May 13, 2026
Our May 11th team arrived in Talkeetna yesterday (May 12); however, as is the case with expeditions into the Alaska Range, the weather sometimes has an itinerary of its own.
When our teams pull into Talkeetna, there are a few things that need to take place prior to their flight. The order of these steps varies depending on their scheduled orientation time with the National Park Service (NPS). To finish the registration process with NPS, climbers are required to attend a pre-climb orientation provided by one of the NPS climbing rangers to discuss current conditions on Denali as well as nuances on the glacier. Another big task our teams will tackle is unloading, organizing, and weighing all our equipment and supplies in preparation for our flight onto the glacier. Once these items are complete, the only thing left to do is wait.
The flight onto the glacier seems like a given success but is one of the first logistical hurdles for the team to overcome. During the entirety of the Denali season, storm fronts moving between Talkeetna and basecamp on the South Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier can cause flight delays of varying lengths. Climbers have been stuck for days on end waiting for storms to clear. The flight out of Talkeetna covers approximately 45 miles on a small single-engine plane. It can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes depending on how clear the skies are and the approach the plane is able to take, as there are several environmental factors occurring en route to the glacier. Denali, sometimes referred to as the “Great Massif,” is so large that it creates its own weather patterns. It’s not uncommon for the weather to be great in Talkeetna but impossible to land on the glacier. The pilots in the Alaska Range are truly talented at navigating less-than-ideal weather, so for flights to be delayed at all means that the weather is extremely challenging.
After waiting in the queue until late in the afternoon for a weather window, it seemed their time had arrived. Our team loaded into the planes and was able to begin their flight onto the glacier. In the last mile of their flight, the pilot made the call to turn back due to visibility upon landing. These planes differ in every way from your standard commercial airline. One of the largest differences is that rather than being guided by computers and various instruments, oftentimes the pilots of these small planes, which we call “Otters,” are flying by feel and their own line of sight. When circumstances like these arise and the pilots can’t see the landing strip, there is no air traffic control to guide them, so landing is 100% at their discretion.
In the event of weather delays, our teams will get the chance to experience Talkeetna, Alaska — a small town that has been a base for some of the most legendary climbers on the planet. Talkeetna is small and quiet, with much of its tourism coming from climbers flying onto Denali. Talkeetna is an experience in and of itself and has no shortage of captivating stories from climbers coming or going from the glacier. As a climber, regardless of your discipline, Talkeetna has shaped so much of our culture and to be there is something people spend years dreaming about.
We wish our climbers the best of luck in flying onto the glacier soon!
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Interested in more information about conditions and happenings on Denali? Be sure to also check out the Denali National Park’s Denali Dispatches Blog where they post weekly Field Reports.
