My name is Steve Matava; I’m 30 years old and live in the Boston area. I am putting a team of climbers (non-guided, of course) together to climb the West Buttress of Denali in the spring of 2002. I’m looking for people with the following experience level: high altitude experience (17,000+), solid glacier travel skills, and solid winter camping skills. Perhaps the most important quality I’m looking for is people who are easy to get along with, even under stress. The minimum team size would be three with a maximum of 8. It would be nice to find some people who would like to continue climbing together after Denali and have the eventual goal of climbing a 8000-meter peak, but this is not a requirement. Let me tell you a little about my climbing and general outdoor experience. In 99 I thru hiked the AT, in 2000 I took a 12 day mountaineering course in Alaska with Alpine Ascents International, in 2001 I climbed Aconcagua (22,841 ft) via the false polish route (solo), and this past summer I mountain biked/hiked the continental divide from Mexico to Canada. My technical rock and ice skills are modest at about 5.7/5.8 and grade 4 WI (no leads) and have only been climbing for a year or so. I have climbed many New England peaks during the winter including Adams, Jefferson, and Katadhin. I am a very good winter camper and have solid crevasse rescue skills. The 12-day mountaineering course I took was based out of the southeast fork of the Kahiltna glacier, just above the base camp for the West Buttress route. While in the Alaska Range I climbed Mt. Francis and Kahiltna Dome. The route up Kahiltna Dome is the same as the West Buttress route for the first 2,600 feet (8 miles), so I have had a chance to see at lease some of the route. I am a safety conscious climber and will have a conservative approach to an attempt on Denali. I would like to spend a fair amount of time lower on the mountain, perhaps climbing a smaller peak first, and fully acclimatizing before getting to the 14,200 camp. I would like to allot a full 3-4 weeks to the climb to maximize the likelihood of success. The team would need to do a few climbs together to get to know each other and check compatibility. Winter climbing/camping trips to the Adarondacks, Whites, or Baxter would be one way to facilitate this. A trip to the Pacific Northwest for a winter glacier climb could be arranged, perhaps after Christmas and before the New Year. This is something I really want to do and would expect other members of the team to have the same level of desire and commitment (i.e. fitness, time, money, etc.). If this is something you are interested in talking to me about my number is 781-696-7730 and my personal e-mail is - matava_at@yahoo.com Thanks Steve Matava

P.S. If you want to learn more about the West Buttress route check out this website : http://www.nps.gov/dena/mountaineering/talkeet.htm or the book, “Denali’s West Buttress”, by Colby Coombs.

-- steve matava (matava_at@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

Hey Steve. How did the Denali climb go? I am an Australian living in Sydney and have a similar resume to yourself including some climbing time in New Zealand and Africa. I am going to try Denali in June 2003 and would love to here about your trip assuming it went ahead this year. My brother lives in San Francisco and he has tried denali once before. Anyway let us know how it went and if it didn't eventuate let us know if you have plans for next year as we may see you over there.

-- Matt Diegutis (matt_diegutis@hotmail.com), August 04, 2002.