope.
Until I reached the pass, the south slopes were steep and
the possibility of getting cliffed out existed. Plus, if I
didn’t travel far enough along the ridge, all the slopes on
the left led into the same drainage that was blocked by
the huge waterfall the previous day, so I’d end up stuck
in the valley.

c) Continue along the ridge. In the declining visibility I
could use the ridge as a handrail, never getting lost,
avoiding avalanches, and knowing that once I reached
the pass I could descend a safer south slope and enter a
drainage that I knew was passable per the rangers.

Epitope fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Feb 8, 2016

* # ¿ Feb 8, 2016 00:17
  • Quote
Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 22, 2024 05:24
  • Quote
  • Locked thread
The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > The North Thread