Talk about ups and downs.
British explorer Oli France braved the wild heat of Death Valley, the lowest point in North America, then cycled and skied 3,500 miles to Alaska, where he reached the summit of North America’s highest point, Mt. Denali.
It is also Alaska’s deadliest peak, having claimed the lives of 126 climbers since 1932.
It took the 33-year-old father-of-two from Wigan 64 days to reach the summit.
He completed the first leg alone, cycling across the United States and Canada to the foothills of Denali National Park, where he met a four-man climbing team who joined him to climb Denali via the West Buttress route.
Oli, who has become the first Briton to complete the journey in 20 years, told MailOnline Travel: “I started out believing it would be the toughest physical, mental and logistical challenge I have ever taken on.” I was not wrong.
Oli France braved the savage heat of Death Valley, the lowest point in North America, then biked and skied 3,500 miles to Alaska, where he reached the summit of North America’s highest point, Mount Denali. He is pictured here at Badwater Basin in Death Valley.
Oli completed the first leg of the trip alone, cycling across the United States and Canada to the foothills of Denali National Park. He is pictured here at Destruction Bay in the Yukon Territories of Canada.
Oli said he “wanted to complete this expedition in a purely human-powered style” and loaded a heavy bicycle with supplies to complete the cycling phase of the trip.
He cycled more than 80 miles a day, through California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Washington, then continued to Alaska via British Columbia and the Yukon Territories in Canada.
To rest, he camped on the side of the road and stayed in motels.
One of the scariest aspects of the trip for Oli was the dangerous animals he encountered along the way. While biking alone in remote areas of the Yukon and Alaska, he revealed that she had a couple of close encounters with bears and came within four meters of a “huge black bear” on the side of the road.
He said: ‘I knew the black bears and the huge brown bears would wake up from hibernation. Intensely observing the dense surrounding forest (for animals) was exhausting.’
Sharing another animal encounter, he said: ‘One night, in my tent, I heard the footsteps of a large animal outside in the snow. I grabbed my bear spray and slowly unzipped my tent to see a moose staring at me from 15 meters away.’
It took Oli 41 days to complete the cycling phase of the trip and reach Denali National Park (pictured)
Oli met up with a mountain team and hiked 75 miles (122 kilometers) to reach Denali Base Camp. He is pictured above hiking through the hills to base camp.
On the way to base camp, he crossed rivers and glaciers full of deadly crevasses. The image above shows Oli and his team passing through the Granite Creek River in Alaska.
Oli said adjusting to the bike during the first few weeks was one of the most difficult parts of the expedition.
He explained: ‘I cycled long distances in strong headwinds and snow storms, I was completely alone. Mentally I was already wondering if this expedition would be possible. I had to go through a deep, dark barrier of pain just to keep going.’
It took 41 days to reach Denali National Park. He then covered 122 kilometers (75 miles) on skis, crossing hills, rivers and glaciers filled with deadly crevasses to reach Denali Base Camp, where most climbers begin their ascent.
Oli described the 6,190-meter (20,310-foot) mountain, also known as Mount McKinley, as “brutal.”
During the 12-day climb, he “faced mountain storms, temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius, encounters with bears, nearby avalanches, blizzards, and all kinds of body aches.”
Oli revealed that the team carried more than 300 kilograms of equipment, food and fuel up the mountain on heavy sleds and slept in the snow every night in a tent.
During the 12-day climb he faced mountain storms and temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius. Oli and his team are pictured above at Denali Base Camp.
Oli said: “The expedition required absolute concentration. At times, it seemed like there were a million ways everything could go wrong.” Pictured above at Camp One on Denali.
Oli revealed that the team carried more than 300 kilograms of equipment, food and fuel up the mountain on heavy sleds and slept in the snow every night in a tent.
And it wasn’t easy to relax.
Oli said: ‘One night, I heard wolves in the mountains from my tent. Another night, on the mountain, we found the carcass of a moose that had been attacked by a bear along with huge grizzly bear tracks just 20 yards from our tent. Each footprint was the size of a plate.
The days also had their challenges. Sharing a particularly terrifying experience, Oli said: “After climbing a steep section of ice to a 5,000 meter (16,404 ft) ridge, we saw the body of a climber being carried off the mountain by helicopter after he had died in a fall. .
‘It was a reminder of the narrow margins that exist here and that we cannot afford to be complacent.
“The expedition required absolute concentration. At times, it seemed like there were a million ways everything could go wrong.”
Oli described Mount Denali as “brutal.” He appears in the photo above on the last leg of his journey, on the way to the summit.
After completing the trip, Oli said he was “relieved to emerge unscathed.”
Oli is pictured on the 20,310-foot (6,190-foot) summit of Denali. He said she felt an “incredible sense of empowerment and satisfaction at having fulfilled a decade-long dream.”
After completing the trip, Oli said he felt “relief to emerge unscathed” and an “incredible sense of empowerment and satisfaction at having fulfilled a decade-long dream.”
The expedition is the second stage of Oli’s ‘Ultimate Seven’ project. The adventurer hopes to set a world record by traveling from the lowest to the highest point on each continent.
After completing the African leg last year and the North American leg this year, Oli intends to take on the challenge in Asia, where he will travel 4,500 miles on foot, bike, skis and kayak from the Dead Sea to Everest across nine countries.
To see more from Oli, visit his website, www.wildedge.co/pages/oli-france. Or follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/oli_france/?hl=enor on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@oli_france.
