Our 47th Denali season is well underway with quite a few teams on the mountain. We would like to welcome the latest expedition, the June 16 Denali West Buttress Team, to Alaska! For many mountaineers, climbing Denali is a massive dream, a lifelong goal, and the culmination of months (or years) of training and preparation. The mountain is certainly no easy undertaking; rising from the Arctic plains, Denali has the highest prominence of any mountain in the world. From Base Camp on the Kahiltna Glacier, climbers will ascend nearly 13,000′ to Denali’s coveted 20,310′ summit. They will follow the classic West Buttress route, establishing four camps along the way before making their summit push.

The Mountain Trip team will be led by Elías de Andrés Martos, assisted by Andrew Plagens and climber Susan Mamer.

Once the team arrives on the Kahiltna Glacier at Denali Base Camp, they will organize all of their gear, and set off up the glacier on a night schedule–departing Base Camp at around 1 a.m. Once out in the Alaska Range, the team will call in updates via satellite phone, to keep friends and family at home in the loop with their progress up the route. While the team will try their best to call in each day, unforeseen circumstances might prevent this, like bad satellite phone reception, heavy storms, or the team might simply be too tired after a big day in the mountains. Keep in mind the adage of ‘No News is Good News’ throughout their expedition. Feel free to leave comments on the posts, but remember that the team won’t be able to see them until they return to Talkeetna after their expedition.

Best of luck to the team!