Top Ten List – Summit Attempt Tomorrow

Here at Denali’s 17,200 feet camp, it has been very cold. We have not seen a temperature above zero for over a week now. The highs are about -5 F and lows around -25 F to -30 F. So, since we continue to be stuck in our tent because of bad weather, Peter and I came up with a top ten list.

It is so cold that……
10. It feels like a masochistic camping trip not a mountain climbing trip any more.
9. We saw the squirrel of squirrel hill hitchhiking rides down the hill to lower elevations in climbers’ backpacks.
8. We had tears in our eyes that froze our eyes shut.
7. The pee hole in camp is now a pee mound since, right now, water freezes instantly when it hits the ground.
6. Your breath freezes to the top of the tent every night. We wake up to a layer of ice on our tent ceiling every morning.
5. We have to put our water bottles inside our sleeping bag with us to keep them from freezing.
4. We have stopped fighting it and now have acquired a taste for Gatorade slushies.
3. We are now sleeping in all our climbing gear to try to stay warm. This includes our down parkas; our sleeping bags are rated only to -20 F.
2. It is a race against time to finish your meal before it freezes.
1. We are now very excited to hear a weather forecast with a high of zero.

I look forward to getting back to 70 F in Michigan. I look forward to pizza, civilization, and family including the seven Golden Retriever puppies that were born last week.
The weather forecast has changed again. Our closest summit window is tomorrow, Friday, because the winds are going to die down sooner than expected. Our plan is to summit tomorrow, May 30.