Alaska's Denali 20,230' Photo credit - Laurel Fan

By – Bill Urbanski

Summer is right around the corner here at CTS Base Camp in Pennsylvania.  This means hiking in shorts, rock climbing outdoors, and even the occasional simple pleasure of a dip in the backyard pool.  But my mind is elsewhere.  My mind is on snow, glaciers, and mountaineering.

For the past few weeks I have been following the journey of my friend, Mike Moniz, who at this very moment is half a world away some 20,000 feet up in the Himalaya as he awaits a favorable weather window to make his summit bid on Mount Everest.  Another friend, Eric Lichtenstien, two days ago arrived at Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier in Alaska.  In a week or so, with any luck, he’ll be standing on the summit of Denali (aka Mt. McKinley).

To honor Mike and Eric, and the many climbers like them who are presently testing themselves on some of the world’s most awe-inspiring and storied glacial peaks, CTS is running a multi-part series: “Denali, a Climber’s Log” – excerpts from the daily journal I kept during my 16-day attempt to summit Denali in June of 2010.

Part 1 will be published soon, so be sure to check back with CampTheSummit.com.