Climbing Denali's West Buttress: My Experience and Advice
On June 11, 2021, at about 4:15 p.m., I summited Denali for my first and likely only time of my entire life!
That being said, this article is not a how-to mountaineer post. These are skills that you already need to have before considering a climb up the West Buttress.
While there are some must-know skills that I will mention, this post primarily focuses on a general itinerary with tips for climbing the mountain, based on my personal experiences.
Unlike my Mt. Kilimanjaro article, where I was able to write a day by day, Denali is more about taking advice from multiple different sources and customizing that information into a plan that works best for your team.
Being the case, this article is written more generally as a way to break up the days on the mountain.
All said, climbing Denali was easily one of the best experiences of my life, and I hope that anyone else heading to the Alaska Range has as much fun as our group did!
What is the Best Time in the Season to Climb Denali?
This entirely depends on your group’s ability.
If your general goal is to summit, and you don’t want to place all of your own protection, then a late May start for a middle of June summit date is ideal. I say this because the earlier you climb in May, the colder and colder the mountain is.
To see what I mean, check out the Mountain Forecast website. It is a great resource to see the differences in weather at different elevations, which will drastically change from the beginning of May to the end of June. The summit can warm by 30 degrees in June compared to an early May timeframe.
Furthermore, early in the climbing season, the fixed lines aren’t established, running protection is not in place, and kicked in steps from other climbers are non-existent. Unless you are proficient at placing your own protection to climb blue ice on the headwall, I’d say start in late May. It’s the most popular timeframe for good reason, and this is where the summit percentages start to really increase.
When our pilot first came off the mountain with climbers who started early in the season, they looked beat down and, more importantly, depressed because no one, including them, was summiting.
If it puts it into perspective, the only reported summit by the time I made it into the range was six people in the first few weeks who were all Navy Seals.
Guided vs. Unguided Denali Expedition
Guided
If your goal is to stand on the summit without any real winter outdoor experience prior to Denali, then guided is probably the way you should go.
People would joke on the mountain that guided teams are the people that got pulled from their office job to climb Denali as a bucket list item without any real experience or intentions to take up the sport before or after their Denali trip.
From my unguided perspective, there are a multitude of reasons why I’m going to discourage a guided Denali climb.
If you are the type of person that likes to be told what to do and when to do it with every aspect of your life, then maybe guided is for you. I’m talking about when to eat, the pace, how to break up the days, etc. Guided teams will and always will take a very conservative approach with their clients, meaning that if you have the fitness and ability to push a little faster, that will not be an option if you hire a guide.
A conservative slow approach will always have its advantages for acclimatization on big mountains, like Denali, but even that approach has its disadvantages and still doesn’t mean you’re going to summit.
Ultimately, Denali’s weather is going to determine if you will summit. This means that if you take a slow conservative approach to get to the 14,200 ft. (4,328 m) camp, you might have just used up all of the best weather days on your approach, not leaving enough time for a summit and decent.
This seemed like it happened to us, and we got to 14 Camp in six days, with one day resting because of bad weather on the way up.
In any case, I will say that it’s easier to talk tougher from your couch while reading this at home, but when we were on the mountain, true personalities started to come out. Even though we had the food supply to wait at 14 Camp for much longer than we did, I’m not sure the attitudes of the group would have wanted to wait any longer. No one wants to use all 21 days of food, even though that’s what you prepare for.
Now, back to the guides. Another reason I would discourage against guided companies is because at least a third or more of the guides we ran into were absolute dicks to us and their clients! Out of all of the different guided teams that we ran into, this should not be the statistic, but it was shockingly true.
Now maybe we ran into the wrong guides, but it was far too many to go unnoticed. After the first time of being talked down to, I was sick of it, and I started to dish it right back to them. Always remember that the guides are using your public lands to make a profit, while you are out there for the spirit of mountaineering. I’m sure they would love to hear that, but I will talk more about this in the story section at the end.
Another significant reason why I would not do Denali guided is that their priority is NOT to get you to the summit safely. This is coming from other peoples’ stories and my own speculation, but if a guide happens to be doing multiple trips in a season, their priority may be to get their next group started and your trip over with if you are the earlier of the two. This means they need to get your team off of the mountain, so that they can start their next group of clients and take their money. I suspect that is what happened at the end of this Youtube video, but I couldn’t say for sure.
Finally, the cost of a guided trip isn’t worth the value. From what I checked, all of the major companies float above the $10,000 mark just for the guide and the major gear items they provide, such as a tent and shovel. That doesn’t include your personal gear, your airfare to Anchorage, your air taxi to the Kahiltna Glacier, and I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. Why not take some of that $10,000 to invest into gear that you can actually hang onto after the trip, such as a tent that will be useful on other mountains, like Mt. Rainier?
Personally, I estimate the total for me being around $5,000-6,000 (2021 prices). However, I would estimate a guided trip to be more around the $15,000 range.
Unguided
Top 5 reasons why you don’t need a guide to climb Denali.
There’s no mystery about where to go. Climbing Denali’s West Buttress is not some remote backcountry expedition where you won’t see people. It’s a well-traveled, heavily packed trail that even after a whiteout, another group still broke the trail for us first. I’m saying it would be hard to get lost.
Barring any bad weather, I couldn’t see how you could set a slower pace than a guided team, but at least unguided, you could still go faster.
The cost. I already addressed this under the section above.
If you are a skier/ snowboarder, perhaps a guided company may customize a trip specifically for a group, but I didn’t see it. Skiers, especially, have such an advantage on Denali for really long days—like summit day—to be able to ski off the top and save an immense amount of time over someone who isn’t skiing or snowboarding.
Lastly, I personally think being self-sufficient and saying you climbed Denali unguided is a much better experience and accomplishment over having your hand held to the top.
Skills for Climbing Denali
Like I said in the opening paragraph, this is not a how-to mountaineer post, but here are the main things that you need to be proficient in, whether you’re doing a guided or unguided expedition.
Glacier Travel/ Roping Up (with & without sleds)
Building a Winter Camp
Self-arrest
Tying Knots (Alpine butterfly, Overhand on a bite, Prusik, Clove hitch in the middle of a line, and using these to rig your sled)
Establishing and clipping into running protection
Using a Jumar/ Ascender
Flaking and Coiling a Rope
Comfortability with exposure/ using your gear. It’s as if some people don’t trust their crampons/ ice axe.
Snow/ Ice Climbing. Climbing the West Buttress is not class 5 climbing, but it is always a rule of thumb, whether hiking or alpine climbing, to not completely rely on someone else’s established ropes. On Denali, you climb the snow/ ice, not the fixed lines! They are there as a backup/ safety mechanism, not to support your weight.
Many guided clients would use their ascender to pull their weight up the fixed lines, putting more unnecessary strain on the lines that will see a few thousand uses over the course of a climbing season. This is why I said on the previous one to trust your gear!
If you’d like to read about a good preparation climb, Gannett Peak in the Wind River Range of Wyoming may be one of the best options.
While it’s not exactly the winter climb that comes with building a snow wall around your camp, there’s a ton of applicable skills needed for both Gannett, as well as Denali, making it a great all-around learning experience—especially when it comes to the high-exposure sections on Gannett’s upper summit ridge.
Read My Separate Post: Gannett Peak
How to Train for a Denali Climb?
The training I did for Denali was without ever going to a gym. A membership is not needed. If I can prepare for +20,000 ft. (6,096 m) while living at sea level, anyone who lives higher should be that much more prepared.
I would run through urban Honolulu, run through steep neighborhoods, do trail runs, and do at-home exercises like pushups and planks. From experience of being at altitude in the past, in my opinion +16,000 ft. (4,877 m), good cardio along with drinking lots of water and eating regular meals is key to acclimatization on long expeditions.
It was obvious to me that people who were a little heavier or that didn’t take cardio training as seriously as I did, were having a tougher time with the altitude. Denali could be a once in a lifetime trip, so give yourself your best chance on the mountain!
My running was anywhere from 5 miles (8.0 km) to a half marathon on any given day if that helps you gage your plan. Even at that, the upper portions of summit day was at a pace of one step, two breathes.
Denali Gear List
How to Decide What to Buy?
There isn’t a lot in this section that I can write about that hasn’t already been done before, but I will link some of the guided company’s gear lists that I used, as well as talk about how I made my selections between multiple lists. Keep in mind, these are lists for unguided clients, meaning that there is much more you will need beyond what you see for an unguided trip.
Additionally, at the air taxi service, you will weigh your gear. For Sheldon Air Service, they include 125 lbs of gear with your purchase price, followed by an additional charge per pound after that.
For a larger group, meaning four plus, getting to the 125 lb mark is more typical, but for a group of two flying out after us, they were each carrying 140 lbs of gear.
If you are over 150 lbs of gear, you are probably doing something wrong! I weighed in at about 125-130 lbs, and keep in mind, I had full camera setup with multiple lenses. Also, this weight includes your clean mountain can (CMC) provided by the Park Service, as well as your fuel.
Other Company Gear Lists
For my own selection, if I saw one item that overlapped on multiple lists, that is generally the item I would go with.
Maybe I can be the first to tell you, but you can climb Denali without a single item from Arc'teryx! Identical REI brand items work just as well, if not better, in many cases. Most importantly, don’t take out a bank loan for Arc'teryx pants because the chances are high that you will tear them with your crampons.
I tore two of my pants while descending the hill after the fixed lines.
Best Denali Base Layers
For base layers, I used an Under Armour long-sleeve cold weather compression shirt with the turtle neck and Under Armour ColdGear Base compression leggings. These worked great for my bottommost layer (see the links below).
There is some variability with what you might want to choose for the leggings, but I recommend somewhere between the ColdGear Base 2.0 - 4.0. You will likely find that the 4.0 is too hot for the lower mountain but may want to make that switch at 14 Camp. It just depends if you want pack both layers, but the heavier layer could be treated like your second pair of underwear.
Over that, this REI base layer is all you need on top. I liked the zipper for heat control.
If you can’t tell, I’m trying to save you some money over what the lists say.
On the bottom, your soft shell pants that all the lists show is arguably your most important piece of clothing. Buy something nice here! Like your base layers, you will never take this off. Since so many brands make soft shell winter pants, you have a wide variety to choose from.
Not including the shell pants, these base layers run small, so order a size up. I’m a skinny 6’4” and usually wear an XL t-shirt, but I wear a 2XL compression shirt.
Finally, you will also need a heavier pair of base layers to wear over the Under Armour ones. These are for higher on the mountain or hanging out around camp. I personally recommend the fleece pants below, which is available for men and women. They worked great for me when the pace was lighter and faster on Kilimanjaro, as well as when it’s colder and slower on Denali.
They run short, so order a size bigger. Also, factor in wearing them over your compression leggings and perhaps long underwear if you bring them.
Now, there is some kind of personal balance that you will need to find between bringing additional base layers/ socks and weight. When I saw how my teammates were cutting weight in the hangar before the trip, I opted for the more gross route of one pair for everything and two pairs of socks. It’s pretty awful by week two, but what else are you going to do. Cutting weight somewhere does matter, and I didn’t want to cut my good food.
Beyond your base layers, the lists are generally pretty spot-on with what you will want for the rest of the gear. Surprisingly, the soft shell jacket was also something that I never took off. I originally thought that it seemed useless, but it is pretty crucial to have something thin with a hood that will provide you sun protection on the lower glacier, while avoiding heat exhaustion if you had something thicker.
I went with this Mountain Equipment jacket and could not have been happier with it. However, make sure that the hood will fit over your helmet.
Gear for an Unguided Denali Team
Remember that the lists above are for guided clients. In addition to these lists, you will need the following for an unguided trip (links below).
Winter Tents
White Gas Stove w/ repair kit (Whisperlite or Xgk Ex)
Fuel Bottles
Boiling Pot
Pan (8-10 in. is the best for bacon)
Plate
Bowl
Spork/ Knife
Cook tent (don’t skip on this for a group bigger than 2)
Shovels
Snow Saws
Wands (280 cm)
Tent Anchors/ Bags
Ropes
Ice Screws (mostly for early May)
Toilet Paper (no more than 2-3 rolls for a 21 day trip)
Iodine Tablets
First Aid Kit (self-assembled)
Solar Charger/ Charging Cords
Pickets
Prusiks
Carabineers (6 locking (Triact) & 6 wire-gate per person)
Garmin InReach (optional)
Avalanche Transceiver (optional)
5 Large Black Trash Bags (caches)
Sponge/ Paper Towels for Cleaning
I say the Garmin is optional, but it’s nice if you want weather updates from your family/ friends.
Also, bringing an avalanche transceiver is largely based on your own personal preference, as the overall avalanche risk on the trail is fairly low.
Must-Have Things on a Denali Climb
Furthermore, I want to highlight a few things that I would consider expedition-ending if you forgot. While most of the big stuff like tents, parkas, and boots would be expedition-ending if you forget, I’m also talking about the little pocket sized stuff you probably aren’t thinking of immediately, such as sunscreen and chapstick.
Personally, I used Rocky Mountain sunscreen that worked well, but generic chapstick destroyed my lips on the expedition. Spend some money on something with the highest SPF you can find, and consider packing multiple.
For sleeping at night, don’t forget a pee bottle. It sounds gross, but when your teammates are barely getting sleep as it is, leaving the tent to pee during the coldest part of the night would be extremely inconvenient and inconsiderate. I’ve also heard it helps a lot in storms, but I only got caught in one bad weather day.
Also, don’t spend money on this bottle. I used a large Gatorade bottle, but this is obviously male specific and females need to get more creative.
For sleeping pads, you will want at least two pads. One foam pad (I prefer the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite) to be a barrier from the cold snow, and another inflatable type (I prefer the Therm-a-Rest closed-cell type) for comfort. The Z Lite is also great for sitting on the snow in the cook tent or wherever else, and I recommend the closed-cell type because it won’t deflate or easily pop.
I would hope you have worn your boots before the trip to figure out where the pressure points are, but I avoided all blisters by wearing the heel protectors linked below. It seems like one of the most common things to leave Denali with is blisters, but using these should help.
On a different note, forgetting parachute cord would be trip ending. You need a lightweight method to secure everything to your sled, such as the cord below.
As a pretty avid hiker, I swear against using trekking poles, at least at my age, but I am so happy I had them on Denali. I used these Black Diamond ones with snow baskets, and I found them essential for most days when pulling a sled. On days like summit day or traversing the Windy Corner, I really liked having one pole in hand with my ice axe in the other. This was crucial when my sled would side-tail on the Windy Corner, pulling me off the mountain.
Finally, while not expedition-ending, headphones, charging cables, podcasts, and a book are very essential for down time.
Backpack
I recommend a 100L pack, and don’t forget to bring a rain fly with the bag.
This is because if it’s snowing midday while the sun is out, the snow can melt and act like rain on your bag. The alternative is aways remembering to put it in the vestibule, but personally, I wish I had bought a separate rain fly.
Furthermore, if your bag didn’t come with one, I recommend one on Amazon and not one from the bag manufacturer. The Denali 100L does not come with one, but the Amazon versions work just as well, if not better, for a fraction of the price.
In any case, it gets very hard very quick when you try to go with less than a 100L bag on Denali. Also, you’re going to make 14 Camp your home for a little bit, so try to be comfortable.
The Gregory Denali 100L is by far the most popular pack on the mountain, but from my own experience, it is in no way the most comfortable backpacking bag I’ve ever used.
It’s just a big pack where Gregory thought of everything, in terms of the mountain, and put on the pack.
For example, they have a place to clip your sled on the hip belt, little hip straps to put your water bottle parkas on when you’re moving, and your standard ice axe slots. There are also really big pockets on the sides for quick-access items like pickets, in the case of a crevasse rescue.
All said, there are far more comfortable backpacking bags out there, and it’s worth mentioning that there wasn’t straps on the bottom of the pack to put a tent or sleeping pad. For these reasons, I recommend considering one of the bigger Gregory Baltoro backpacks as well, which you can read more about why I prefer them in my backcountry gear article.
What Mountaineering Boots are Best on Denali?
For boots, everyone has their own ideas.
I went with the Scarpa 8000m because I see myself using them on Aconcagua, as well as Vinson Massif. Therefore, instead of buying more than one pair, I wanted something a little more universal.
They were quite unnecessary on the lower glacier and slightly large for snowshoes, but they were never too cumbersome where they bothered me.
How to Break Up the Weight You Pack on Denali?
When traveling with your sled, you will need to find the best balance that works for you when distributing your weight.
Generally, it seems that most people split it up with 60% of their weight in the sled and 40% in their pack, but I took more of a 70/30 approach. I prefer to have less on my back and pull with my legs, and this is what worked for me.
It also seemed most common to carry more clothing/ down-related items and other gear in the pack, while keeping heavier things such as food in the sled. It’s all personal preference, but in my opinion, dense items, like fuel or butter, are better on the ground.
Denali Food Plan
Here is my food list, and doing it again, I would use a version of this because it worked very well, with only a few exceptions.
For the most part, I did all of my meals very well, and in general, these are foods for 14 Camp and below.
That being said, I could not advise you more to stay away from freeze-dried food and eat well below High Camp. High Camp is where you need to eat your meals that can be prepared with only hot water, like oatmeal and freeze-dried meals.
Additionally, your dry foods and bars should be bought and measured before arriving in Alaska. Your grocery store stop on the way to Talkeetna should mostly be your perishables, like you see in my shopping list here.
This is because your shopping trip in Alaska needs to be expedited or you will likely pay more for the time your driver is waiting for you. We were given 1 hour.
Breakfast
Breakfast was probably my best meal. I pre-measured Krusteaz pancake mix before leaving into individual bags, and I generally saved oatmeal for High Camp instead of following this arbitrary day-by-day food plan. Bagels and cream cheese worked well for days when you need to get moving sooner, but if you want to use cream cheese in the morning, then you have to sleep with it the night before. This goes for a lot of things.
Dried fruit like mangos was pretty much useless and just dead weight for me. When I was freezing cold in the morning, I never wanted to eat rock-hard dried fruit, but rather something warm, like bacon.
That being said, bacon and precooked sausages are some of the best things you can bring on the mountain!
Lunch
I made the mistake of treating lunch like a real meal when I was at home planning, but on days you are moving, it’s more like whatever you can grab out of your pack.
Buying a loaf of bread for sandwiches was one of the best things I could have done because I would pre-make sandwiches the evening before a moving day when things weren’t so cold, and at this time, I could actually spread my peanut butter without having to sleep with it. Peanut butter is a great idea, but I would pick between either jelly or honey. I ended up caching my jelly at 11 Camp because it would freeze too easily.
However, like cream cheese, you need to sleep with the honey, which should be done in a separate bag because mine exploded in my sleeping bag one night!
For lunch, and really almost at anytime, a 2 lb pack of precut salami was one of my favorite things to grab and eat, as well as taking bites from a block of cheese.
Where I made the mistake with lunch was thinking that I could make ramen. No one is going to want to break out the stove on a moving day to make ramen. People get creative with ramen at camp, but ramen ends up being more like a dinner item, not lunch.
Dinner
Just like breakfast I did pretty well here.
Quesadillas, pho, and pasta were my favorites.
In my opinion, combining two packages of Mama Pho into one quart-size bag before you go is a better alternative than ramen. If you’re skeptical, I’d say give Mama Pho a try (link below), as it’s truly comfort food on the mountain.
Personally, I wish I had brought more than just three meals of it, but be sure to pre-order this because you’re not going to find it in Alaska.
For pasta, I went with the fully-cooked Barrila pasta that only needs a little bit of butter and 2-3 minutes on a pan. Yes, it’s a little bit heavier, but compared to cooking normal pasta, it saves tons of time and fuel. I would usually add shredded cheese and Italian sausage to this, which can be seen in the photo here.
For potatoes, Idahoan Potatoes usually come in a 4oz bag, but I separated them in half at home because 2oz was one meal for me.
Additionally, Bear Creek soup mix also worked well. I would measure and do the math at home for individual meals because otherwise you are bringing up more mix than you need. This is because the packages are more for a big pot of soup, not individual meals, but play around with it at home to get the portions right.
Finally, Minute Rice and sausage worked well, as an alternative, but it was not a meal to brag about.
In general, for cooking, you want to make things that can be done in 5-7 minutes or less, meaning foods that simmer are not the right choice.
Using too much fuel is generally never a concern among groups, but don’t get complacent and end your expedition early because you ran out of fuel.
As a rule of thumb, one gallon of fuel per person for a 21-day expedition is sufficient. In larger groups over five, having an extra gallon can act as a safety net.
That being said, once groups summit and begin to head down, it’s very typical for them to walk around 14 Camp pulling a sled asking if anyone wants food or fuel, so that they don’t have to carry it back out. Don’t say yes to too many things!
Climbing Denali: The Kahiltna Glacier
Flying to the Kahiltna Glacier is, without a doubt, one of the best and most spectacular parts of the expedition! Try to get a window seat, whether on the way in or out, and take lots of photos!
The only thing to know when flying in is that once you land, you need to be helpful and unload the plane with the pilot in a timely manner.
The runway works nonstop on good flying days, so as a climber, you need to clear your stuff out of the area right away.
You can read about the 'Talkeetna Hang' under the story section of this post, which is what happens when the weather is too poor to fly.
Kahiltna Base Camp to Camp 1
Before talking about the route, I wanted to include that the Google satellite images for Denali were taken during the climbing season! If you look closely, you can see the route, individual tents, ski tracks, and individual climbers all the way to the summit. It’s pretty cool if you’re looking for another way to prepare yourself.
As for climbing, do not get overconfident and think that you have ascended to 14,000 ft. (4,267 m) in one afternoon, so getting to 14k on Denali can’t be much harder. Generally, 14k is where everyone wants to hurry, and for good reason (which I’ll get to later), but the push to 14k on Denali should not be compared to anywhere else. It’s harder.
Never use mileage on Denali to estimate how challenging a section is. Summit day took 8 hours up from High Camp at only 2.25 miles (3.6 km) if that says anything, and this was with the lightest packs on the entire expedition.
Kahiltna Base Camp at 7,200 ft. (2,195 m) to Camp 1 at 7,800 ft. (2,377 m) is most peoples’ first day.
Barring any bad weather, I would personally avoid building a camp at Base Camp, whether on day one or on the way out.
In any case, some groups like to hang out for the day at Base Camp, while others hit the trail right away. We left right away because it was overcast, but otherwise, the trek to Camp 1 would have been very hot.
It’s also safest on the snow bridges when it’s cooler, and we did have one crevasse fall, which I’ll get to later.
Know that the route is heavily crevassed for nearly the entire way to the summit! I thought people were idiots who would do it unroped unless they were skiing quickly across the bridges.
If you fall a few hundred feet down and no one sees, that’s probably the difference between life and death. Take that as you will in your own planning. However, the first few days to 11 Camp are not a bad idea to travel at night because of how low and hot they can be.
Not including Heartbreak Hill (because you will have to re-climb this just before making it to Base Camp on your way home), Camp 1 is located directly at the bottom of Ski Hill, where the first real significant elevation change begins.
Heartbreak Hill
Leaving Base Camp, you will feel fast, light, and full of energy down Heartbreak Hill. This is also a good time to test your sled rigging and brake.
Lower Kahiltna Glacier
After the hill, the route on the lower glacier is like one big 'S'-shaped pattern around crevasses to Camp 1.
Personally, I did not find the elevation difference between the bottom of Heartbreak Hill and Camp 1 to be noticeable by any means.
Camp 1
Once we got to Camp 1, we set up for the night, with the plan to leave early the next day for 11 Camp.
But then, at around 11 p.m. as we were all laying down, we were abruptly awoken by a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that shook the entire Alaska Range. At first, we couldn’t figure out if the glacier was moving or if it was truly an earthquake, but we confirmed it was an earthquake after the trip.
At the time, the earthquake sent seracs falling and triggered avalanches in all directions, but everything falling was a safe distance away from Camp 1.
This photo is looking up toward Denali from Camp 1.
High Camp is the ledge on the far left of the photo, and Basin Camp would be somewhere on that snowy ledge below, out of view.
Camp 1 to 11 Camp
Immediately after leaving Camp 1, the route ascends Ski Hill.
We made the mistake of traveling during the day, and we were exposed to some pretty intense sun/ reflection from the glacier.
In any case, don’t have it in mind that Ski Hill is the main hill that you will climb on this push. The hills never seem to end on this stretch.
9,600-9,800 ft. Camp
Being that we were so exhausted and dehydrated from our really hot day on the glacier, we opted to for the optional camp at 9,600-9,800 ft. (2,926-2,987 m) to break up the day. It wasn’t my favorite thing to camp beneath a few hanging seracs, but it’s what the team decided.
After waiting out an additional day in a snow storm here, we moved to 11 Camp, which hence the name, sits right at 11,000 ft. (3,353 m) at the base of Motorcycle Hill.
Kahiltna Pass
This photo was taken looking up toward Kahiltna Pass on the left, with 11 Camp around the corner on the right.
11 Camp
In our orientation, the park ranger talked about the dangers of this camp, particularly with avalanches and serac falls. He mentioned that if the seracs above 11 Camp were to let loose, they would pretty much level the camp, potentially causing fatalities.
He said this in a manner that implied that you don't have to stay at this camp just because there is an established one. In my own comfort level and fitness, I wanted to give 11 Camp one night only, but the group optioned for two, with a double carry to the cache below 14.
11 Camp to Basin Camp
Up until 11,000 ft. (3,353 m), we were doing entirely single carries. This is what I recommend, and your fitness should be able to handle this no problem.
In my opinion, double carrying before 11 Camp would be a of waste of time. Keep in mind that even if you plan for 21 days' worth of food, your team will generally get pretty sick of the harsh mountain lifestyle well before that 21-day mark.
Therefore, it’s best to keep on a good pace, on top of finding a summit window.
Double Carrying to 14 Camp
11,000 ft. (3,353 m) is where people split their decisions with how to move to 14 camp: to bring sleds or not to bring sleds, or to single carry or double carry.
That being said, a single carry with a sled would be brutal and should not be taken lightly, but this is the option I wanted to go for. However, this is not the option we went with based on the group’s consensus.
I still optioned for the sled on the second carry because I wanted to eat all of my good food at 14k. There is no way I could have carried my pan and food with everything else in just my backpack, even with the double carry. For this reason, my personal decision was to bring the sled.
Just know that sleds around the Windy Corner are an absolute mess! They won’t stay on the trail, and you will have to fight them as they try to pull you off the trail down the blue ice into the crevasses immediately following.
I would have a trekking pole for balance in your right hand and an ice axe in your left through this section. This is all to say that going up with a sled around Windy Corner is still easier than the return trip.
In any case, if this is what you choose, make sure that you rig it well so that, in the event it flips, everything will still be attached to the sled and your person.
Motorcycle Hill
From 11,000 ft. (3,353 m), you climb the 700-ft. (213 m) Motorcycle Hill. It’s pretty steep and heavily crevassed the entire way. By this, I mean that even at the summit of the hill, there are still obvious crevasses.
Then, immediately after Motorcycle Hill, the route heads up Squirrel Hill until there’s a nice break spot at about 12,500 ft. (3,810 m) on this gentler sloping plateau. This is a good spot to eat lunch.
From here, there is one more significant unnamed hill, as far as I know, that leads to the Windy Corner. The first time you will ever encounter granite on the route is here at about 13,180 ft. (4,017 m) just before the crest of the hill.
It’s at this spot that you should have someone walk over the hill and check how bad the conditions are. We got pretty lucky all the times we traveled around the corner, but so I have heard, the weather can slap you in the face from one side to the other.
I would also advise wearing helmets around Windy Corner, as the rangers told us that rock falls are fairly common here, and you will see why if you pause and look up.
13,500 ft. Cache
Just past the Windy Corner is the cache below 14 Camp.
If you option for the cache, it should mostly be filled with food or other items that you won’t immediately need when you head back down to 11 Camp for one more night. The rangers will also tell you to burry your food deep enough, so that ravens won’t destroy your supply, which does happen!
Our Only Denali Crevasse Fall
After the cache day when it was late afternoon, we were right at the bottom of Motorcycle Hill just before 11 Camp when one of our teammates fell armpit deep into a crevasse.
The snow was softer and to his mistake he had the coils tied improperly around him, so they started to choke him. I yelled at the other guy keeping tension to let up. Then, one in our team named Jon grabbed his ice axe and pulled him out. Him getting choked by his own rope was what really made this situation dangerous, and it was a quick lesson to learn. Don’t take roping up or going unroped lightly.
Our Double Carry to 14 Camp
After a second night at 11 Camp, we returned back up around the Windy Corner to head to Basin Camp.
From the cache, the trail takes this big 'S'-like pattern around some crevasses, up a few more, less steep hills into 14 Camp.
Basin Camp to High Camp
Basin Camp, also known as 14 Camp, is pretty much the coveted camp for all climbers.
Generally speaking, it is one of the safest camps to be in. However, avalanches can still and do sweep into camp on occasion. Here’s a video showing just that.
Some climbers come to 14 Camp just to ski and snowboard, with no intentions of summiting, but for most climbers, this is where you finally get a chance to start looking for a summit window on the upper mountain.
Hopefully, the only summit window that you find isn’t immediately when you arrive in camp because acclimatization at Basin Camp should be given at the minimum the day you arrive, plus one additional day before looking higher.
Furthermore, 14 Camp is where I think the cook tent is most useful, so that you have a place to get away from the sun without it always being in your tent. It’s also really fun to socialize with other teams in their cook tents and vice versa.
Returning to the 13,500 ft. Cache
On the second day after arriving at 14 Camp, we went back down to our cache after the Windy Corner to get the rest of our supplies.
Summit Planning
At this point, don’t underestimate a summit push from 14 Camp and think you can do it if you have a small weather window. An acclimatization day hike up to High Camp, or even a night at High Camp, is more or less your best case scenario.
Knowing my personal fitness level, I could have summited from 14 Camp and back in one day, but that is not to say that I would have wanted to.
That being said, I would only say I could have done this after having spent one night at High Camp on our first failed summit attempt.
If I hadn’t spent this time at High Camp, the only other scenario where I would consider a push like this is if I was a skier. Being able to cut out drastic amounts of time on the descent, if you are skiing, can make for a much slower and safer ascent if the weather window is small.
Regardless, I’m not a skier, and I know only myself and only one other guy in our group of five could have made the push up from 14. For this reason, I strongly urge you not to overestimate your ability, especially if this is your first time at altitude (+16,000 ft.), as no preparation in the lower 48 is going to prepare you for this feeling.
I had been fortunate enough before Denali to be above 19,300 ft. (5,883 m), and I think it isn't the worst idea to consider other high-altitude mountains in the world beyond just technical mountains throughout the United States before attempting Denali.
As a testament for a 14 Camp to the summit push, watch this video. Note how they started probably around 9-10 a.m. from 14 Camp to the summit, and it took professionals 12 hours to the top, not including the return trip. These are things that I considered when judging my ability, as well as the team’s.
When looking up, asking for a good scenario would be to have a 48-hour weather window. That’s one day to High Camp, followed by a summit day immediately after.
If this is all you get, then you need to be prepared to return to 14 Camp after summiting, which is obviously not ideal. Asking for more shouldn’t be expected, but take it if you see it.
Here are some other considerations. Perhaps the good weather window is only one day, so you have to go up in not-so-good weather to get the good summit day. There are all sorts of scenarios that can play out, but I’m saying consider a 48-hour window to be a good-case scenario after you have acclimatized at 14 Camp.
The bottom portion of the weather board on the Thursday and Friday was our window.
Our Failed Denali Summit Attempt
Here’s how our climb up to High Camp went.
As we traveled the lower glacier, it was nothing but summit days for other groups, but when we arrived at 14 Camp and started to look higher, the weather started to deteriorate.
Then, when we thought the weather was going to get bad, the first front we saw moved back by one day. Therefore, after we spent that day and a half acclimatizing, we talked to the ranger (which I strongly encourage you to pick their brains because they can tell you more than the weather board) and decided to go for the chancy window.
Our push to High Camp was in nice weather, and our summit day was smartly turned around because the winds were too high. The general rule of thumb is that if the winds are above 20-25 mph above High Camp, the conditions are too sketchy and you start to risk frostbite or worse. Therefore, we descended and counted this as just an acclimatization night.
That being said, our hopes were pretty low for summiting on this descent back to 14 Camp, as we were returning to two in our group who didn’t go up that night. They didn’t have the fitness nor the acclimatization, as the rest of the team, to go higher than the top of the fixed lines. Therefore, only 3 of us spent the night at High Camp.
Since the other two were struggling at 16,000 ft. (4,877 m), I was mentally counting them out without saying it out loud. Seriously, keep your team’s spirits high up there! Don’t fight!
In any case, when we got back, the other two were pretty happy to see us, and they assured us that in two days, this front would move through to a nicer few days of high pressure on the backside of it.
This was good news because, after our push, we desperately needed a few days to rest. So, this really wasn’t the worst thing to hear.
You also might be wondering, why didn’t we just wait for the nicer weather in the first place? But the ranger told us, in his own words, that there was nothing on the horizon that he was tracking that was going to move the front out of the way. So initially, we thought the first window was our one and only shot at summiting. That should show you how fast systems can change on the mountain over the course of 24 hours – to High Camp and back.
There was also a conversation that I had with the group: if, for some reason, we didn’t make this first window, who would be willing to do more than one push? It might surprise you, but not everyone was keen on that idea, and that’s a group-by-group basis.
Breaking down camp to go to High Camp, to rebuild, and then breaking it back down to descend, just to repeat, isn’t easy work. It’s not all about the climb, so consider all these things when making your moves.
My Print - The view of Mt. Foraker (17,400 ft.) from High Camp at 17,200 ft.
16,200 ft. Cache
Many teams, including ours, left a cache at the top of the fixed lines at 16,200 ft. (4,938 m) in order to save weight for our next High Camp push.
This can also be an emergency supply of food if you spend more days at High Camp than anticipated. That way, you don’t have to descend all the way to 14 Camp if there’s a summit window you’re looking at.
We didn’t even know if the future weather was going to pay out when we buried some supplies on our way back down, but we found a cache left by our other teammates who didn’t make it, so we decided to add to it. Worst case scenario, this could also mean climbing the fixed lines just to dig up your cache if you decide to call the expedition and head home, which wouldn’t be ideal if your spirits are low.
In any case, a one-day climb just to leave a cache—not doing what we did—is a good acclimatization hike before your journey to High Camp.
Our Successful Denali Summit!
On our second try, we had a much better window for the summit, and this was obvious from the number of guided teams also making the same push.
The Fixed Lines
That being said, if the weather has backed up Basin Camp for a few days and it is obvious that many other teams are also looking up at the same time, I encourage you to get moving early!
Getting stuck behind a guided team on the headwall sucks from an unguided perspective. They are slow, untrained, sometimes out of shape, and they are constantly yelling out “STOP” to the entire team whenever someone needs to transfer their clipped protection. There are much faster and more efficient ways that a team can move than this slow method. However, I get it. A guided team is not the same strong unit that an unguided team should be.
Therefore, being that we had been backed up at 14 Camp for a while, and we knew that no one was going to be descending, we unethically switched to the down line because another team was moving that ridiculously slow!
On our first ascent, when no one was in our way, we did the fixed lines in only 15 minutes! That was a great efficient pace that should upset no one, and it doesn’t back up the line. This is also why I said earlier to climb the snow and ice, not the fixed protection.
The Headwall
Unknowingly before our trip, I was under the impression that the headwall was from Basin Camp up to 16,200 ft. (4,938 m). This is not true, and the headwall/ start of the fixed lines doesn’t begin until the bergschrund at 15,800 ft. (4,816 m).
In my best estimation, the fixed lines are only ~600 ft. (183 m) long. They are a series of different hard-anchored lines that will require you to transfer your protection a number of times. This is where it is key to be proficient, and always use two sources of clipped-in protection. This means one running protection and a jumar.
When going up, always transfer your running protection first, followed by the jumar! In the event of a fall, doing it in the opposite way could send you falling the length of the line.
The 16-Ridge & Washburn’s Thumb
At the top of the fixed lines, you turn right and follow what I call the 16-ridge, or really Denali’s West Buttress, all the way to High Camp.
Washburn’s Thumb presents the steepest part on this section, but it’s not as steep as the headwall, nor as tall.
However, our team got caught behind a guided team at Washburn’s Thumb and had to wait 30 minutes at this bottleneck because they were that slow! They all clipped in with their ascenders, which is a bit unnecessary on this section.
The most skilled and knowledgeable member of our team even called out the guide because his team was relying too heavily on the fixed lines instead of climbing the snow. The guide didn’t respond, but my friend Jon was right. Seriously, trust your tools! You have them for a reason. Running protection only on Washburn’s Thumb is more than sufficient.
That being said, Washburn’s Thumb is really the only choke point on the route, and the rest of the way to High Camp is nothing worth mentioning, as long as you’re comfortable with mild exposure and clipping into running protection as you go. It’s a good idea on some of the more exposed sections along the ridge.
High Camp to the Summit (20,310 ft.)
At High Camp, if you see spin drifts off the top like we did during our first failed attempt, I would say it’s a good idea to stay put.
On different note, some teams will bring 3 days or more worth of food to High Camp, and some teams won’t take as much but leave some in the 16,200 ft. (4,938 m) cache to retrieve it if they spend more days than they anticipated. As previously mentioned, this is a much better alternative than returning to Basin Camp for more food.
Cooking at High Camp
Keep in mind that melting snow, cooking, and even keeping your stove working consistently is hit or miss at this elevation, especially in the morning when it’s coldest.
We learned from our first failed attempt that it’s best to do all of your water-making for an early start to the summit the night before.
This is because doing anything with the stove at this elevation takes significantly more time and fuel than all of the lower camps. This is why I said under the food section, stick with freeze-dried food and packet oatmeal only. I even made a sandwich the day before at Basin Camp to save for summit day, which was a great idea.
However, other simple meals, bars are the only other thing I used to get by, and it really is just getting by.
The View from High Camp with Basin Camp in the Bottom Left Corner at Sunset
My Thoughts on High Camp
In my opinion, don’t be thinking that you want to be established for a long time with all the comforts of Basin Camp at High Camp. A good itinerary is a one-day push up to High Camp, a one-day push to the summit and back to High Camp, followed by returning to 14 Camp the next day if you’re lucky enough to have good weather after summiting to stay the extra night.
The most ideal window would be to have an extra acclimatization day at 17k, but if you wake up to a bluebird calm morning, as we did, it would be pretty hard to pass that up sitting around at High Camp just because you think you need an extra day to acclimatize.
Also, don’t overestimate your ability to summit, return to High Camp, pack up, and return to 14 Camp. That is a much longer day than it sounds like on paper. You will likely be very tired and likely want to get a few hours of sleep before making the decent.
I also say this because once you pack up from 17, and return to 14 Camp, this is generally about the time that groups make the long exhausting push all the way back to Kahiltna Base Camp, instead of setting up another camp elsewhere on the trail. The long push is what we voted for.
Climbing the Autobahn
From High Camp, you immediately follow the route to the Autobahn.
It’s nicknamed the Autobahn because if you fall and can’t self-arrest, you will likely pick up speed on the way down before dropping off the mountain into a crevasse. Click on this article to read about how truthful this can be, as a similar fall happened just before my trip.
This is also why a later trip is recommended because by June, the fixed protection should be in place on the Autobahn. If it isn’t, you need to have the know-how to place your own protection.
This is not a trip to Zion. I know that sounds douchey, but during our orientation, the Park Service was very clear that you are out in this alpine environment to take care of yourself and be self-sufficient. This is why I advise a late May start because the earlier you go, the less established the route will be, meaning you will need to be more self-sufficient.
Furthermore, just because you call for help, doesn’t mean that they are going to come. The ranger told us that they only respond when there is a threat to life, limb (yes fingers and toes), or eyesight.
From this same situation as the article linked above, there was also a lawsuit related to a Utah doctor that lied through his messages to the Park Service about needing to be rescued.
Do not carry this first-world attitude, as the doctor in this story did, and think that the Park Service is required to come get you off the mountain! The Park Service means it when they tell you in your orientation that you are up there to be self-sufficient, and both articles linked above should show that.
Denali Pass
Assuming you’ve made it up the Autobahn to Denali Pass, the route continues up the ridge to the right.
The guide leading the team ahead of ours was one of the more notable assholes on the mountain.
This is the view out toward High Camp.
It’s hard to imagine why anyone would pass up a summit day with conditions like we had, as moving fast was seemingly not an issue!
Pig Hill
Once past the ridge above Denali Pass, Pig Hill immediately follows, which is essentially a series of hills that are pretty tiring at this elevation until you get to the top, where it flattens out.
This flatter area is known as the 'Football Field', which is essentially a long plateau that continues until the base of the summit ridge.
Denali Summit Ridge
The base of the summit ridge is where many people drop unnecessary things or their pack entirely before ascending.
In short, the summit ridge is a series of switchbacks until the ridge’s crest, with only a few hundred feet to go from there.
Denali Summit
Hopefully, you can have as clear and as calm as a summit day as I did!
I estimated our day to be around 0º F (-17.8º C), which is pretty tropical for a place like this on the planet. However, with the reflection and no wind, it felt warmer!
Denali Summit to Kahiltna Base Camp
Obviously, the route back is no different than ascending, but it really comes down to how you break it up.
Descending the Headwall
This picture was my repel method for the fixed lines.
However, some climbers would just use their hands, and some would use their hands with running protection. Personally, I thought it was a little careless to not be tied in, but it’s all personal preference.
If you choose to use a prusik, you can move freely up and down a line, as long as you have your hand on the coils. My prusik saved me from a few slips that could have resulted in broken bones.
Either way, don’t use your ascender as your brake. At the minimum, learn how to tie a prusik quickly because, if you’re proficient, it should be a fast method to prevent a backlog on the down line.
How We Descended Denali
As previously mentioned, a night at High Camp followed by a push to the airstrip is a pretty standard and tiring way to get it done. You need sleep to avoid making stupid mistakes, but hopefully, your spirits are high from summiting!
Our descent went as follows:
We summited, then spent one night at High Camp. The next morning, we returned to 14 Camp to hang out all day until the evening, so that the lower glacier could harden.
If you start in late May, the lower glacier does melt down a lot over the course of your expedition.
Descending with Sleds
In the evening, we left 14 Camp and arrived at 11 Camp around midnight.
The hardest part of descending was by far the sleds. They are a nightmare! Mine rolled and rolled because my brakes didn’t work. It would constantly slam into my heels, but I would be so sick of it not working that I would just leave it. I never figured out the best method, whether to have it in front or behind. All I can say is I fought through the frustration.
I think the best method would be to have a system where the brake is so secure beneath the middle of the sled that there is no way it can come undone until you go down and physically untie it from the bottom. The method of flipping it under and into the sled from the front does not work! Your sled will do whatever it wants. Going down Windy Corner, Squirrel Hill, and Motorcycle Hill were the absolute worst for me!
I think some skiers put the sled in front to pull them down, which would only work in some sections, but it wouldn’t work around Windy Corner.
11 Camp to Kahiltna Base Camp
Around midnight, we dug up our cache at 11 Camp, then pushed to Camp 1. Leaving 11 Camp, it was at about 1 a.m.
When we got to Camp 1, everyone was pissed, tired, and hungry. Some wanted to set up camp to sleep a few hours and some, including me, wanted to get going. When I reminded everyone that we need to avoid the sun on the glacier, everyone wasn’t happy but knew I was right. We knew how bad the sun could be!
Crossing the glacier, we noticed significantly more punch-throughs on some snow bridges than when we first crossed weeks earlier. Seeing this, we definitely knew it was a good idea that we were moving at night.
When you’re exhausted, this push back to Base Camp takes a long time, and Heartbreak Hill really does live up to its name, as you don’t start seeing Base Camp until you’re essentially there.
Kahiltna Base Camp
Getting to Base Camp as early as you can helps to get your name on the list of people waiting to head out. However, even though we arrived right at sunrise, there were a number of groups that had arrived earlier in the night that were already ahead of us in line.
In any case, don’t forget to dig up your cache of emergency supplies once you arrive. You will be fined by the National Park Service if you leave any cache behind with your team name on it.
We finished in 15 days, while summiting in 13, which is slightly better than the average of 17 total! That being said, no one in our group had any intentions of staying even close to 21 days because of how much the mountain takes out of you.
Returning to Talkeetna
Once back in Talkeetna, have your group leader check-in with the National Park Service and return the CMCs.
I had wondered if groups would lie about summiting to make themselves look good or alter the statistics, but all I could say is be honest. There doesn’t seem to be any more summit accountability in those online statistics than honesty.
Our group miraculously had a 100% summit success rate, which I would not have guessed from day one, or when I said previously that I had mentally counted out two of our members.
I speculate that the two on the slower rope team may not have summited if we didn’t have such an amazing bluebird day! Any shorter of a window, and I’d say they wouldn’t have made it. I say this to say, train like you mean it!
Caches on Denali
Our group did the pretty standard caches.
First, we cached a few days' worth of food at Base Camp in the event of getting stranded there. My friend Anthony actually left 3 lbs of bacon, which was the best morale booster when we had to wait until the mid-afternoon for our flight out.
We then cached at 11,000 ft. (3,353 m), which, for me, was one more day of food because that’s all you need for the return trip, as well as some of the things that I was starting to discover were just dead weight in my bag, like my jelly. The cache at 11 Camp also included trash.
Other than these, we did the normal moving caches for a double carry to Basin Camp, and our cache at the top of the fixed lines.
You need to mark you caches with your team name, and know that forgetting or purposely leaving your cache somewhere after your expedition will result in a fine from the Park Service, as previously mentioned.
It’s also a good and courteous idea to mark whatever tents you’re leaving behind at Basin Camp when you push to High Camp. Many teams do not bring up all of their tents to High Camp, especially the cook tent. Therefore, leaving your team name on your campsite is a good way to let people know that a site isn’t abandoned.
Some may say that it’s unethical to hold onto a site like this, but I’m going to say that you put a lot of work into a site that you don’t want to have to rebuild if you have to use it when you return.
Books to Read Before Climbing Denali
There are two books that I would say are must-reads for Denali. They are not how-to mountaineer books, but they provide a little different context to some of the same things I am saying here.
Even so, I believe that my advice on some very specific topics is more useful, like how I planned my food. However, the books do a better job at talking about the route, with pictures, as well as the mountain’s weather systems.
Denali's West Buttress: A Climber's Guide to Mt. McKinley's Classic Route
Weather on Denali
Denali is divided into the upper and lower mountain weather, which just means that different systems will impact different parts of the mountain.
One example of this is that it can be snowing and cloudy below 11 Camp but sunny there and above. This is because weather can funnel through Kahiltna Pass, impacting the lower mountain only. Somewhere between 11,000 ft. (3,353 m) and 14,000 ft. (4,267 m), maybe some arbitrary elevation, you transfer between the lower and upper mountain where the weather impacts the two camps differently.
For further context, read the book by Coombs, as it does a great job talking about these weather systems.
That being said, I’m sure the author isn’t wrong based on his experiences and the weather systems, but he does dramatize the worst storms and how bad they can get. We only had one whiteout day, and to this point, the National Park Service ranger tent at 14k was hardly fortified.
Denali Stories / Advice
The Autobahn
About the person falling in that article, the ranger at the orientation basically told us that the climber got himself up the Autobahn without fixed protection, but could not descend safely. When he called for help, the ranger told us that the response was, “well, you got yourself up there, so you need to get yourself down.”
The Alaska Range is a playground of some sorts, but take the necessary skills seriously. This is why I said before that you are out there to be self-sufficient, and the rangers really do mean that!
The doctor should have been with a team, not solo; that was continually placing running protection to get down safely.
From what I understand after talking to his teammate back in the hanger when we were grounded, the teammate that fell abandoned the rest of his group because he was so keen on the summit. He went alone and didn’t listen to the rest of his team. The teammate I talked to in the hangar didn’t feel comfortable ascending much higher than 14 Camp. To his benefit, he may not have summited, but he’s off the mountain safely.
This is all to say, have these hard discussions about summiting, your ability, and comfort levels as a team at some point, whether on the mountain or before. Also, listen to your teammates because they probably know what’s best for you, and they should tell you if they think that you’re putting it too far out there.
We had a few hard talks among our team about some things that needed to be said. However, be respectful! Don’t be an asshole! You need your team for the entire expedition!
Additionally, I can’t stress enough that you need to be comfortable with exposure. This can come from experience that isn’t necessarily mountaineering experience, but rather, technical hiking.
For all you mainlanders reading this, I gained this experience in Hawaiʻi. Our casual hikes are far more technical and exposed than most comparable climbs in the lower 48, and trusting basalt is immensely more challenging than trusting granite. I’m not trying to one up. I’m just saying that this experience can come from anywhere.
If you need to know how you handle exposure with some elevation mixed in, try climbing Capitol Peak. In the summer, it’s not a mountaineering training ground, but at the least, you gain experience in high-exposure situations. It’s also a great way to see how your entire team handles it.
The Fixed Lines
When I said we crossed over to the down line, yes, I know that’s not what you are supposed to do. However, you are also not supposed to go in front of a clearly more skilled, unguided team, while your team causes a bottleneck on the lines.
Seriously, be proficient before coming here. The team that we went around lied to us, saying that they were an experienced unguided group who was actually following a guided group. At first, I thought the guided group was going to hold everybody up, but it didn’t take long before the guided group started to create a large gap between themselves and the unguided group, which clearly showed where the deficiency was.
The unguided group should have known their abilities and let us go first. It’s more dangerous for everyone involved because we layered and wore gloves for moving, not sitting. On a cold day, this brings about all other sorts of problems because you can’t easily access the clothes in your bag while staying perched on the steep headwall. I’m just saying to be considerate and know your ability.
The above paragraphs sound like I’m this know-it-all on the mountain, but that’s really not true. There is some kind of attitude out there in this type of climbing/ mountaineering space where people flaunt experience, but I really just don’t appreciate people who aren’t prepared for such an extreme environment. Denali is not the place to learn what you need to know or test yourself for the first time. However, grit can come from anywhere, which is maybe one of the most important lessons I learned on Denali.
Mean Guides
Speaking to that know-it-all attitude, there is really something messed up with some (not all) of the guides and their crap.
For example, right after Denali Pass, this one guide said, “Are you guys going to go?” He was being nice, so that our group of three could get ahead of his guided group of 6. We said yes, started to go, and when I passed him, I said, “Thank you.” His response was, “Don’t make me regret it.”
Shortly after, he didn’t like our pace and basically said, “That’s it, step aside,” as he overtook us. Not three minutes later, his client in the back was asking for a slower pace because he was obviously moving too fast at this elevation, pushing 19,000 ft. (5,791 m). However, the guide refused because he didn’t want our group of three to pass him again. He was completely inconsiderate and unprofessional to his clients, as well as us.
There was another moment when descending the summit ridge where my friend Jon was caught in a tough place and needed to cross over a guided team’s rope. He respectfully said to the guide that he needed to step over it, to which the guide snapped back and said, “uh no, absolutely not!” My friend Jon very smartly pointed out the flaw in their spacing that put the rope and him in the tough spot in the first place. I thought this was funny, but then a different guide tried to tell me that we didn’t have priority on the trail because we were unroped for the summit ridge. I was fed up with the guides at this point and said something kind of smart back at him that’s not worth mentioning.
Past the summit ridge, another unguided climber told us his story about a guide snapping at him for taking a picture. From what I understand, he stepped off the trail unroped on the summit ridge so that he wasn’t in the way to take a photo, to which a guide in a rude voice said, “Oh! So we just take pictures wherever we feel like it now huh!” I don’t know what followed, but I wouldn’t have stood there in silence.
I’m sure you can see my point, and I’m just saying don’t get walked on by them. It was funny how knowledgeable my friend is because the guides truly don’t know everything about technique and mountaineering, and he would make sure they knew that when it was appropriate.
Always remember, a guide may be a skilled mountaineer, but that does not mean that they are a skilled guide.
The 'Talkeetna Hang'
This is in reference to getting stuck in Talkeetna because of bad weather on the front end of our trip.
This happened to us for 4 days because the conditions were too poor for the pilots to fly. Prepare for this and know the pilot with Sheldon Air Service may let you crash in his hanger for free instead of paying for a hotel. It isn’t great, but it’s free, and there’s usually tons of left over food from other climbers to choose from.
Additionally, the Boat Launch has cheap showers, which anyone can pay to use. They aren’t great, but you’re going climbing for 2-3 weeks, so they should be more than enough to get by.
On a different note, if you’re spending one more night in Talkeetna on the back end of your trip, I recommend Latitude 62 for a place to stay the night. It’s one of the cheaper options in town, and the accommodations are about the same as everywhere else.
You can also roll right out of your bed and drink or grab breakfast in the morning.
However, Talkeetna is the main tourist town for Denali National Park, meaning there are a ton of accommodations to consider. I recommend clicking the link below to search all your options before booking.
The Denali Shuttle
Generally, I would say why does a shuttle to and from Anchorage matter, but it does more than I first realized.
We took the Go Purple shuttle both ways, and the driver, Gary, always stops at this coffee and cookie shop going in either direction. This stop turned into a 30-minute delay, which arguably, among the team, caused us not to fly out that day because of the time it took to repack in Talkeetna.
This was followed by us getting stranded for 4 days on the ground, and when we finally got on the mountain, we missed about a week of the best summit weather imaginable.
By this, I mean that when we made it to 14k, the weather deteriorated, and so it was hard not to blame this coffee and cookie stop if it meant we could have flown out on our first day.
However, on the way back to Anchorage, the shuttle doesn’t mean as much, and Gary won’t make you late for your flight if that’s a concern.
The other popular option is Denali Overland Transportation, but I personally can’t comment on how they operate.
Safety
To sum up my own research, experience, and what the rangers say, most accidents/ deaths on Denali result from carelessness, weather, or some act of God, with carelessness leading by a long shot. While an act of God, such as an avalanche or a serac fall, can’t be prevented, the first two by and large can!
You could not travel during active or oncoming weather and take the safer approach of riding it out in camp.
Weather aside, it seems that most incidents on Denali happen from falls. During my trip, someone broke some ribs on the headwall, which is why I highly recommend tying in.
However, to really prevent falls, you should always be on a rope. It was shocking how many people take the crevasse hazard lightly, and unless you’re skiing, I’d say you’re being careless.
Also, while it doesn’t present a huge danger, wear a helmet. In the event of a crevasse fall, this could save your life. Additionally, after the ranger at orientation spoke with us in Talkeetna, I’d say it’s stupid not to wear one around Windy Corner.
Personally, there wasn’t a time I wasn’t wearing one, and even people kicking down snow and ice on the headwall make it necessary. To this point, someone’s improperly tied tent came flying down the headwall — if you needed another reason to wear one.
Now, for the obvious things. Stay hydrated, acclimatize slowly, wear lots of sunscreen, and bring the best lip protection you can find! I always traveled with 2L of water, which seems pretty standard among most climbers.
As always, find the most up-to-date information and conditions on the official National Park website, and know that the National Park Service has special information and dispatch reports for climbers to read the most up-to-date information on the mountain and how the season is going during any given year.
My Print - Mt. Hunter
