Life > September 20, 2007

By Mary Beth Ballard | Senior writer

Wind whipping his body at roughly 50 mph and lowering the immediate temperature to -80 to -100 degrees Fahrenheit, senior Reid Larson stands alone, with duct tape on his nose to prevent sunburn, looking out over the Alaskan landscape from a 20,000+ foot perch.

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At the top. (Photo courtesy of Reid Larson)

Fifteen minutes pass, and some Norwegian climbing companions reach the summit as well. They snap a few photos of the 5’11,” 170-pound undergrad from Pennsylvania, and then he begins a deceptive descent back to base camp.

Larson had one thing on his mind for almost 10 years – summiting Alaska’s Mount McKinley. During two weeks this past May, Larson obtained that long-term goal as he solo-climbed North America’s tallest peak. At 20,320 feet, Mount McKinley (referred to as Denali by most mountain climbers) stands as the third most prominent mountain on the planet. For Larson, reaching the summit proved a true test in relentless self-determination resulting in satisfaction of a dream finally realized.

I sat down with Larson last March and conversed about his mountain climbing passion, and The Old Gold & Black covered Larson’s past adventures and future plans of conquering Denali. Now, with his senior year just getting underway, Larson was eager to relay the details of his most recent elevated experience.

After many weeks of endurance and weight training four to five days per week, in late May Larson set out to tackle Denali.

A warm-up trip included day hiking in Mount Shasta, Calif. with his brother-in-law immediately before departing for Alaska. Larson knew he’d be summiting via the West Buttress of Denali, a route that 80 percent of the climbers use to reach the top. If he’d had a climbing partner, Larson said, he would have attempted the more difficult route.

Larson was well-versed on the dangers of Denali long before he stepped off the plane with his 165 pounds of gear into the frozen Alaskan landscape. Weather is a major factor in determining when a climber can continue onward from the high altitude base camp to the coveted summit.

When the weather is milder, climbers tend to bottleneck up the mountain, he said. Fortunately for Larson, a window of opportunity opened up (after a three-week period of dangerous winds and temperatures) when he chose to summit.

“There was bad weather below 15,000 feet, but once I climbed past 18,000 feet, the conditions cleared,” Larson said. “I felt very lucky to have a summit day like that.”

Going into the climb, Larson knew that the success rate for summiting earlier in the season was only 33 percent. However, his determination wasn’t going to slow him down. From the base camp at17,000 feet, he reached the peak in four hours – the average for most climbers is six to eight. How did he do it so fast? “You’ve got something on your mind for 10 years and just can’t wait to do it,” he said.

For Larson, the words to describe just what he experienced reaching the summit of Denali come down to feeling “purely and simply happy.”

“There are a lot of things in our lives, and especially my life lately that has made it complicated and made happiness more of a grey area than in the past,” he said. “However after spending two-plus weeks pursuing one singular and well-defined goal with all your energy, you can feel a level of happiness that is all but unattainable in day-to-day life.”

However, after feeling high on accomplishment subsided, the reality of the situation grounded Larson as he approached the most dangerous part of his climb.

“The descent from Denali pass to the 17,000 feet camp was harrowing, especially traveling solo, since there would be no one to catch a fall but me,” Larson said.

“You are very fatigued from your day, and it’s more dangerous than it looks. I was stumbling at times.”

When all was said and done, Larson made it safely down the mountain, though 25 pounds lighter from the intense physical exertion, of carrying his 75-pound pack in combination with pulling a sled of extra gear at points on the trail.

In addition, loss of sleep was a factor in his body’s fatigue. It’s light most of the day, Larson said, and combined with more difficult breathing due to high elevation sleeping at “night” proves incredibly hard.

But when asked if he’d do it again, Larson enthusiastically said, “Absolutely. I have plans to return in 2010 with my mother and stepfather as their ‘guide.’”

Next on Larson’s mountain climbing agenda: Mount Elbrus. This Russian dormant volcanic peak hails as Europe’s highest summit at around 18,500 feet, and once Larson has tackled it (possibly next summer), he’ll have mastered four of the Seven Summits (the seven highest mountains on each of the continents).

While most of us will never literally reach the top of a mountain, we can certainly apply Larson’s successful journey to our own personal dreams.

If we focus on self-motivation to persist beyond obstacles, we’ll eventually find that once thought “unattainable” happiness at the summits of our lives.