Retro Denali Pass...part 3
Retro Denali Pass...part 3
8 Jul, 08 - 14:06
Monday at the Taos Hideaway was grand! Some new accessories were added to the 'Playmobile Bajee Dawa' repertoire: Guns.
Yesterday, Dawa felt the raw and awesome power of a .22 long calibre rifle and handgun...for the first time ever! Under the expert guidance of Bill, Dawa is well on his way to becoming a Master Marksman. Plastic bottles were flying...clay pigeons were shattering...and Dawa had a massive smile plastered to his face.
Playmobil Bajee Dawa Sherpa and Bill do sum shooootin'! %^]
I asked Dawa how he liked the shooting, and he said ,"Verrry enjoy!" =^)
So many brand new experiences for our Sherpa friend...and more to come!
Now...where were we!? Ahh yesss...Denali Pass on June 26th...
Well...our blue sky turned to grey and the wind was blowing about 50 to 60 mph (80kmh to 100kmh). It was a tad chilly. Any tracks that had once existed were full of new snow that had blown over the ridge that leads from Denali Pass to the summit. Visibility went from not so terrible to zero...tending more towards the latter.
Phill and Dawa on the Traverse from High Camp to Denali Pass
Dawa again made the remark, "I done nayyver seen wedder like theeese".
Kristina asked me, "What do you tink, Pheeeel!?"
Considering we'd seen some frostbitten fingers...a frostbitten nose...and 22 of 32 people had gone into retreat mode, we decided that our Denali attempt was done for the day. I took a short video of the conditions near Denali Pass that I will post on Wednesday.
We headed back down to High Camp in a white out and shuddered our way into our ultra warm Zulu 9 sleeping bags. It was cold and getting colder, but we slowly became warm and toasty.
Phill, Kristina and Dawa Enjoy the Storm
8pm turned to 10pm...and the endless daylight seemed like night...as the snow fell and high winds blew.
The morning of June 27th reminded us that we were very close to the arctic circle, but Kristina managed to cut a path through the cold and join us for tea and chocolate. Krispy was hiding in his tent as his fingers slowly inflated from frostbite. We made a massive care package of food for the Croats, so they were rigged. They were massively grateful for something we were more than pleased to do. Perfecto! =^]
Seven people actually stood on the summit on June 26th. Four Spaniards and a group of two with a guide. There was minor facial frostbite in the former party and one of the members of the guided group(not the guide) froze seven of his fingers! Is a summit worth freezing your skin or losing appendages!? I guess that's up to the individual!?
The title of one of my previous dispatches was: 'Phill and Dawa...42...Frostbite...0'.
That says it all for us. =^]
As you might have read in earlier dispatches, we spent June 27th to 29th in frigid temperatures(sub -30) and endured heavy snowfall and winds. We needed to meet a dozen folks from Boston, in Albuquerque, on the morn of July 1st...so we had to 'high tail' it off the mountain to be on time.
Denali awaits our return. The next attempt will be a traverse and we will put aside much more time. We have to. =^]
Now we just have to fit Denali attempt #2 into our rigorous Seven Summits schedule. You can check out www.secretspot7summits.com to see what I am referring to.
Tuesday is a 'pack up and head back to civilization' kind of day...and I should be back to my laptop by the end of it. It's been a month since my fingers have danced on keyboard. Strange but true. Special thanx continues to go out to Eric at the SatellitePhoneStore.com for furnishing me with this Ipaq. It's rather useful. Also, thanx in advance goes to Eric for connecting us with the BGAN system for the Tilman Trek of October/November 2008. Remote Nepal will be lovely in the Fall! B^)
If you are in the USA, YOU will have to listen to www.am570radio.com on Friday afternoon (July 11th)! Dawa and I will be live and 'in studio' in Burbank...chewing the fat with the Loose Cannons. I'll post exact times the day before.
Tomorrow's dispatch (Wednesday, July 9th) will include some images and footage from the ATV riding we have been doing.
See 'Playmobile Bajee Dawa Sherpa' in action...B^)
Until Soon
Phill =^)
PHILL MICHAEL | Expedition Leader and Summit Climber
Everest Freestyle Expedition/Secret Spot Seven Summits
SecretSpot.NET
SecretSpot7Summits.com
SecretSpotEverest.com
Blog.SecretSpotEverest.com
8 Jul, 08 - 14:06
Monday at the Taos Hideaway was grand! Some new accessories were added to the 'Playmobile Bajee Dawa' repertoire: Guns.
Yesterday, Dawa felt the raw and awesome power of a .22 long calibre rifle and handgun...for the first time ever! Under the expert guidance of Bill, Dawa is well on his way to becoming a Master Marksman. Plastic bottles were flying...clay pigeons were shattering...and Dawa had a massive smile plastered to his face.
Playmobil Bajee Dawa Sherpa and Bill do sum shooootin'! %^]
I asked Dawa how he liked the shooting, and he said ,"Verrry enjoy!" =^)
So many brand new experiences for our Sherpa friend...and more to come!
Now...where were we!? Ahh yesss...Denali Pass on June 26th...
Well...our blue sky turned to grey and the wind was blowing about 50 to 60 mph (80kmh to 100kmh). It was a tad chilly. Any tracks that had once existed were full of new snow that had blown over the ridge that leads from Denali Pass to the summit. Visibility went from not so terrible to zero...tending more towards the latter.
Phill and Dawa on the Traverse from High Camp to Denali Pass
Dawa again made the remark, "I done nayyver seen wedder like theeese".
Kristina asked me, "What do you tink, Pheeeel!?"
Considering we'd seen some frostbitten fingers...a frostbitten nose...and 22 of 32 people had gone into retreat mode, we decided that our Denali attempt was done for the day. I took a short video of the conditions near Denali Pass that I will post on Wednesday.
We headed back down to High Camp in a white out and shuddered our way into our ultra warm Zulu 9 sleeping bags. It was cold and getting colder, but we slowly became warm and toasty.
Phill, Kristina and Dawa Enjoy the Storm
8pm turned to 10pm...and the endless daylight seemed like night...as the snow fell and high winds blew.
The morning of June 27th reminded us that we were very close to the arctic circle, but Kristina managed to cut a path through the cold and join us for tea and chocolate. Krispy was hiding in his tent as his fingers slowly inflated from frostbite. We made a massive care package of food for the Croats, so they were rigged. They were massively grateful for something we were more than pleased to do. Perfecto! =^]
Seven people actually stood on the summit on June 26th. Four Spaniards and a group of two with a guide. There was minor facial frostbite in the former party and one of the members of the guided group(not the guide) froze seven of his fingers! Is a summit worth freezing your skin or losing appendages!? I guess that's up to the individual!?
The title of one of my previous dispatches was: 'Phill and Dawa...42...Frostbite...0'.
That says it all for us. =^]
As you might have read in earlier dispatches, we spent June 27th to 29th in frigid temperatures(sub -30) and endured heavy snowfall and winds. We needed to meet a dozen folks from Boston, in Albuquerque, on the morn of July 1st...so we had to 'high tail' it off the mountain to be on time.
Denali awaits our return. The next attempt will be a traverse and we will put aside much more time. We have to. =^]
Now we just have to fit Denali attempt #2 into our rigorous Seven Summits schedule. You can check out www.secretspot7summits.com to see what I am referring to.
Tuesday is a 'pack up and head back to civilization' kind of day...and I should be back to my laptop by the end of it. It's been a month since my fingers have danced on keyboard. Strange but true. Special thanx continues to go out to Eric at the SatellitePhoneStore.com for furnishing me with this Ipaq. It's rather useful. Also, thanx in advance goes to Eric for connecting us with the BGAN system for the Tilman Trek of October/November 2008. Remote Nepal will be lovely in the Fall! B^)
If you are in the USA, YOU will have to listen to www.am570radio.com on Friday afternoon (July 11th)! Dawa and I will be live and 'in studio' in Burbank...chewing the fat with the Loose Cannons. I'll post exact times the day before.
Tomorrow's dispatch (Wednesday, July 9th) will include some images and footage from the ATV riding we have been doing.
See 'Playmobile Bajee Dawa Sherpa' in action...B^)
Until Soon
Phill =^)
PHILL MICHAEL | Expedition Leader and Summit Climber
Everest Freestyle Expedition/Secret Spot Seven Summits
SecretSpot.NET
SecretSpot7Summits.com
SecretSpotEverest.com
Blog.SecretSpotEverest.com
Posted by Phill Michael at 7/8/2008 2:48 PM 
Categories: Alaska, Loose Cannons, Satellite Phone Store, Zulu 9, Frankly Physical, Denali, Sherpa
Categories: Alaska, Loose Cannons, Satellite Phone Store, Zulu 9, Frankly Physical, Denali, Sherpa
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