The RibCo '04 Expedition Team

I grew up in Osage, a small town in North Central Iowa. I spent all my time in the outdoors, as I grew up in a heavily wooded river valley with lime stone cliffs. These cliffs are where I began climbing. My interest in Mountaineering started at the early age of 10 as I watched the National Geographic’s specials about climbing Denali and other big mountain experiences.

Growing up in a rather horizontal geography made it hard for me to pursue my interest. After moving to Colorado in 1998 I had virtually instant access to the mountains and the vertical world. Having this access was fantastic but I still needed the technical knowledge to safely pursue climbing. I met up with Mike Marsh, a veteran technical rock climber who had recently returned from an expedition to the summit of Broad Peak, an 8,000 Meter peak in the Karakorum region of the Himalayas. Mike taught me the ropes of technical rock and ice and passed on the knowledge necessary for a long climbing career.

By profession I am a software engineer but the center of my life is my family. I have a wonderful wife, Jodi, of 15 years who does not hold the same passion for the mountains and outdoor purists as I do but understands and supports my passion of high places. My son, Mike, who is also one of my climbing partners, has joined me on both rock and ice climbs. He is a Boy Scout, Start rank, with a growing love of the outdoors. My daughter Megan is a wonderful young lady whose passion is Gymnastics! Sometimes she spends more time on her hands than on her feet.

Preparing for a big mountain such as Denali has been, to say the least, a huge undertaking. The logistics of organizing this trip have been huge. Dealing with all the climbing equipment, food, transportation, and the electronics gear for updating this site during our climb then there is the time involved in team training weekends and my individual training throughout the week. All this and then I am on the mountain for three weeks, away from my family. One week after we leave Denver my family will fly out to AK and visit the Kenai Peninsula and Denali National park. When it is time for our flight off the mountain back to civilization, Jodi, Mike, and Megan will load up in the small aircraft and take the climbers flight though Gunsight Pass and land on the Kahiltna glacier. They will spend about 15 minutes on the glacier where they will view the vast size of these mountains first hand, from the climbers perspective. Then the four of us will take a flight seeing tour of the mountain before heading back to Talkeetna and the comforts of civilization.

Doug's pre-expedition training and nutrition

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