Kickstarter

Hello everyone! We are team Ourea, a group of young mountaineers with only one goal in mind: to climb the tallest mountains around the globe and to show the world what mountaineering is all about. 

"The Ourea were the progeny of Gaia, the gods of the mountains."

Mission Statement

The thrill of mountaineering can transcend gender, culture and ethnicity. The members of Team Ourea have known each other for a long period of time and met due to their similar interests: outdoor rock climbing and mountaineering. Having said that, this was a rare instance where people from entirely different backgrounds and ethnicities formed an everlasting friendship and it was all thanks to these thrilling sports.  We want to help provide the world the opportunity to form ever-lasting friendships and the steps that are needed to take in order to start this adventure of a lifetime. 

What We're Doing

We will be climbing the tallest mountain in North America: Mt. McKinley, better known in the climbing community as Denali. This will be our first mountaineering expedition outside the contiguous 48 states. During our expedition, we will be video recording everything with a GoPro camera. We will use the hours of raw footage to compile a documentary which would be around 2 hours in length (subject to change). We will also be taking pictures with a second camera, which will be used to compile a photo book of the mountaineering expedition. With the documentary and photo book, we intend to spread them around to help raise awareness of this exciting sport. 

How We're Doing It

Getting There. We will travel from Los Angeles International Airport to Anchorage International Airport. From the airport we will then take a shuttle to Talkeetna. Finally, from Talkeetna we will take an air taxi to make a glacier landing at the base camp.

The Climb. The route we will be taking is the West Buttress to the summit. This is considered the safest route to the summit and has been established as a reliable route. From the basecamp we will descend Heartbreak Hill and ascend the main Kahiltna Glacier. We will climb Ski Hill, and then head towards the east, below Kahiltna Pass. From there, we will climb up Motorcycle Hill, traverse towards the north of Squirrel Point, and navigate around the Windy Corner. This is a location with a breath-taking view and provides a grand level of exposure. Then we will climb up the headwall and head towards the West Buttress. Finally, we will follow the ridge to the summit.

Miscellaneous Trip Details. If everything goes according to plan, the duration of the trip will approximately be 1 month. However, we are taking into account the unexpected and are leaving room for unforeseen obstructions. Regardless, we will be recording all of our activity throughout the entire trip by using a GoPro helmet camera, which will compose the bulk of the documentary. We will also be taking higher quality pictures with a regular camera to keep a photographic record of our journey.

Why We're Doing It

We strongly believe that mountaineering is an exhilarating sport that has yet to be discovered by the masses. Our goal is to raise awareness of this wonderful sport through our video in the hopes that one day, it will be a sport that is popular enough to routinely be aired on television. We want to show our viewers the danger, the exhilaration, the glory of going to places that are rarely trodden and can only be experienced through mountaineering. 

Who we are

The Climbers. We are a team formed on 1 May 2012 by two experienced mountaineers, climbers and boulderers. My name is Kevin Oka, and my partner is Xorge E. Alanis. We hope to see you through this wonderful program of excitement, danger, hard work and adventure.

Behind the Scenes. We have a logistics team, led by members Hilaryl Au and Kyoko Horie, to plan every detail of our trip from airfare to food rations. They will be stationed at the basecamp or back at HQ to guide us, give warning of avalanche danger, and be ready to respond to any emergency at hand.

Now you may be wondering what our qualifications are to pursue such a dangerous goal, so we'll answer that next.

Our experience

Kevin Oka

Mountaineering: Class IV - Solo climbed all of the 14,000' peaks in California in winter.

Traditional Climbing: 5.10D - Various Routes in Joshua Tree National Park, The Tramway, and Idyllwild

Bouldering: V4/5 - Various Problems in Joshua Tree National Park, Bishop, The Tramway, Idyllwild, and Stoney Point

Xorge E. Alanis

Mountaineering: Class IV - Climbed five 13,000' peaks in the Sierra Nevadas. Climbed two 14,000' peaks.

Traditional Climbing: 5.10C - Various Routes in Joshua Tree National Park, and The Tramway

Bouldering: V4 - Various Problems in Joshua Tree National Park, The Tramway and Mt. Roubidoux.

What We're Bringing

Petzl Ecrin Roc Helmet

Petzl Summit Mountaineering Axe

Julbo Micropore Glacier Glasses

Julbo Orbiter Glacier Goggles

Petzl Vasak Flexlock Crampons

Scarpa Mont Blanc GTX Mountaineering Boots

Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles

Marmot Alpinist 2 Tent

Marmot Trestles +0 Sleeping Bag

Mammut Pulse Barryvox Avalanche Transceiver

Cold Weather Clothing

Food Rations (most likely procured in Anchorage)

Why We Need You!

This is an expensive excursion due to the costs of the equipment required in order to ensure the safety of the climbers of Team Ourea. We would like to request your help in trying to fund some of the equipment and travel costs. The perks that are offered in the kickstarter will be at our own expense and are guaranteed to make it to your doorstep or inbox once the trip is completed! It is our policy to be absolutely honest about our costs: no hidden expenditures!

Equipment Costs: $2538 x 2 = $5076

Winter Clothing $685 x 2 = $1370

Round trip flight from Los Angeles to Anchorage $600 x 2 = $1200

NPS Permit $350 x 2 = $700

Shuttle Service $220 x 2 = $440

Air Taxi $550 x 2 = $1100

Total Cost: $9,886 ~$10,000

It is so important to us for the world to understand the passion and thrill of mountaineering. Will you be one of the people that will help with the first step in making this a popular sport?

For any questions or concerns, you can reach us at teamourea@gmail.com and we will get back to you shortly.