My view

Sorry for not updating for the last day or so, but on return from our successful ascent we have had no power to charge a empty laptop battery due to a full on storm hitting, that said a lot has happened over the passed 2 days. Yesterday wanting to get out and back to "dryland" we decided to break camp in a slight lull and dragged all of our equipment through half a meter of fresh snow the 1.5km to the landing strip on the glacier, where we were hoping that the following day would clear enough to allow us to get the plane out! but...as luck should have it that evening the storm blew through and a plane was able to get in at 8.30pm to get us out and back to Talknena. We have now just returned to Anchorage as we have also managed to get a earlier flight home in the morning, crazy how things have moved on so fast.
It takes me a while to write down how the 6 days on the wall made and now makes me feel, but i will start and as it sinks in as to what we have achieved I will write more. The most important thing for our success was that both myself and Jon where in the same head space, the dream, the commitment, the vision, the drive to succeed on a new route of this scale, and the ability to know totally what each other where needing and feeling, we didn't need to communcate this by word but just by the friendship we have and by the pull of the rope. The climbing was hard, dangerous, scary, but beautiful and it took everything we had in our minds and arms to be successful. The last 36 hour push to the top off the North Buttress and the 38 abseils later to the base off the wall, where like an out off body experience I have never witnessed before. Pushing through the super bad weather felt like we where always in complete control but at the same time fully wasted, we where not on our own, not like some "God" looking over us, or anything like that, I don't believe, but just that, we where not on our own, i can't explain it. nuff said! The route is the hardest and longest climb of my life so far, and there are many stories which i will tell you about over the next few days and weeks of the 6 days on the wall. but for now one stands out...after descending back to the glacier after the route, both wasted at the base, hardly able to move after poor food for 5 days and 36 hours with no food and 1 litre of water we lead in the snow as our body systems shut down now knowing that we where safe, we could see the Dave (Pap) in the distance skinning as hard and as fast as he could towards us, big rucksack and toeing a sledge, thank god, he's bringing us a warm drink and a load off food from Base Camp, cheese, bagels, salt crackers, beef jerky, fruit bars, peanut butter all things that we had been craving on the route and needing to eat to get us back on our feet and down the 1.5km to our BC. He showed up smiling as always and handed us a tiny fun size Snickers each, oh and one for himself and a cold icy half litre of dirty water. Thanks Pap.

Matt

Pic 1: Matt gets a tough wake up call on pitch one, day 2
Pic 2: An amazing pitch space walking on the 'Moon.......'
Pic 3: Day 4, we join the Moonflower route- Matt enjoying the 'Vision' pitch

Pic4: Matt and Jon happy back on terra-firma!