Our friend Alan Arnette, whose page I referenced many times during the 2007 Everest season is off climbing Denali. It's the first step in his Road Back To Everest : Memories Are Everything campaign, in which he will be raising $100,000 for Alzheimer's Research.
Alan's been on Denali for a about a week and a half now, and you can find all of his dispatches here. He's had some problems with technology on the mountain, and word is that his new PDA won't hold a charge for any more text dispatches. But for now, he is still sending back audio updates on his progress. So far, he and his team have been shuttling supplies up the mountain and establishing high camps for their summit bid, which is likely to come next week if the weather holds out. The audio dispatches are short, but interesting to listen to, and offer some nice insight into the experience on the mountain, such as how the team had to carry gear during the night and early morning thanks to the fact that it's warmed up there, and that has made for melting snow and ice, resulting in treacherous conditions at times.
If all goes according to plan, after Alan summits Denali, he'll start looking at Shisha Pangma later in the year, his expedition on an 8000m peak. After that, he'll head off to Mexico in January of 08 to climb Orizaba, an 18,880 foot volcano. Along the way, he'll also spend some time on several of the many 14,000 foot peaks in his home state of Colorado, with the eventual goal of being on Everest next Spring. It should be an interesting journey to take with him, and his cause is one that touches many of us personally.
Hopefully we'll hear more from Alan soon, particularly on when the team plans to summit. I'll keep you posted as we learn more.
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