Because Will, Carl, and Stephen were new to alpine climbing, guide Mark Johnson spent the first two days on the lower slopes of the Coleman Glacier teaching them the fundamentals of glacier travel, including ice axe techniques and self-arrest, cramponing, and roped travel. "We had absolutely perfect weather," Will remarked, once back at the Institute. "If anything, it was a bit warm."

On the evening of the second day, the group camped on the Hogsback at the base of the glacier and went to bed early in preparation for their early rise. The next morning they rose at 3am to a star-filled sky and began climbing by 4am. "These guys were very fit, so we just blazed up the mountain," Mark recalled. "Also, the route was in pretty good condition - the crevasses were surprisingly filled in for this time of year due to the wet weather we had in June and early July, which significantly delayed the melting process."

The group began on the standard Coleman-Demming route and made a slight variation towards the top. "We climbed to the Colfax-Baker col and then, instead of climbing the loose pumice ridge like most teams do, we went up the glacier to the left of the ridge- basically, the northwest face of the upper Coleman. At one point we wanted to get back onto the pumice ridge, and so we had to somehow cross the moat separating the glacier from the ridge. There were these long, skinny fin-like ridges of snow that we just tip-toed right across. It was a pretty exciting and unusual feature."

The group summited at 8:30am, amidst still-perfect skies. "The guys were all totally stoked to be up there. It was definitely a great first alpine experience for them." Mark said.

After savoring the summit for thirty minutes or so, Mark decided it was time to descend. "I wanted to get down quickly because I knew it would be a warm morning and the snow would soften up quickly."

On the descent, the team traveled the complete pumice ridge instead of doing the glacier. "We were glad we didn't go up the ridge once we saw it on the way down," Carl said. "It wasn't anything difficult, just some low-angle loose scree, but it would have been a slog to go up. We were able to plunge-step down most of the ridge, which was fun."

They reached their camp on the Hogsback at noon, took an hour or so to rest and gather their gear, and hiked the rest of the way down the trail to the vans. They were back at AAI's office by 4:30pm.

Once back at AAI, Mark nodded his head approvingly at Will, Carl, and Stephen, and remarked, "They were a strong group, very fit and pleasant to climb with. I have a feeling that this will be the beginning of a climbing career for each of them."