Thanks!

Thanks everyone for following. As the previous post stated from my parents, I successfully summitted Denali - albeit solo (more on that in a future post)! After a few days of descending I have been safely flown off the mountain and am hanging in Talkeetna waiting to return to Washington, DC.

Its been a great few days in town reconnecting with climbers from the mountain, sharing stories, and eating/drinking lots of unhealthy things. It sounds like most people have lost between 10-20 pounds during their climb, so some feasting is only necessary!

Photos and video to follow later this week!

Thanks again,
Andy

Summit Reached! Goal Accomplished!

We reached the summit of Mount McKinley today Tuesday, May 25 at approximately 3:45 PM Alaska time.  It is cold, windy but what a thrill to be on the top of North America!

Thanks for all the prayers and good vibes for a safe ascent and excellent weather.  Now we just have to climb back down.

Message from Andy via satellite phone to Richmond, VA  at 8:45 pm EST Tuesday May 25, 2010 from the top of Mount McKinley.

SMS from 881631619640@msg.iridium.com

TOOK CACHE 2 16800 YESTERDAY. AWESOME CLIMBING! SNO NEXT 2 DAYS THEN 2 HIGH CAMP

Blue Sky on High!

Made it to 14,500 ft today. The weather is quite warm with blue sky and lots of sun reflecting off the snow.

 

Will rest for a couple of days at this altitude. Weather permitting we will start our trek to 17,000 ft by the weekend. So far feeling good and

acclimating to the change in altitude.

 

Your prayers and chants for good Denali weather are working well so please keep them coming.

 

Message from Andy via satellite phone to Richmond, VA  at 7:30pm EST Wednesday May 19, 2010.

 

 

Made it to 11,000 ft on Friday May 14.  Took the weekend off to rest and wait out a" white out".

 

Will be moving to 14,000 feet, weather permitting, starting Monday. 

 

Continue sending prayers for good weather as we continue our climb to the top.

 

Message from Andy via satellite phone to Richmond, VA 1:10 EST Sunday, May 16, 2010. 

Game time!

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Mind over matter: because if you don't mind, then it doesn't matter!

No flights onto the glacier today, so a mandatory rest day before we
even get going.

Time to hurry up and wait. Better luck for us tomorrow, hopefully!

--
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