Preparation

• Planning meetings - We tried to hold a planning meeting each month at one of the team members homes. We would have dinner and afterwards discuss agenda items. Each month the location was changed on a rotational basis.

• Technical training outings - We tried to have a team outing each month to practice skills that would be necessary on the West Buttress route.

• Team workouts - At least once a month we would meet for a team workout. We did things like climb Mount Sanitas, Climb Mt Sanitas with 50 LB packs, run up Lookout Mountain, & nautilus workouts.

• Personal fitness plans - We were encouraged to have personal fitness plans. In the beginning of our training we filled out and handed in forms logging our exercise workouts.

• Celebrity interviews - On three different occasions we had dinner with climbers who had been successful on the West Buttress Route. Each of us had a chance to ask questions. We chose Gerry Roach, Charlie Winger, & George Fuller.

• High Altitude Mountaineering Seminar - Each member of the team attended the six lectures given by the Colorado Mountain Club's HAMS section on high altitude mountaineering. We sat together right up front, sometimes all sporting our "dogboy shirts". We must have looked like a bunch of goobers, but we were proud of our team.

• Gear acquisition - Aside from personal gear purchases, we had to purchase some group gear including a North Face Himalayan Hotel tent.

• Research - We read anything that we could get our hands on regarding Alaska, Mount McKinley, and The West Buttress Route. We were also able to buy a few videos.