Father Lou and son Lou 2 on the Denali summit, what an experience! Thanks everyone for your help and support with making this happen, and thank God we've had a safe and successful trip so far! It was incredibly cold on the Denali Summit, at least 10 below zero with a stiff breeze. We did all we could to keep the camera working and get photos, but being as tired as we were, we messed up a bit and only got a few. The other guys got more images, but they've raced off down the mountain ahead of us today and I don't have their camera cards, so here are the Lou and Louie shots for now, other guys later.
Lou on the summit ridge -- at 14,000 feet it would have taken 10 minutes, instead it took a half hour. Parts are knife edged with something like a 10,000 vertical foot cliff dropping off to your right.
Louie skiing from the Summit of Denali, at about 20,300 feet above the sea.
Lou with his planks on the summit tip. Louie did the same thing but the camera malfed for his hero shot. Shucks. But the memory will live. The snow off the summit and down to 17,000 feet was incredibly variable, everything from powder to super hard white-ice. Difficult in our wasted state, but doable -- and a lot faster than walking.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
