The 2008 Yentna Expedition: Into the Range (Hardwear Sessions)

By Freddie Wilkinson

There's a saying I've heard from hardcore Alaskans that goes something like this: "You live in Anchorage? Oh, that's is a nice city.... it's only five minutes from real Alaska."

Ben Gilmore, Max Turgeon, and I just arrived in this bustling concrete jungle of big box stores, one way streets, and strip malls. We spent yesterday frantically running around town, racking up hundreds of dollars in credit card debt while equip-ing ourselves with provisions for three weeks. Wallmart, Costco, Carrs, Fred Meyer's, Barnes and Noble (we're packing biographies of Harry Truman and Jenna Jameson), Best Buy, Sportsman's Warehouse, and REI were all requisite stops. Luckily, we commandeered a diesel F250 truck, courtesy of our buddy, the esteemed Colby Coombs of Alaska Mountaineering School. Our gear and supplies barely fit in the eight-foot bed, and we only got lost driving the perplexing streets of Anchorage three, or maybe four, times.

But there's a good reason for all the fuss: For the next twenty odd days, the three of us are going into the Range. From the minute the plane takes off we will be on our own: no other people, no re-supplies, no one else to blame for our mistakes. Just three friends having fun and exploring the climbing potential of one of the last unknown realms of the Alaska Range, the Yentna Glacier.

Only a few days ago, we received word from the American Alpine Club that we've won the Lyman Spitzer Grant to attempt the first ascent of an 11,000 foot peak on the Yentna -- but on a real expedition, who knows what will happen? To tell you the truth, the thing I am most looking forward to doing right now is pitching my Trango 3.1 tent, curling up inside my sleeping bag, and catching a good night's rest surrounded by starry skies and unclimbed peaks. All those errands in Anchorage have tired me out!

Stayed tuned....