Climbing Denali in Alaska, the Highest Point in North America

I decided to climb Denali in Alaska, because mountaineering expeditions are some of the last great adventures on Earth. All the lands have been discovered and explored. Climbing Denali is like being in the 1700’s. The Alaska Range is as pristine now as it was before modern times. The National Park Service does not allow climbers to land within the park boundary, so all mountaineering expeditions have to carry between 130 and 150 pounds of gear per person to allow for a 3 week climb from 7,200 feet to 20,310 feet. Because of the great physical and mental exertion, 6 months of training, and financial expense, Denali only attracts around 1,000 climbers per year.  

The entire success of a Denali expedition depends on the weather and glacial conditions as well as the physical condition of yourself and your teammates. In such a harsh environment, critical decisions like moving camp are made within only a couple hours notice, because the weather changes so quickly. Little did I know that I would aid in the rescue of an injured team member over 20 miles from camp 2 to basecamp and back in 14 hours through a rapidly deteriorating glacier only to climb back in white out conditions. It was not possible to anticipate that a 3-day windstorm of -30 F wind chills would block our summit attempt. Risking an ascent would mean that any exposed skin would get frostbite in 10 minutes, and waiting the storm out would exceed our 21 day window to return to civilization.   

Still I made it to 16,200 feet above the fixed lines on the West Buttress. Climbing up a 50 degree slope to a knife edge ridge line with a 1,000 foot drop on both sides was a major highlight of the expedition. Denali is like a cartoon mountain. The topography looks impossibly steep, and it seems like a mountain you would see in a storybook, as opposed to experiencing in real life. Making it up this high on the mountain was an accomplishment in itself, but knowing that I was over 4,000 feet short of the summit, I will likely return to finish what I left behind.  

Due to terrible weather, the summit success rate of all Denali climbs in 2017 was only 36%. Normally, it is 50%. This is the reality of every mountaineer, no matter how much you train and prepare. The summit is never a guarantee, and it is best to go on an expedition with the mentality of meeting awesome people, and experiencing the pure wildness and beauty of such an extreme environment. I learned that my body is capable of pushing myself beyond exhaustion, and that your mind must override the physical.   

You are almost never comfortable on a Denali mountaineering expedition. On some mornings, it was -5 degrees F, and during the day, temperatures were so hot, that it felt like I was swimming in my own sweat. On climbing days, there is always some degree of suffering. While you carry less gear as you eat more food, the climb gets more difficult at higher elevations where there is less air pressure, and therefore less oxygen per breath. It is a good idea to be uncomfortably cold before you start moving, so that when you move, you don't overheat. A stop to change a layer compromises the pace of the whole rope team. Sleep is a luxury. On the last day, we moved for 24 hours straight with only a 4 hour rest in between to wait out a snowstorm.

With 24 hours of daylight during the Summer in Alaska, time itself seems meaningless. While there is no transition between day and night, the sudden weather changes on the mountain are quite extreme. I captured a series of time lapses as I moved from basecamp to 14,200 camp, which you can view in the video at the beginning of this post.