News Content:

23-05-2008

Local mountaineer and Java Republic distributor, Alan Leckey today sets off to climb Mount McKinley (or as the native Alaskans call it Denali "The High One") to raise funds for Coffee Kids and to realise one of his dreams.

click here to read Satelite updates from Alan

MCKINLEY -V- EVEREST: Mount McKinley is the highest peak in North America. Standing at 20,320 ft (6,194 metres) it is located in Denali National Park, Alaska. It has a larger bulk and rise than that of Mount Everest - even though the summit of Everest is about 9,000 ft (2700 metres) higher measured from sea level, because you fly in to the base of Everest on the Tibetan Plateau at 17,000 ft (5,200metres), the actual vertical climbing rise is little more than 12,000 ft (3,700 metres). However, the base of Mt. McKinley is roughly a 2,000 ft plateau, making the actual climbing rise almost 18,000 ft (5,500 metres)

TEMPERATURES: It is considered one of the coldest mountains in the world (outside of the Antarctica), with temperatures from a balmy -5 degrees F (-20 degrees C), to a cold -100 degrees F (-73.3 degrees C) with winds ranging from 25MPH to 100MPH. There is high risk of being blast frozen if caught you are caught out in these extreme temperatures. The climbing period is between the months of May and July when temperatures are at their best. Daily temperatures range from -5'F (-20.6'C) to 10'F (-23.3'C) with 25-50 MPH winds and daily snow falls of 6" to 8". This is also when the snow bridges across the huge crevasses are at their safest. Due to the very northerly position of Denali, you experience the northern lights (commonly referred to as the Arourora Borealis), which means it is light 24 hours a day, so you travel during the night when it's also at its coldest. This takes some getting used to because you sleep when the sun is at its most intense. There is also a very sever risk of altitude illness, acute mountain sickness (AMS) for climbers, due not only to the high elevation but also its high latitude. At the equator, a mountain as high as McKinley would have 47% as much oxygen available on its summit as there is at sea level, but because of its latitude, the pressure on the summit of McKinley is even lower, resulting in less oxygen being absorbed into the blood stream.

THE CHALLENGE: This is a totally self-sufficient trip with no guides, outside help or aid. My climbing partner, Brian will fly with me from a small town called Talkeenta, landing on the Kalinta Glacier. We will then begin hauling split loads of approx 100lb of gear and food between our rucksacks and on sleds. Snow shoeing for long periods of up to 8 hours per day over the first 3 days, avoiding the high crevasses and allowing us time to acclimatise. This will take us to the base of the mountain itself where we then carry all the gear up a long section of frozen snow and ice on slopes of 35-55' for10 days before making the final push for the summit. All of this of course followed by the long and dangerous descent to base camp before being picked up again.

PREPARATION: It has taken 12 months to organise, train and prepare for this most arduous trip and it is all being done in aid of charity. "I love mountaineering, the physical challenge of me against the mountain and all it can throw at me. Some people play football, I climb" says Alan Leckey.

IN AID OF COFFEE KIDS: Alan is using this trip to raise funds for Coffee Kids (www.coffeekids.org), a charity he was introduced to recently when he visited coffee growers of Nicaragua with colleagues and friends of Java Republic Roasting Company. Alan experienced first hand the real and meaningful work this organisation does in Central America. "This is a great charity and I know that every penny I give will be used directly, not swallowed up in administration and management expenses - that is very important to me". Coffee Kids partners with local communities and provides training and technical resources to implement, facilitate and enable community based projects to get off the ground. Projects include healthcare training; education scholarships for high school and university places; micro-credit projects for women to set up alternative business to that of their husbands farms; community-based projects like making biodiesel; chicken-raising and setting up vegetable gardens. "What particularly encourages me is that every penny issued to the partners must be matched with equal amounts from the community. This type of work is meaningful and responsible giving, because the money is not just a hand out but a hand-up. It's about empowering people to change their own lives; they have to do it for themselves with a little help from us".

click here to read satelite updates from Alan on Mt. McKinley 

*Above photograph taken of Alan Leckey on Mt. Kenya & Kilmanjaro