March Update

Hello everyone:

It is the last day to post for March and I waited to report on the reservations. We planned to make reservations in April and when I checked last week, they were taking reservations as of March 15th. That means that they will accept faxes as early as March 15th and will take everything received between March 15th and April 1 and then randomly assign. They will let us know in 2 weeks what we got.

As you all know, I stratified by likelihood to go and short of Bill and Steve (with whom I didn’t get a chance to speak), it was confirmed that we will have 2 teams: Brad, Veru, and me on one rope and Tim, Rob, and Gad on the second. Denise will go to Muir with Nate and Dean. The dates we are asking for are Jul 28, 29, 30, and 31 at Muir.

The plan is to fly in to Seattle Sat Jul 26. We’ll probably spend Sat night in Seattle (some friends say we can camp out in their yard), and get any gear we need to rent or buy last minute at the REI flagship in Seattle. We’ll go to the base of Rainier on Sun Jul 27 and up to Muir on Mon Jul 28. The plan at this point is to rest on Tues and bid for the summit on Weds with a backup on Thurs. We’ll camp at Muir on summit day.

Everyone’s training is ongoing. Brad is at his course and will hopefully provide some good pictures when he gets back. Veru is in Nepal and planning to climb partially up Everest with her friend Gabriel. Tim, Rob, and Gad were just doing some backcountry skiing in Jackson Hole and have experience on Denali. We’re still training and meeting with Jerry, Pete, Bill, and Rick going over fixed rope ascents, crevasse rescue, snow conditions, etc. Denise and Nate are carrying loaded-down packs and Dean is prepping with Tim.

We’ve got 4 months left. Keep reading, exercising, and climbing…and post your progress and motivational pics.

Jakub