The short story is we didn’t climb the route. We did summit twice, once via the West Buttress and again via the Upper West Rib. I went there the fittest I’ve been since I ended serious triathlon training and racing in 2007, and I felt amazingly strong the entire trip.
We flew in 4 days after arriving in Talkneeta with amazing weather. However, our 18 glacier days had now become 15. That amazing weather was forecast to persist for a long time and it did. We made 14k on day 5. Each day felt good. I was never tired or sore from any of the carries. We acclimated to 16700 on day 6, and rested day 7. Day 8 we summited via the Buttress. I remember from an email you sent me that you predicted we could hit the summit from 14k in 7 hours. We made there in 7 hours and some odd minutes. It was hard moving from Denali Pass on up but we felt great and the weather was great!
Said and done, I believe we had a trip many would kill for. 2 summits in 13 days with outstanding weather for the first 8 and pretty good weather for the remainder. I don’t think anyone gets that very often. I felt strong the entire time and want to thank you for being a big part of helping me train for the trip.
I keep wishing I could only fit more alpine climbing into my life. The combination of technical climbing and aerobic strength needed make it a perfect fit for me. The experience base and head game needed to really succeed remains a challenge for me however. Trips like that won’t come by often for me and to not climb the Cassin knowing how long it may be before I can return is tough. Some day…