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Denali 1998

Team Coo loo coo coo coohoo coo coo

The expedition to Denali (20,320 ft)(6,194 m) was a success! We began our climb on May 24 with the worst recorded May weather on record. We summited on June 9th after waiting through 4 days of stormy weather with winds up to 100 mph. The summit conditions were a VERY fortunate 18 deg. F with sun and no wind! Cloud deck was at 17,000 ft. Besides the summit success, we were involved in a search for a RMI guide who died near 17 camp in a 1500 ft. fall. We also took care of a HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) victim from another Colorado Team. A total of three deaths occurred while we were on the mountain and they were all on the ridge from 16,000 to 17,000 ft. It was a harsh season, but an exhilarating time for those who summited the highest peak in North America (35% success rate vs. the normal 50% rate). We also set a record for the greatest number of people at basecamp waiting to get off the mountain, 130 people, Oh Joy!

Trip Info

The Dream Initiative

The Motivation - The reality of life in this country is that it is very self focused. Much of the sense of community and responsibility to the community of our neighborhood town, state, country is gone. I believe this is one of our greatest downfalls; everyone is responsible for their community. If you drive through the poor inner city of Denver or any city, in the nice and sheltered environment of your car, you may realize (as I have) how easy it is to keep on driving and shut out the reality around you. To dismiss this as someone else's problem is a bunch of crap... we are all people created equal, we are all God's children. I will not let myself sit comfortably in my expensive Boulder apartment while people are living in poverty, involved in drugs, getting murdered, etc. in Denver, with little hope of changing or leaving their environment.

The Concept - In this day and age the youth of our inner cities and elsewhere are often stuck in their environment, leading to a continuous cycle of poverty, crime etc. I believe that this does not need to happen. For many of these youth, they have dreams of doing great things in their life, but they see these dreams vanish as they grow older and do not realize how to achieve their dreams. They may get involved in alcohol, drugs, gangs, crime, etc. My goal is to give them a process in which they can keep their dreams alive and accomplish them. I want them to stay excited about life.

The Background - My expedition to the top of North America's highest mountain (Denali - see below) was one of my longest standing dreams which began sometime while in middle school. I never doubted this dream becoming reality, but I had a long way to go before it would. As years went on my determination grew. I placed myself in environments that would facilitate my dream, from the Catskills and Adirondacks, to Mount Washington, to the Rocky Mountains, to Mount Rainier. From George Washington Middle School, to Ridgewood High School, to UNH, to CU. From mowing lawns, to the environmental labs at UNH and CU, to Rocky Flats, Garry Struthers Associates and NREL. I had a plan that would accomplish my goal.

The Plan - I have travelled to the middle schools of the Denver Public School system over the past few years. It has been on a completely volunteer basis. The program includes a selection of my 400 slides that I took on my trip. I am presenting the process which made my dream a reality, along with educational information on Alaska and mountaineering. The program has gone well in schools presented, however, the interest level by teachers is marginal. I assume the already packed curriculum may not allow for such presentations, but I am not sure of all the reasons.