Denali Day 1: Talkeetna, Alaska

We made it to Alaska.

Jacob and I left Park City Saturday evening — right after Joe’s graduation party. One celebration barely finished before the next adventure began. We landed at 2:30 in the morning, sorted gear for a couple hours, then woke up and got straight to work.

But here’s the thing: when we walked through that door bleary-eyed and running on fumes, the hard part was already done.

Tom and Chris had flown in two days earlier. They handled the logistics, sourced the food, tracked down all the small-but-critical supplies that are nearly impossible to find once you’re actually on the mountain. They did the unglamorous, invisible work — the work nobody photographs — so that Jacob and I could show up for the moments that mattered most back home, and still not lose a step on the expedition.

That’s what real teamwork looks like. Not everyone charging the summit at the same time. Some people hold the rope from the bottom so others can climb.

This morning, my friend Brad Petersen and his daughter Sienna came over at 7:30 AM. They’d just come off the mountain — successful summit. They sat with us, gave us a full conditions update, and reminded us of something important: Denali is never the same mountain twice. It shoots so high that it generates its own weather system. What they experienced a week ago may have nothing to do with what we’ll face. The mountain doesn’t care about your plan. It only rewards your preparation.

After that: van to Talkeetna, weighed our gear (650 pounds — not including us), grabbed a bite in town, then headed to the ranger station for our safety briefing. They showed us the frostbite photos. Fingers. Toes. Nothing like a few visceral images to keep you honest about what’s at stake out there.

Right now, we’re waiting on our TAT flight onto the glacier. We have a window until 8 PM tonight, and the team is pushing to get us in before a storm rolls through. The glacier runs warm in the lower sections this time of year — hot in the day, brutal at night — so landing in the evening actually works in our favor. Less time roasting. More time moving smart.

Sandro, Chris, Tom, Jacob, and I are all here. We’ve already run into familiar faces and met some new ones. The energy is right.

This is Project Climb Higher — the expedition that finishes what I started, and adds another world record to the books. But more than that, it’s a reminder that the mountain is one of the last places left where you can’t fake it. You either prepared or you didn’t. The altitude will tell the truth.

Something to think about today:

Who on your team is doing the Tom-and-Chris work — the behind-the-scenes preparation that makes everyone else’s best moments possible? When did you last acknowledge them?

The summit gets the photo. The prep gets the summit.

Follow along for daily dispatches from the mountain. Tomorrow: we’re on the glacier.

— Jenn & Jacob, somewhere above Talkeetna