The only thing standing between Jenn Drummond and her goal is a 20,310-foot climb to the summit of Denali – North America’s tallest peak – in Alaska. The mountain is federally designated as Mount McKinley.
Drummond and her 16-year-old son Jacob Hokanson leave Park City for Alaska June 6 to attempt the climb.
It will be Drummond’s second try, after last year’s expedition was cut short when her guide became ill.
“I have a great team, that I assembled, of people, and we're all in it together,” Drummond said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Tuesday. “We're hoping the weather aligns; it could be as short as 14 days. If the weather throws something at us, it could be as long as 28, so there's a lot of variables that you're planning for, but we are going in with everything we've got.”
While three of her five teenage sons recently climbed Mont Blanc with her, only Jacob will be joining her on Denali.
“I'm going to be there for when my mom gets that world record, which I thought would be really cool,” Jacob said. “Especially after Mont Blanc, I definitely have a different perspective on mountains, and I kind of understand why my mom likes them so much. One of my favorite quotes is, ‘If you feel like you're ever dreaming too big, go somewhere where you feel small,’ and I think that’s the perfect environment to do that.”
Jacob says he has been preparing for the climb under his mom’s guidance with endurance workouts and weighted hikes. Mentally, he says, he tries to immerse himself in the challenge and figure things out as he goes.
After climbing Mont Blanc with his mom, 18-year-old Joe says the experience gave him a new appreciation for the risks and rewards of mountaineering.
“She's crazy,” he laughed. “It brought a realness to what she does and the risk that can occur. I learned how much I appreciate doing things with them, because doing hard things with your family or the people you care about is like what truly gets you to build a connection. I learned from this mountain was just like trusting in yourself, because if you can't trust in yourself, then you're not going to be able to succeed to your highest ability. Having the people around help motivate you, I wasn't going to give up because I was with my brothers. I know if they saw me succeeding, they would push themselves to do that too.”
For those who want to follow along, Drummond and Hokanson will be wearing tracking devices and sharing daily updates from their climb.
Click here to follow Drummond’s final record-setting climb.
