The climbing team takes a break at 13,800 feet after traversing Windy Corner from Squirrel Point on the way to the 14,200-foot high Medical Camp. At center of photo is Farmington Fireman Kent O'Donnell, Dutch team member Frank Stevelmans is in the background and Paul Kern is in foreground. 

Local climber promises to beat Mount McKinley 

Robert Tansey-Staff writer 

Alaska's Mount McKinley may not have allowed Farmington Fireman Kent O'Donnell and Farmington Police Sgt. Keith Mcpheeters to reach its 20,320 peak, but the journey was life-changing as well as life challenging. 

Calling the experience a grand adventure, McPheeters said, "I'm going to go back and beat that mountain next summer." 

Sharing the sense of awe and adventure that characterized the recent attempt to ascend 20,320 America's highest peak, also known by its native name, Denali (the High One), McPheeters gave a reprise of the experience to the Farmington Rotary Club last week. 

McPheeters and O'Donnell began their ascent of the Alaskan peak June 1, along with three Dutch climbing partners, and were on the mountain for 19 days. 

"I'm a firm believer in adventure. Every human should have a quest in their lives," McPheeters said, explaining his enthusiasm for the recent effort. 

Mount McKinley is the highest point in North America, and the conditions facing climbers rival anything they might face on the higher Himalayan peaks of Mount Everest or K2. 

Mount McKinley, or Denali, is located just south of the Arctic Circle and is known for treacherous weather that can include snow storms with 100 mph winds and a temperature range from 90 degrees to minus 50. 

The most opportune window for the climb is from May 15 to the end of June, with the death rate for climbers rising to about 50 percent during the remainder of the year. This is the first year in two decades that no one has died on the mountain, McPheeters said. 

Showing enlargements of color pictures made during the climb, McPheeters said, "It is almost impossible to get a perspective of how massive these mountains are and how small and infantile you feel in comparison to them." 

McPheeters explained how the body's resting heart rate at normal elevations would be about 60 beats-per-minute, while at 17,200 feet it is 120 beats-per-minute. It is even higher during physical exertion as the body attempts to get a sufficient supply of oxygen in the rarified atmosphere. 

As part of the process of acclimating their bodies to higher altitudes, the climbers take their gear up the mountain in stages, returning to lower elevations to pick up more equipment, thus climbing much of the mountain twice. 

Great care must be taken not to become dehydrated during the climb, and it is necessary to melt snow for water. This is a very time-consuming process. Among the dangers facing climbers are acute mountain sickness, with the possibility of cerebral or pulmonary edema. Both conditions can arise in just a few hours, leading to sudden death. 

Team member O'Donnell began to suffer extreme symptoms of altitude sickness at the 17,200 foot level and it became necessary for the two Farmington men to descend the mountain. The Dutch climbers had already left the climbing effort at a lower altitude. 

O'Donnell and McPheeters placed a plaque at the high point of their climb in honor of Officer Dale Claxton, the Cortez, Colo., policeman killed in the line of duty while making a routine traffic stop in May of last year. Two of the alleged killers, Alan "Monte" Pilon and Jason McVean, remain at large. 

Farmington Police Chief Mark McCloskey said he wouldn't be surprised to see McPheeters make another attempt in the future to reach the peak of Mount Denali. 

"A lot of people were rooting for both Keith and Kent, and were glad to see them come back with all their limbs intact," said McCloskey.