Expedition Alaska Prerace -Day 1

Introduction

How do you start an epic expedition like Expedition Alaska - well I will start with a disclaimer, first this is all coming from a tired and hazy memory of an epic adventure with an incredible bunch of friends. I will include all the details I can remember as I know my readers really like to hear about the guts of the race.

Getting There 

The flight from Orlando Florida via Chicago (and back via Houston) is an adventure unto itself. It is even more of an adventure when you throw in the ton of gear that is part of the mandatory gear list of such a complex race. I normally throw all my gear in military duffel bags - and did the same here. This got everything safely to Alaska where Dave Adlard and about 30 racers were waiting on shuttles to take us North to Denali and 3 days of safety training prior to the race. Most of my team would be coming in on later flights and later shuttles. Julie Ardoin was the only one I had actually ever met before. When we arrived at Princess Cruise line lodges in Denali under the watchful gaze of Mordor (my nickname for the hulking Mount McKinley that loomed over the lodge) - we were given room keys and I was able to get some real rest - in a real bed. Since it never gets dark in Alaska in the summer, the adjustment for sleeping is quite strange. Tired is tired, though and I was ready for some shut-eye. The next morning I met my team and was pleased that we would have a great group for the race.

Training in Denali

The race director - David Adlard had one big concern about this race - safety. This turned out to be well justified as we would all find out later. So the focus of the next 3 days turned to preparing the teams for things they might need to deal with out on the course. I in turn got to meet my team;

Our Team

Lena - Amazon goddess, pretty, strong muscled with striking features and incredible inner strength
Tim - Lena's husband, soft spoken, great sense of humor and wonderful to be around. Also strong and experienced.
Sterling - Lena's son. Quiet, pleasant - with incredible athleticism - 14 years old.
Kerry - First a little scared, but with a little bit of iron in her soul when she let it show. Also an amazing ability to overcome.
Ric - Tall, outgoing, and generally fun to be around.
Terry - The "old goat"pound for pound the strongest 60 year old I have ever met
Julie - The organizer of the crew - and the iron lady, have raced in some of the worst conditions ever with her and knew she could handle just about anything.

Tim

Lena

Ron

Ric

Terry

Sterling

Julie

Kerry

Our Crew

Shu shu - An ex-Alaskan female bush pilot (pretty much says it all) and a heart of gold. Love her.
John - I spent many hours chatting, joking, and drinking with John - capable, resourceful and great spirited. Also both of them were incredible cooks and John grilled me the best Salmon I ever had - period.

After meeting the team and crew I felt much more comfortable with the race. Still I did not know how "tested" our race team was - so was not sure what would happen if things went south, or I needed to rely on them in life threatening situations. I somehow thought we might need to be ready for these situation and I proved to be correct - though most of the situation we ran into we were all well capable of handling.

 Training

We took the training both seriously, and also had some fun. The most critical training was the crevasse rescue. Dave and I had discussed the ice conditions and we both knew that at least one team based on odds would have to do a crevasse rescue. The 2 parts of crevasse rescue are important - (1) how to keep the falling team mate from pulling you into the crevasse, and (2) how to get them out quickly before they became hypodermic. I worked with Terry, Kerry, and Ric on this - and after some consultation with Adrian (our mountain guide) we came up with a team and rope order or Terry, me, Kerry, and Ric. This put Terry in the front and the most likely to fall into a crevasse - but I was very confident in getting the team down quick and executing a rescue if that were to happen. Still I am happy to say we did not need to test that theory.

In addition to the ropes, rope travel, and crevasses - we also got to do a little pack rafting. Unfortunately this was nowhere near enough for the conditions we would face. My ideal training would be - avoiding a strainer, quick maneuvers, ferry forward, ferry backwards, escaping a hydraulic, aggressive rescue, all types of strokes, and pretty much everything you would need to be comfortable sharing a 6 foot blow up boat with a pack with 50 pounds of gear on it - in fast moving water. We got a little of that - but the reality was we were as a team completely unprepared for what we would face when we hit the real water. We just did not know that yet. I could sense the apprehension about the water in most of my team mates - and did my best to make sure it did not spread to me. I've been in every kind of water in every kind of boat, this was no different - just a little more uncomfortable since the water was all colder than 40 degrees and the cost of any mistake was much higher.

Adrian - our mountain guide

In the end - we were reasonably prepared, and we went through all pre-race rituals and meetings and we all were on an extreme adrenaline high when the time came to load onto the buses and head for the start.

The biggest item for me in any pre-race is the maps and preparation. We got the maps with plenty of time to prepare (a full day almost) - here are the full scanned maps (thanks Tecnu) - https://picasaweb.google.com/103157039195633082599/MapsExpeditionAlaska2015

The Start 

After an enjoyable bus ride chatting with old friends and overcoming nervous energy we got the first glimpse of the start at Eklutna Lake. The race would begin with a 13 mile run/hike around the edge of Eklutna Lake to the gear drop for the glacier gear. There we would pick up the ropes and glacier gear, cross the Eklutna River and proceed to the glacier.

Eklutna Lake

Foot of the Eklutna Glacier

We did not take a fast approach to the trek, choosing to conserve energy with a conservative pace. This put us the last team to reach the gear drop and pick up the extra gear. The sites along the short hike were all pretty awesome - with the highlight being Serenity Falls. Trail information about the trail network around Eklutna is at http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/maps/eklutnalaketrailguide.pdf

Ric at the Start

Eklutna Lake

Once we got to the gear drop we got word from Adrian that the water crossing a mile up had gotten quite challenging as the snow melt later in the day had increased the water level to dangerous levels. Many teams had struggled quite a bit with this crossing with a lot of these crossings well documented by the ever-present camera crews.

I decided that the location of the gear drop looked crossable and Time and I attempted to try a crossing. I went first with Tim using a safety rope just behind me. I completely misjudged the effect of the deep, swift, and cold water on me and lost my footing. Tim immediately jumped into action, grabbing and tossing me towards the shallower water near the shore. I had made one crucial mistake in not unbuckling my pack (welcome to water crossing 101) and found myself on my back, but out of the fast water near the shoreline. It felt like it took forever for my numbed fingers to unbuckle my pack and allow me to escape to the far shore. In reality the entire episode was captured on film and probably took less than 2 minutes total. In the end Tim and I ended up on the far shore, cold and exhausted. I immediately made a quick clothes change and was feeling better as we decided to hike the far side of the river up to the water crossing where the other teams had crossed.

The main water crossing early

Tim and Ron in Water

Tim and Ron in Water

Tim and Ron in Water

The hike up to the upstream water crossing on the other side of the river proved to be quite technical through a massive rock field. This would have been quite fun had I not been so shaken ad carrying 50 pounds on my back. We finally made it to the water crossing with Tim and I on the correct side of the river and 6 other team members on the wrong side. We made three major attempts across the water and everyone made it to the small island in the middle of the river. Only Julie made it all the way across. Finally after an hour we had most of the team cold and exhausted when I got a radio from one of the race staff and called to Adrian that we were not going to be able to make it to the glacier. There was an alternate route that added some distance (a lot of distance). We would first have to hike back to the start, and then be transported to Eagle Creek to cross the mountain on the next major pass over (Crow Pass). We would not be doing the R2 traverse. The team was a bit disappointed, but as we would quickly learn - nothing in Alaska is easy. We got back to the start where a lot of the crews were still there, including film crews. They had had a very challenging time with the water crossing also and there was a lot of talk of the crew members getting swept downstream with cameras. It was quite late when we made it back in, and we got a little camping rest under the starts before we were shuttled and dropped off at Eagle Creek - we would be all by ourselves as we did the Crow Pass trail from Eagle Lake to Girdwood. That story is next.

Next: http://eaglinar.blogspot.com/2015/07/expedition-alaska-day-2-crow-pass.html