Denali Plan Overview

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General Plan:
I’m planning on arriving in Anchorage on June 1st, where I’ll rendezvous with my ski partner Josh. For the next 2 days we will purchase most of our food for the expedition, consolidate all of our gear and get everything as neatly packed as possible. The expedition truly begins on June 3rd as we board a glacier plane in Talkeetna (weather permitting) to get dropped off on the Kahiltna glacier on Denali’s lower flanks.

Denali Motivation

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Being in the mountains and wild places is in my blood. For generations my family has been living, adventuring and loving the natural splendors of our world. That love was largely passed down to me by my grandfather, Francis. My grandfather grew up in the Alps before and during WWII. He found freedom, peace, safety (literally) and mental clarity amongst the range’s high peaks and deep valleys. While climbing in the Dolomites, in the newly liberated Italy, he met my grandmother - both of them war refugees from their home countries. Later, while standing on the summit of Mont Blanc my

Mid Ski Season Update

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It has been a while since I've posted.  Things have been really busy lately, but I thought I would post a quick update.  Life as a father is absolutely incredible.  Kelly and I are well and we love our little girl.  Next month my precious Marilyn turns 6 months old and you better believe I'll be posting tons of pictures on here!  In the mean time, a little skiing update will have to do.

We're having a good ski season in Colorado so far.  I've been doing a lot of work and coaching with a great group of kids on the Unviersity of Colorado Freestyle Ski Team.  Despite complications with the team (that's a story for another time) all the kids seem to really be enjoying their experience and learning a lot.  I truly love sharing something I'm passionate about with these kids and I've developed some relationships with them that allow me to be a positive influence (I hope!) in their lives through more than just skiing.  That's the real goal, skiing is just the vehicle to get there.

Along with coaching, I'm planning a trip to climb and ski Denali in June.  Getting up in elevation around here and exercising has been a great way to start getting my lungs in shape.  I'm feeling significantly stronger at altitude.  Later I'll be doing a whole series of posts on my Denali plans and preparation.  This January, while on a several-week stint in Parachute, CO doing seismic mountain access with GMS (a job I had to take due to the aforementioned ski team complications) I met some really great mountain guides.  Many of them guide on Denali in the summers.  They gave me great advice and helped me understand what it will take to make the expedition successful.  It's pretty exciting and will be the realization of a life-long goal if it works out.  (A HUGE thanks to my sponsors Helly Hansen, Folsom Skis and Scarpa for helping with the trip.)

For now, I hope you enjoy these few short videos from the last few weeks.



Fat to Flat 2/11/14
from Joel Bettner on Vimeo.



One Run 2/7/14
from Joel Bettner on Vimeo.



Two Mornings (1/31/14 & 2/1/14)
from Joel Bettner on Vimeo.


I figured I'd throw in a little speed flying video from January here, too.  Why not?

Wonderland Flight - Unedited - Jan 22, 2014
from Joel Bettner on Vimeo.

Daddy & Daughter Adventure Time - Wilderness Walk

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Kelly and I took Marilyn for her first camping/hut trip last week.  During the trip Marilyn and I broke away for a little "Daddy & Daughter Adventure Time" in the wilderness.  The video from the entire camping trip will be up soon.  Enjoy!


Marilyn's First Wilderness Adventure from Joel Bettner on Vimeo.

Marilyn's first snowman!
http://i568.photobucket.com/albums/ss126/joelbettner/Marilyn%20Leah%20Bettner/Marilyn%20Fall%202013/DSC01111.jpg

One Month of Marilyn!

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The past month with my wonderful little daughter has been the most amazing blessing I could imagine. I love being her dad.

Marilyn's First Month Video:
One Month of Marilyn Leah Bettner from Joel Bettner on Vimeo.


The following pictures are from the end of Marilyn's first week to the end of her first month.

Marilyn's First Week

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Wow...has it already been a week?  It has been the best experience imaginable for our little family.

As you know, Marilyn had a rough start (see more about that here and here) but has quickly mended and is thriving.  She's putting on quite a bit of weight and cute baby fat (especially in the face!).  She's met so many people and been showered in love constantly.

I took quite a bit of video this week.  The video below is probably what I enjoyed making the most, though.  It was Marilyn's first adventure with daddy.



As promised, here are a LOT of pictures.

Marilyn's first day photos

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I've been asked by countless people to post more pictures.  Here you go.

I told you HERE that the delivery was pretty traumatic.  This is a picture about 10 minutes after Marilyn started breathing.  You can see that she is awfully swollen and starting to get color to her little body.  Poor little thing!  I still think she's beautiful, but you can see why I was so worried (when it was worse and she wasn't breathing!).

First time being held by Mommy.

Our first Daddy & Daughter time.  MANY more to come.

About 1.5 hrs after delivery both Kelly and Marilyn are exhausted.

Getting weighed in.  Still swollen, but at least now she can open her eyes a bit.  Look at her feet...I think she takes after her dad!

I'd be cranky too if I just went through that!

Marilyn just ate and is exhausted.

First time being held by Grandma Raffety.

I'm the proudest papa you ever did see!

Kelly wakes from a nap to see Marilyn still sleeping.

A little bit of heaven.

The MLB rookie card...get it?!?!

Addison and Marilyn meeting each other for the fist time.

"My eye swelling isn't gone, but at least I can open my eyes more easily now!"

Big yawn before her first night with Mom and Dad.

Rockin' out with headphones during her hearing test.  She aced it, of course!

Deep slumber after a massive feast.  She eats like a Bettner!

That's all for now.  I'm going to try to do a "1 Week In Review" post next week for all those that are interested.

Thanks again for all of the love, prayers and support.  It truly means a lot to Kelly and I during this amazing time in our lives.

A Gift From God

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Introducing Marilyn Leah Bettner!

After ~36 hours of difficult labor my amazing wife, Kelly, gave birth to Marilyn Leah Bettner on September 2, 2013 at 12:36 PM.  She measures in at 6lbs 14 oz, and 20" long.

The happy family.

It was a very difficult delivery being hard on both mother and daughter.  Both are now fine, but poor little Marilyn has quite a bit of swelling from the difficult labor.

It was the scariest moment of my life followed by the most joyful moment of my life.  Marilyn got stuck during delivery and was facing the wrong direction.  I was originally going to deliver my daughter, but the doctor had to use a suction tool to pull her out, so I had to step aside.  It was a long and painful process for both mother and daughter.  

After finally being born the hospital staff had some trouble getting Marilyn to breathe.  Seeing my newborn daughter with her eyes swollen shut from the trauma and turning purple from lack of oxygen was the most helpless feeling I've ever experienced.  

THANK GOD that shortly afterwards it was followed by the most joyful experience of my life when Marilyn finally mustered her first breaths and the color came back to her skin.  I've never experienced more joy than carrying my little daughter back to her mother.

The first daddy/daughter time.

I am overwhelmed with the blessing from God.  More to come later, I have to get back to my family now.

Pre-Baby Summer Extravaganza

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Less than 2 weeks until Baby Bettner is due!!


As many of you know, our little bundle of joy is due at the end of August.  Kelly and I have done the best we can to make the most of our summer until then.  Here's a little recap of what we've been up to.


June 1 - June 6: Southwest Road Trip
In early June Kelly's parents visited us at our new home before we all went on a little southwestern road trip.  We started in Arches National Park.

Kelly holding up Landscape Arch.






Kelly and her dad enjoying a view of the LaSal mountains.


After leaving the Moab area we drove down to the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona to see Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "shay").

Kelly and her mom with Spider Rock in the background.


Ancient cliff dwellings in the canyon.






Watching for raptors (aka "birds of prey" to the non-birder) on the canyon rim.


What a touristy family...


From Canyon de Chelly, Kelly's parents continued to their home in Tucson and Kelly and I made our way home with 2-night stop at the Apple Lodge Bed & Breakfast in the San Luis valley.  On our drive from Arizona to the San Luis valley we made stops at the 4-corners, Mesa Verde National Park and Wolf Creek Pass.

Kelly at the 4-corners.


Dorking out at the 4-corners, haha.


Kelly at the start of a Mesa Verde cliff dwelling tour.




Apparently the builders were small people.  I almost had to get pried out of this doorway.


Wolf Creek pass shortly before the big wild fire.




From our bed & breakfast in the San Luis valley we were able to take advantage of our third National Park of the trip - Great Sand Dunes.  We also saw Zapata Falls and played a rousing game of miniature golf.

Temporary creek at GSNP.


Standing atop "Big Dune."


Kelly reaching the top of "Big Dune."




Zapata Falls - a waterfall in a narrow slot canyon.


Mini golfing at the Apple Lodge Bed & Breakfast.



June 16 - June 22:  Royal Family Kids Camp
Not long after the road trip Kelly and I had a remarkable week at Royal Family Kids Camp.  RFKC is a camp for foster, abused and/or neglected children.  At camp these kiddos get the opportunity to feel like kids and celebrate personal successes, something many of them rarely get to experience.  It is truly an amazing week.  I have no pictures, because we are not allowed to take pictures at camp for the protection of the children (it's the law).  If you want to make a difference in the life of a child, I strongly recommend you check out Royal Family Kids Camp.  It will change your life for the better.


June 25 - June 27:  Gore Range Grand Traverse
At the end of June I did the Gore Range Grand Traverse with Jake and Blair.  I already wrote about that HERE.

Gore Range Grand Traverse.


Atop North Traverse Peak.



July 1 - July 22:  PA Work and Family Visit
Last summer I worked for Global Mountain Solutions.  It has been great getting to continue working with GMS this summer as well.  The GMS jobs involve doing mountain rescue and access work for seismic crews on natural gas fields.  My first stint this summer was in my homeland - Pennsylvania.  The weather was hot, but the scenery was certainly fantastic.  It had everything from fields of blueberries, to black bears, to deer, to old growth forrest, to rattle snakes to natural artesian springs.  Every once in a while, when the group that I was working with took a break, I got to set up my hammock on beautiful vistas.

Not a bad day at the office.


So lush...


Trust me, the job isn't all that easy.  I just don't feel like taking pictures of the difficult stuff.


Not a bad view for my morning bathroom break.


Checking out Hyner View - a common paraglider and hang glider launch.



July 23 - August 2:  Colorado Time with Kelly
Upon returning to Colorado from the east, I did my best to take advantage of some good flying weather.  I finally got off the ground at Kenosha Pass!


Kelly and I spent a lot of quality time together, too.  We hadn't been together much since I had been working out east, and it was great to get some quality time.  One of the highlights was painting her belly like a baseball for a Brewers v. Rockies game.  Our good friend Renick Christopherson hooked us up with a terrific experience at the stadium, too.

Family portrait.


We made it on TV!


The legend, Bob Uecker.


Behind the scoreboard.


Changing the score.


The Brewers win!


Of course, a good amount of our quality time was also spent together in the mountains.

Loch Lamond.


Off-roading fun with the truck.




Everything about this picture is awesome.

August 3 - August 16:  CO Work
At the beginning of August I got a call from GMS about more mountain rescue/access work.  This time the work was in Colorado instead of Pennsylvania.  With a baby on the way and the work being within driving distance in case anything happened, I couldn't turn down the opportunity.  Although this job was also for seismic work on natural gas fields, this project was in a much different stage than those in Pennsylvania.  Therefore, my work was a little bit different as well.

My morning commute.


My Evening Commute.



August 16 - Baby Bettner:  Joel & Kelly Time
Right now Kelly and I are just tending our garden and prepping our home for the arrival of our first born!

Daily harvesting.


The nursery is ready.



I'm so extremely blessed.