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Last June, freshman Riley T. Lewis did what few young men his age have ever done—he scaled Mt. McKinley, at 20,320 ft., the highest peak in North America. McKinley** is one of the vaunted Seven Summits (a collection of the highest peaks on each of the seven continents) and, as such, is part of the climbing "holy grail" to mountaineers.
Born and raised in Claremont and graduated from The Webb Schools of California (also located in Claremont), Lewis works as a research assistant at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government when not attending classes.
Recently he took time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his epic climb.
Q: What was the most harrowing moment of the climb up Mt. McKinley?
RL: One of the most harrowing moments was on the way down from high-camp at 17,000 to Basin Camp at 14,200 the morning after we summited. We cut out a rest day so that we could summit the day before a storm was forecast to hit the mountain, and as we were descending, we could feel the beginning of the storm approaching. We were walking down the West Buttress, which is a really narrow ridge that drops off steeply on either side; a place that I found to be nerve-racking when we were coming up it in calm weather. On the way down, exhausted from the long summit the day before, it got to be windy and there were moments when it almost felt as if we were going to be blown right off the mountain.
Q: What kind of preparation work did you have to do before the climb (acclimatization, exercises, etc.)?
RL: Before I'd even started planning for the trip, I already had a solid fitness base from four seasons of cross-country running in high school. I kept running with the team up until two weeks before I left for Alaska, and four months before I left, I began working with a trainer twice a week. A normal day consisted of warming up by running on the treadmill on an incline, wearing a backpack filled with weights. Then, he would have me do sprints or lifting or other intense work. I never had an easy day with him, but really, it was this work that gave me the strength to get up the mountain. On my own, I would run up hills on the weekend and I climbed Mt. Baldy and a few other local mountains.
To learn technical skills and get exposed to working in a high-altitude environment, I went to mountaineering school on Mt. Rainier (14,411 ft.) outside of Seattle. This was a week-long program where we learned snowshoeing, cramponing, how to climb steep terrain while pulling a sled, and other essential skills.
What sets Denali apart from a mountain like Everest or the kinds of mountains often depicted in movies is that Denali is not very technically challenging. In terms of endurance and manual labor though, it is a difficult climb. We had 1,200 pounds of food and equipment between the eight of us, and we were responsible for moving all of that by ourselves. On a normal day, we would carry about 50 pounds in our backpacks, and pull another 25-30 pounds in sleds behind us. We would climb up the mountain for up to six hours to reach a higher camp then have to set up a campsite, which involved digging out a flat platform for a tent, cutting out blocks of snow to build wind walls, and setting up tents.
Q: You mentioned Everest. Have you read Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air? Did you think about that fateful Everest expedition during your own climb?
RL: That was one of the first climbing books I ever read, and it had a very powerful effect on me. The first half of the book was really fascinating and made me want to join a climbing expedition and be a part of the adventure and excitement that Krakauer described so well. But then, the second half made me stop and think to myself, "If I do end up climbing mountains, then these are very serious issues I may have to deal with at some point."
The conditions I encountered on Denali were different from Everest. Climbers invest much less: the trip costs a fraction of what Everest costs to climb, takes about three weeks compared to more than two months on Everest, and we knew that we would have more than one shot at the summit.
On Denali, there were a few bottlenecks, like at a steep spot called Washburn's Thumb, but we did not have the same life and death pressure that Krakauer felt. We did not use oxygen, so while he worried about his tank emptying, that was not an issue for us, and because it did not get dark at night in Alaska, coming into camp late was not a serious problem.
Q: What do you feel when you finally reached the summit?
RL: It was exhilarating. Denali was very difficult for me, and every day was a challenge that made me wonder why I was there and why I hadn't turned around yet. Up until the moment I stepped onto the summit ridge, I really did not know whether or not I would make it, and for the past 18 days, there had been constant suspense, wondering when I would finally make the decision to turn around and head home. In that moment, all the months of training, all the work, money, and time dedicated to the trip, all the hours slogging up the frozen slopes with heavy loads and all the cold nights in the tent; in that one moment, reaching the top of the mountain went from dream to reality.
Q: What other aspects of the trip impressed you?
RL: A lot of people forget what the rest of the expedition is like. The time spent on the summit was less than 15 minutes out of a three-week trip. The summit is the goal when climbing the mountain, but the trip is about so much more. My best memories were times spent joking with the team in our dining tent, or looking over the ridges at the gorgeous view, thousands of feet below us, and realizing that this was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. And then there was the aspect of meeting seven strangers and getting to know them as we worked as a team to accomplish something great together.
Q: Were you raised in Claremont?
RL: I was born in Upland and have lived in Claremont almost my entire life. Before CMC, I attended Foothill Country Day School and Webb. Living in Claremont, I feel lucky to have mountains so close and accessible.
Q: What led you to work at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government?
RL: I had wanted to get a job on campus and the Rose seemed like a great place to apply. I've always been interested in geography and politics, and since I'm local, I was especially interested in California politics, and the Rose seemed like a great place to learn.
Q: What do you want to pursue after graduation and have you declared a major?
RL: I have not declared a major yet. My family is involved in real estate development, and I think that it would be a great field to work in.
Q: What led you to want to climb Mt. McKinley?
RL: What made me want to climb Mt. McKinley specifically, as opposed to a similar mountain somewhere else in the world, was that it was in Alaska, which is a very significant place in the history of my mother's side of my family. My grandparents spent 15 years living in Alaska, met and got married there. In fact, they honeymooned in Mt. McKinley National Park. My grandfather worked for the CCC during the Great Depression in the Park, and he has taken me to Alaska.
I never did a lot of hiking before seventh grade, when I started doing trips with my school. The first mountain I ever climbed was Mt. San Gorgonio, the highest point in Southern California at 11,502 feet. Falling behind the rest of the group, and struggling to reach the top, I was in over my head, and it was probably the most difficult physical thing I had ever done before. But I'll never forget the rush I got when I reached the top. I had never felt anything like it, and I was hooked, wanting more.
Q: How did you finance the climb?
RL: It was funded privately by my family. I went with a guide service, Alpine Ascents International, which is a company where we pay a fee, and they arrange a permit, transportation to base camp, and group gear for five other clients and me. Then, we climb the mountain as a team with two guides. A lot of my gear came from gift certificates from relatives.
**Denali and Mt. McKinley are used interchangeably. Denali is the name the natives gave the mountain and is favored by climbers and locals, while Mt. McKinley is the official moniker given to it by the prospectors in the 1890s.
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