June 16th team set to ride off of Denali
The June 16th Gillig team stood on top of Denali today around 5:20 PM, and we could not be more excited for them! After weeks of work on the mountain, reaching the summit of North America at 20,310 feet is an absolutely massive accomplishment, and for this ski team, the summit was only the beginning of the adventure.
Summit day on Denali is one of the longest and most demanding days of climbing anywhere in the world. From high camp at 17,200 feet, climbers face thousands of feet of elevation gain, brutal cold, thin air, and exposed terrain on the way to the 20,310-foot summit. The team earned every single step of it, and then turned the climb into something even more special on the way down.
After making it back to high camp around 7:20 this evening, the team decided to keep the momentum going and continue their descent down to 14 Camp, getting some skiing in along the way. There’s something extraordinary about clicking into skis at 17,000+ feet on the highest peak in North America and making turns down terrain that most climbers only ever travel on foot. A summit ski descent is one of the most ambitious objectives in North American ski mountaineering, and this team is living it out, putting together the climb and the ski that they came to Denali to do.
For now, the June 16th Gillig team is back at 14 Camp after an unforgettable day on the mountain. We are absolutely thrilled for every member of this team. Congratulations to the climbers and guides on a hard-earned summit and an incredible day of ski mountaineering on Denali!
June 16th team descending Denali
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