...and they're off again! Fingers crossed the weather is favourable second time around.
Nik
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Still waiting
We got off the ground briefly and took in the objective. But the mountain is marching to its own tune as they do. We are still waiting.
Monday, 28 May 2012
Nearly flight time
28th and just waiting for final clearance to fly. There is a bit of a buzz in the team now and some little nerves. Wish us luck and we will be safe and smart. Thanks for all the support everyone.
Below team ready to roll.
Below team ready to roll.
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Talkeetna
And ready to fly, after we have NPS briefing. Talkeetna is a kinda cool little place. Hope to have some comms.
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Arrived in Anchorage
We have all arrived in Anchorage, time for some sleep. Food shopping later and trans to Talkeetna.
Friday, 25 May 2012
Monday, 21 May 2012
3 Days to flight
With 3 days nefore we fly out to Alaska, the team is excited. Me I'm trying to get work finished and some final training and rest.
Also, testing mobile blogging tool, just incase we find a service. :)
Also, testing mobile blogging tool, just incase we find a service. :)
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Brecon Beacons Trip
On the 21st/22nd, the bulk of the Denali Team Cold Cheeks (Nick,
Franca, Dan and myself, Will joined us later) descended on the Brecon
Beacons, with the aim to spend some time in the hills, test a few bits
of kit and the Alpkit tents. Fortunately the weather would play ball
and be a bit wild and wet and let the tents get a good test.
Keeping this short, we got to test the Heksa on the Friday night and when Franca joined us in the morning we headed off into the hills. First heading cross country to a Wellington Bomber memorial and then we walked onto the northern barrier of the Brecons and contoured around the Fan y Big, then down onto the head of the saddle below this and Cribin and set up our Alpkit Kangri and Zhota adversely to the elements to give them a real test (Sssh! Don't tel Col).
With the tents sorted, it was brew time, followed by more brew time and chatting about the tents, gear and what Alaska would have in store for us (I suspect a lot), mentally I think we are all a little reserved yet very conscious of what we are about to embark on. Soon Will arrived as he had headed down from Uni for the rest of the weekend.
As the sun started to go down we cooked dinner and soon retired to the tents, as the wind started pick-up. With some idle chat we all soon were asleep. Come the morning no-one was in a hurry and as I drifted in and out of sleep I only snored once and only got elbowed by Dan once. My new SOL sleeping mat had been awesome, toasty warm.
Soon we where chatting about the tent and making a brew in the vestibule which when opening this to cook we saw what the wind was really like. We finished breakfast hiding from the elements as the others started to stir in the Zhota. We could hear the wind and rain, but didn't really think much of this until we finally scrambled out the tent to break camp. The weather was foul and we had been fooled into thinking it wasn't bad.
Soon we were off and heading for Pen Y Fan and hiding behind Cribin for much of the way. By the time we reached the summit, there was snow and hail falling but not settling. The team paced itself quite well and seems to have bonded really well and share a common sense of humor. This is a huge relief as we all only knew 1-2 others in the team initially, but now seem to have already formed a great bond.
We all know there will be trying times and we have devised a couple of strategies to get around this, such as sharing tents on a rota and trying to rotate duties if movement on the mountain allows.
I think there are some nerves and I am glad of this as it will keep our minds keen.. There have been some little concerns about elements of the expedition, but this has served to show that we are all very happy to communicate our feelings with each other either directly, this makes for strong team in anyone's book.
With only a few weeks left the panic of have I got this, do I really need that and where is my passport starts.
I am looking forward to the 25th May, but also feeling a bit sad about the looming date. I need to get lots of cuddles in before I go, a month is a long time away from my Nik.
Keeping this short, we got to test the Heksa on the Friday night and when Franca joined us in the morning we headed off into the hills. First heading cross country to a Wellington Bomber memorial and then we walked onto the northern barrier of the Brecons and contoured around the Fan y Big, then down onto the head of the saddle below this and Cribin and set up our Alpkit Kangri and Zhota adversely to the elements to give them a real test (Sssh! Don't tel Col).
With the tents sorted, it was brew time, followed by more brew time and chatting about the tents, gear and what Alaska would have in store for us (I suspect a lot), mentally I think we are all a little reserved yet very conscious of what we are about to embark on. Soon Will arrived as he had headed down from Uni for the rest of the weekend.
As the sun started to go down we cooked dinner and soon retired to the tents, as the wind started pick-up. With some idle chat we all soon were asleep. Come the morning no-one was in a hurry and as I drifted in and out of sleep I only snored once and only got elbowed by Dan once. My new SOL sleeping mat had been awesome, toasty warm.
Soon we where chatting about the tent and making a brew in the vestibule which when opening this to cook we saw what the wind was really like. We finished breakfast hiding from the elements as the others started to stir in the Zhota. We could hear the wind and rain, but didn't really think much of this until we finally scrambled out the tent to break camp. The weather was foul and we had been fooled into thinking it wasn't bad.
Soon we were off and heading for Pen Y Fan and hiding behind Cribin for much of the way. By the time we reached the summit, there was snow and hail falling but not settling. The team paced itself quite well and seems to have bonded really well and share a common sense of humor. This is a huge relief as we all only knew 1-2 others in the team initially, but now seem to have already formed a great bond.
We all know there will be trying times and we have devised a couple of strategies to get around this, such as sharing tents on a rota and trying to rotate duties if movement on the mountain allows.
I think there are some nerves and I am glad of this as it will keep our minds keen.. There have been some little concerns about elements of the expedition, but this has served to show that we are all very happy to communicate our feelings with each other either directly, this makes for strong team in anyone's book.
With only a few weeks left the panic of have I got this, do I really need that and where is my passport starts.
I am looking forward to the 25th May, but also feeling a bit sad about the looming date. I need to get lots of cuddles in before I go, a month is a long time away from my Nik.
Franca, Dan and Nick, top of Fan Y Big
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