This is an excellent video of Renan Ozturk and Zach Smith's recent trip in Alaska in the Ruth Gorge, where they did a 12-hour ascent of the classic Cobra Pillar on Mt. Barrill and made a serious attempt on the "Tooth Traverse," a link-up from the Sugar Tooth to the Moose's Tooth.
I have always been interested in geography and the far reaches of the world—the people, their customs, the flora and fauna. I love maps and have since a young child looking at the topography, the demographics and historical points of interest. I blame my parents for this affliction as they subscribed to National Geographic throughout my childhood. The magazine, and maps that came with it several times a year, was my window to the world which is important when one is growing up in a small Appalachian town in western Pennsylvania.
How small you ask? Small enough that some folks never leave the county let alone the surrounding counties. A statistic I once read stated that 50% of people settle within 50 miles of where they grew up. I find that hard to fathom.
As an avid traveler I keep a global perspective daily due to planning future adventures as well as working for a large corporation with overseas interests. Events that happen outside the USA often have a causal effect here in Colorado so keeping an eye on the world issues is just part of the job. To me this is normal; to others concerns beyond the walls of their building might be of no immediate issue.
With the growth of cable TV and the 24x7 media culture that it brings to us we cannot escape the global perspective. Ignore it and it will return to haunt your decision. The world is becoming more spatially aware thanks to the cable networks but it is a slow process.
It is human nature to be myopic and ethnocentric to some degree. Once the basic needs of life are secured these issues can be addressed and lessened through education and experience. Sometimes they are often one in the same as experience is the best teacher.
It is safe to say most people in the USA have their basic needs met and do tend to their education as validated by a 99% literacy rate. Compare that to just over a 25% literacy rate for the African nation of Chad one could conclude the United States people have it pretty good.
So why is geographic knowledge so dismal for such a literate country?
In researching for this article I found a CNN geography survey from a few years ago. The results were atrocious. This was in no way a solitary finding, just one of several, but indicative of a trend that has far reaching implications.
The survey group in this instance was 18-24 years old. Not only was the knowledge of local geography terrible where 33 percent could not find Louisiana on a U.S. map but so was their grasp on an international perspective. In this category, of the respondents, only 25% could find Israel or Iran on a world map! The results were worse once the questions became more specific about the foreign country regarding their size, population or domestic resources. Their knowledge of state and country capital cities was just as lack luster.
This geographic myopia was below my awareness level until my brother Tim went off to war this past spring.
He did not go to Iraq or Afghanistan. He went to Sri Lanka as a volunteer with Doctors without Borders (known worldwide as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)). He offered a year of his time to assist MSF wherever they needed a surgeon. Because of this friends and acquaintances often asked me about Sri Lanka. Many did not even recognize its name, let alone its civil war, for which I blame the US centric media for their blatant focus only on issues that affect the United States in a rather direct manner.
For Tim, our family and friends, the war in Sri Lanka came to the forefront of our consciousness since the Sri Lankan government raised the ante in the 25 year old civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last December. Fighting between the two forces resulted in numerous civilian casualties and many injured mainly from artillery bombardments that each side blamed on the other in a media propaganda front line.
He arrived in the capitol of Colombo in March. Our regular communication methods—cell phone, text messaging and email—ended once he moved to his hospital in Vavuniya a few days later. I resorted to old fashioned postal mail and the news networks for communication and information.
This is when I realized information about the country, or its war, was hard to find. Was it because Sri Lanka is a small country halfway around the world? Rhetorically, could most Americans even find it on a map?
Thanks to Google my search for information did not take long. Of the numerous sites offered up I found the most useful sites to be the BBC and MSF for general news and the humanitarian perspective--not NBC, ABC, CBS nor FOX.
More to my surprise was the encyclopedic level of information about Sri Lanka on both the BBC and MSF sites improving my working knowledge of Sri Lanka on all levels. Did you know the name Sri Lanka was only adopted in 1972? Prior names of this island nation go back to ancient Greek times when it was known as Salike, then Siclen Diva and more recently Ceylon.
The war ended 18 May when the Sri Lankan army killed or captured the remainder of the LTTE leadership. Approximately 300,000 civilians are currently in temporary refugee camps awaiting relocation back to their villages. While the numbers of newly wounded have dropped MSF surgeons are still operating on an enormous backlog of injuries as well as everyday issues from the camps inhabitants.
Please consider a tax deductible donation to MSF to support their worldwide cause.
Some editorials on the people, places and issues in Sri Lanka as seen from a volunteer’s perspective: Now for some geography miscellanea: National Geographic GeoBee Challenge Study: Geography Greek to Young Americans Get out and Explore the World! PS – Thanks Mom & Dad!
Day 11 Monday 25 May: I woke after the best night of sleep the entire trip. This was strange since we were over 17k; my acclimation must be working. We spent the morning brewing water to fill all our bottles and for breakfast as we watched as the camp emptied with teams slowly heading up Denali pass. Everything is slow at 17k. By the time we had enough water and roped up it was 1300—our latest departure from camp yet—thus we were one of the last teams out of camp.
The route from 17 camp to the summit is 2.5 miles one way and can be divided into three segments. The first is from camp to Denali pass a mile away and over a thousand feet higher. For most of this segment the path traverses a steep slope as you climb higher. Once at the pass the next segment is a ridge climb that offers amazing views of the entire route over two miles below. This segment ends at a flat section called the Football Field which is quickly crossed before a short, but very steep, climb to the Kahiltna Horn where the slope eases up on the final ridge to the summit.
As we went upwards several groups were coming down. While one would like to think they all made the summit I knew that could not be the case this early in the day. Few had summited with the majority turning around for various reasons too cold, too windy, the wrong clothing, AMS or for some reason, physically or psychologically, it was not their day. In climbing sometimes on a crowded route just seeing others turn back is discouraging and can mess with your own thoughts of how the climb is going. This information can be useful for knowing weather and route conditions ahead of you but it can also make you second guess how you are feeling about the climb.
My brain thought “Well if that Everest climber turned around what am I doing still going up?” After a ‘head to toe’ systems check I filed that thought away, took a deep breath, and continued up the mountain.
Resting at the pass. 17 camp is in the middle of the picture.
After two hours we arrived at Denali Pass where several other parties were resting by an outcrop of boulders out of the wind. We asked how they were doing and found that they were waiting for the winds, as forecast, to die down before continuing. They had left hours before us and tried to continue up the route only to turn around and seek the relative calm shelter of the ridge.
With this latest information in hand we went around the corner to compare reality against their stories. It was windy. It was cold. We felt that is was within our experience and abilities as we had climbed in strong winds numerous times this past winter. With no sunset to worry about we returned to the boulder shelter to rest, refuel and discuss our options.
One option surfaced that I was not thinking about when Dan announced “Guys, my feet are cold. I can’t feel my left foot and my right is definitely numb.” With two thousand feet of elevation and 1.5 miles yet to go there is not way Dan could continue. At the same time one of the nearby groups decided that some of their team was ready to quit and return to 17 camp while the remainder of their team attempted another summit push. So they joined Dan on one of our ropes for the quick trip back to camp.
After checking the conditions again we found the wind had died significantly. We packed up, donned facemask and goggles, before heading out for our summit attempt!
The route was well defined but was slow going with the steepness of the ridge as well as the altitude. I used all the physical and mental tricks I knew from years of climbing and long distance running to keep moving higher. At this altitude the using a rest step and pressure breathing are invaluable.
It did not seem very long before the ridge was behind us and the final segment beckoned us on. And what a beautiful sight it was to ponder—a large field (aka the Football Field) to cross before heading up the steep slope to gain the final ridge to the summit. It was breathtaking in all regards especially at ~19,200 feet!
Climbers marching up pig hill to Kahiltna Horn and the final summit ridge.
Crossing the field was easy enough and sorely missed once the trail started to climb towards the Kahiltna Horn where each step higher was accompanied with a significant pause for several breaths. I fixed my mind on the getting to the Horn so each step brought took me higher to this interim goal.
Arriving at the Horn I knew that the summit was all but guaranteed. With only a slight breeze and feeling strong nothing but a catastrophe to me, the team or the ridge was going to stop me from climbing the last 300 vertical feet to the summit.
Chris at the horn with Denali's other summit in view.
The team heading up the ridge.
The summit ridge was beautiful wind sculpted snow and ice with several undulating cornices. A fall to the left would be a 1000 foot slide to the Football Field. To the right would be over a mile fall if a huge crevasse did not swallow you first. With this in mind I thanked the mountain gods for the current lack of wind.
The view to the right side and down!
After some team photos we continued upwards. Kiefer and Gabe soon took the lead (living in Vail sure doesn’t hurt any) while Craig and I followed closely behind them.
At approximately 2030 Alaskan time we arrived for our all too brief visit at the top of North America! We stayed for almost an hour soaking in the view while taking plenty of pictures and video.
Chris on the summit of Denali.
We made it! (l-r) Kiefer, Chris, Gabe and Craig
Looking down the final ridge from the summit. A few more climbers are heading up.
After refueling we left for the dangerous part of the climb—the descent. The goal is on a climb is not the summit but to return safely. Reaching the summit is a well earned bonus which doesn’t always happen. This time all the training, the weather, my health and a dose of luck allowed me to spend time at the top of the continent.
As we went down the route we had recently fought so hard to climb our strength was fortified by the increase in oxygen in every breath. The return trip was uneventful and soon we were walking into camp just before midnight for a solid day of climbing. We were all tired, some more than others, and were thankful that Dan had plenty of water ready for us. None wanted to fire up a stove as sleep was desired. A couple of cheese sticks and some Pringles chips washed down with Cytomax sports drink was a gourmet offering!
With the summit behind us and everyone safe in camp I drifted off for a well deserved sleep.
Get out and explore the world!
With the nicest weather in a week I did some intensive training this morning. A ride around Cherry Creek SP then a quick change and refuel. The ankle feels almost 100%. I hope to test it on the trails soon.
Ride
18.56 mi in 1:05:41
AHR/MHR: 162/205 (I think the HR strap shifted.)
Run
3.91 mi in 38:28
AHR/MHR 161/178
Get out and explore the world!
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