June 18th - 10PM PST

This mountain is work. But not the kind of work that we do back home. Not the expediency of email after email, reacting to task to task.  Not back-to-back zoom calls.  Not Monday morning meetings, nor PowerPoint presentations. That’s the job that allows us to do this other kind of work—the work Denali requires.

The work up here is different. Waking up in the morning is work. It takes 15 minutes to get dressed and another 5 minutes to get our boots on. This morning was our first sub-zero wake up.  Avoiding the frost on the inside of the tent while putting on a shirt is work —you can’t let it touch your bare back. Rice Krispie treats are no longer for pleasure, but for performance. Today, after organizing her food bags for 2 hours, I heard Amanda say, “it’s hilarious how much work is required just to get by up here.”

Drinking water is work. It requires digging sacks of fresh snow, lighting the camp stove and waiting for the snow to melt  in a big pot. It takes a lot of snow to fill the water bottles of 9 climbers 3 times per day. Our guides handle this job. As climbers, we do a lot of work and it still only amounts to about 40% of the work our guides handle. We could not do this without our guides: Ben, Mike, and Avery.

Moving up this mountain is work. Every step is slow and heavy. Yesterday we covered 3K feet of gain up frozen glaciers as steep as double black diamond ski slopes. We pulled heavy sleds and carried heavy packs. Every patient crampon step was work. This is work that we get to do. Work that we choose to do. Do not feel sorry for our cold toes and sunburnt lips. This work makes us happy.

Yesterday’s effort took us 5 hours and 40 minutes as we moved from 11K camp to 14K camp. No music. No conversation. Sometimes the silence of the snow, and other times the shriek of Denali’s winds as she lets us know she’s aware of our presence on her west buttress. So far she’s welcomed us with beautiful weather, but we’re ready for when she changes her mind. We have lots of time to think on these long days. A luxury that we do not have back home when we’re in the daily grind. Out here I find myself thinking about the people I love and miss. My eyes fill with tears of joy as I think about my favorite memories we’ve made together. I find myself planning the next time we’ll see each other. The stories we’ll share, the laughs we’ll have, and the memories we’ll make. Today I thought about Nonnie. I promise I’ll come visit you as soon as I get back. I thought about Aunt Sandy’s Christmas Eve stories and my mom’s tendency to exaggerate her boys’ abilities. I thought about how Jake and Jordan would hate it in this tent, but they could do it if they had to. I thought about my boy Braxton and his upcoming Walmart meeting—go get it done, sir. I thought about Angela; Miss Chaosa, keep doing great work and you will be happy with the outcome. I promise. I thought about all of you guys and the strength of the hugs we will soon share.

Until then, it’s back to the work. We have a mountain to climb. This morning we back-carried to 13K feet to retrieve our cached gear and food. That was 2 hours of work. This afternoon we trained on the fix lines. We buffed out camp, built igloo walls with snow blocks, and we rested. We are preparing our minds and recharging our bodies. We are doing the work that is required to touch the top of North America. We feel lucky that we get to do this work. We are sharpening ourselves. We will make you all proud.

With love from 14,
- RMI Climber Jimmy D

PS: Happy big 6-5, John Morrison! We’ve been thinking about you every day. You inspire us to do this work with pride, with grit, and with determination. We will stand on the summit for you soon.