re: Mountaineers of the OT

Those are next, need to crawl before i walk

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I have hiking experience and am in good physical shape but no mountain climbing experience. What do you reccomend to get my feet wet?

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Yeah, don't waste your money and PTO.

I recommend if this is serious that you move to the NW and get practical experience.

First off....take an all around climbing class.

Next....join a club so you can get on climbs with knowledgeable people without it costing you money that a guide would charge.

Next....train for a marathon even though that may not still be enough.

Next....bag Rainier several times.

Next....keep on training. You also have to train with a loaded sled and practice escaping it.

A lot of people do Rainier as a warmup.

For scientific reasons that are above my paygrade, the far northern latitude makes a difference. Something about lower atmospheric pressure near the pole making the altitude "seem" higher.

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What do you recommend to get my feet wet?

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Not Denali (McKinley), that's for sure. I strongly suggest the following two at least:

If you just want to experience high altitude without any technical climbing, try Kilimanjaro. It is a pure hike, albeit a very hard one, and will give you an idea of how well you adapt to altitude. No special technique is required though, it's just a hike.

Once you've done that, try Rainier. It is often regarded as a good training mountain for alpine ascents like Denali. It is definitely more technical, as you'll be roped in a team for glacier travel. Do not attempt Rainier without a guide, crevasses are easy to stumble into.

Climbing expeditions will generally not accept a novice for Denali. You do at least need to have basic technique, because you can get you and your team killed if you don't.

I've done both Kili and Rainier FWIW. For Kili you're required to hire a guide with porters (it's the local jobs program basically) but for Rainier you're a fool if you don't hire a guide (there are no porters, you're lugging your own gear). I used RMI but there are several well-regarded ones in the area.

My head Rainier guide (Billy Nugent, Google him) led several ascents of Denali and a handful of Everest, and says Denali in summer is the rough equivalent of a higher Rainier in winter.

A guy named Vern Tejas did the first solo winter climb with an aluminun ladder strapped to his back on the theory that if he fell in a crevasse it would bridge the gap.

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He's one of tough SOB and said they trained for about 4 years before their attempt

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My buddy thought he was in good enough shape and ended up wasting 2 weeks off and 5k in flights and gear he bought that would only be used there by getting altitude sickness.

He's an experienced climber and has since spent the last 3 years training to go again.

It's a mountain not made for all climbers. Regardless of how bad arse your skills are. It's about SERIOUS training and that's it really.

Eta...my serial downvoter is at work. Btw...frick off you little bitch.

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Vern Tejas did the first solo winter climb with an aluminun ladder strapped to his back on the theory that if he fell in a crevasse it would bridge the gap.

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That's cool, never heard that...

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I am serious. I am going to do it and will put in proper training. Train with a sled in what capacity?

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You need more than a few months... you need actual experience on other mountains first... YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!

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N Latitude combined with altitude play funny tricks with the pressure...and hypoxia is no joke

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No it isn't. Training doesn't really help much, either you can handle it or you can't. That's why Kili is a good place to start, you can see how you handle altitude without having to learn technical mountaineering skills.

Frankly, I think OP was just trolling but whatever.

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Frankly, I think OP was just trolling

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Or we're going to find out he was serious and an idiot when the helo crew attempting to rescue his retarded arse crashes like they did on Mt. Hood