Denali serves up challenges for local climber

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Steve Martin of Wellington is 62, but he doesn't like to act his age. He's the kind of guy who, for fun, does the Triple Bypass bike ride in Colorado and the 50-mile run in the Grand Canyon. He leads climbing trips for the Colorado Mountain Club and has climbed all but one of Colorado's 14ers--many of them several times. In May, he received an Athletic Achievement Award from the Fort Collins Senior Center and the Aspen Club.

"He likes to test his endurance," said his wife, Kathy, in a mountainous understatement. An ornithologist by training, he also seems to favor the rarefied atmosphere of high-flying birds.

In May, Martin undertook an adventure that tested both endurance and his aptness for altitude, a technical climb of Mount McKinley in Alaska. Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, rises above the clouds at 20,320 feet. It is equivalent to a 25,000-foot-high peak in the Himalayas, Martin said, with more vertical rise from the base than Mount Everest.

True to form, Martin spurned the "easy" route and chose the West Rib, considered one of the most dangerous routes on the mountain. About 1,000 people climb the standard route each year, but only a handful attempt the West Rib. While the easier route consists of a slow, gradual climb with established camps along the way, the West Rib route is very steep, with hard ice and tiny ledges for setting up camp.

Martin and his five climbing companions spent 18 days on Mount McKinley, from May 18 until June 4. While Colorado baked in record heat, the mountain, which is close to the Arctic Circle, dished out its worst weather in more than 10 years. Normally, Martin said, storms swirl for a couple of days and then give way to blazing sunshine. This year, the team got only occasional glimpses of the sun; their everyday reality was snow and fog.

In the native tongue, Denali means "the great one." Martin joked that the natives might have it right: They have traditionally admired the mountain from a distance.

Martin's team, which called itself RibCo'04, achieved its goal of climbing the entire West Rib, but because of the bad weather they did not reach McKinley's summit. It was a risk the team took when they chose the West Rib, Martin said, since their chances of summiting would have been better on the standard route. Nonetheless, a Denali ranger called the team's climb a major mountaineering achievement.

During their West Rib climb, Martin's group made an elevation gain of 22,000 feet with heavy packs. The gain would have been half as great, but the team had to climb everything twice, splitting up their gear in order to carry a lighter load. At the beginning of the trip each climber had 120 pounds of gear, food and the fuel needed for melting snow. Climbing equipment included ropes, ice axes, carabiners and ice screws.

Avalanche danger

Part of Denali's danger comes from the fact that it's covered by glaciers, which are constantly moving. If there were a tourist guide about the West Rib route, it could list points of interest such as the "valley of death," where people have totally disappeared in avalanches, and "the end of the world" on the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. There's also a steep ice fall on the route.

Climbing season is in the spring on Mount McKinley, because by mid-June the summer heat opens up huge crevasses on the mountain. Even during climbing season crevasses tend to be more dangerous during the day, so much of the team's climbing was at night, guided by the twilight glow that persists at that latitude all summer.

Despite all the precautions taken, one of Martin's group fell 15 feet into a crevasse, but the team was able to rescue him.

All team members were connected by ropes, so "one misstep could take the whole team down," Martin said. This kind of life-and-death pressure, plus the sheer hard work of the climb, "just wears away at you," he commented.

With the aid of modern technology, the team was able to make daily e-mail contact with family and friends, a huge morale booster for the group. Martin's favorite came from 6-year-old granddaughter Madison, who wanted to tell Grandpa that she had caught her first fish. The group's progress was also covered closely by 9 News in Denver.

Team dynamics

While Mount McKinley's terrain was a daunting challenge, so was team dynamics. "You put six guys together," Martin commented, "and you count on each one of them being a really secure climber. If one slips, you're dead, too."

On six or seven days of the climb, every single step could have had fatal consequences, Martin said. This kind of pressure can split climbing groups apart, so as co-leader, he worked hard at the end of each day to be positive and to correct dangerous behaviors. "You can't allow emotional outbursts to affect future behavior," Martin noted. In the end, he said, "We came off that mountain better friends than when we started."

Martin won't soon forget his Mount McKinley mission, although he has several other climbs on the calendar already. For one thing, his black lab will serve as a constant reminder; although the dog has a much sweeter disposition than the mountain, her name is Denali.