MountainZone.com Home
Alpine Ascents International


»Home   »Itinerary   »Dispatches   »Photos   »Maps   »Facts  


High on the Flanks of Denali
Tuesday, June 20, 2000

A Season on Denali
Tejas
Hear Vern's Call from Denali
LISTEN:  [RealPlayer]  [Windows Media]

Requires a FREE media player to listen

DISPATCHES
Previous Next


Hello Mountain Zoners, this is Vern Tejas with Team Testostogen high on the flanks of Mount Denali. Yes indeed, we're here at 17.2 waiting for the weather. We spent the whole day resting and recuperating, drinking and eating, walking around to get oxygen on board and sleeping. Boy, and not only that, we did a little poetry writing.

It's been a good day. The weather may clear off just a little bit and the winds may drop just a little bit so that we may shoot for it tomorrow — keep your fingers crossed. Please team, we are counting on you. And if you've got the pull that we need, we'll be going to the summit tomorrow on the solstice. So please bear with us and pray for us, we appreciate it. Now for that poetry we talked about:

Denali the great one of ancient lore
With tall granite spires and white snows pure
With winds that will freeze you and avalanches bury you deep
With crevasses so wide they wake you from blissful sleep
With throbbing thighs and sweat running down your face
You struggle just to keep the pace
And blissful sleep we all Cheyne-Stokes
Morning greets us, with oatmeal did choke
All day long our sleds we drag
And in the evening when it comes, we poop in a bag
And with three big guys in our mountain tent
Oh, it's really necessary to open the vent
Though mountaineering may be romantic and bold
Most of the time we're just freaking cold
Up the ridge to 17.2
We barely made it with our crew
One slipped and surprised us with her slide
But the trusty ropes, her death denied
With blistered feet and smelly socks
We built our camp with large snow blocks
With food that would barely pass as slop
We chowed down our one pot glop
With TP supply running slow
We don't despair because there's plenty of snow
With backs sore from sleeping upon the cold ground
We soothe our aches with massages all around
Though we complain, when all is said and done
This mountain life really can be fun
And soon back at our jobs we'll be working full throttle
But we'll never forget the importance of a hot water bottle

Hey, that's a little poem from Team Testostogen high on Mount McKinley. Now my travel agent said Bali, how come I'm up here on Denali? Ciao for now.

Vern Tejas, Alpine Ascents International, MountainZone.com Correspondent


email to a friendEmail this story to a friend


[Climbing Home] [MountainZone.com Home]