Our season on Denali is well underway and we have many teams making their way up the mountain by a variety of routes. We are excited to welcome the June 20 West Buttress Team who has entrusted us to help them achieve their dreams of summiting the highest peak in North America. Denali is often the culmination of many years of training and climbing other peaks for climbers, and it has undoubtedly been a big goal on the horizon for this group for quite some time. They will be ascending the West Buttress route, first pioneered by legendary climber Bradford Washburn, and now widely regarded as one of the most classic mountaineering routes in North America and the world. The team will spend up to 22 days on the route, traveling on glacier the entire time. They will make camp at Base Camp (7,200′), Camp One (7,800′), Camp Two (11,200′), Camp Three (14,200′) and High Camp (17,200′) before they reach the 20,310′ summit.

Let’s meet the climbers!

David McCampbell

Marius Purice

Mario Celinic

Andrew King

Rune Hana

Cecilie Nesheim

The Mountain Trip guide team will be led by Yoshiko Miyazaki, back for her second trip of the season. She will be assisted by Matthew Koenig and Tom Huntley.

Today the team met for the first time in Anchorage, Alaska, joining us from around the United States (and Rune and Cecile coming from Norway–we’re so happy they were able to join us!) Tomorrow, the team will drive several hours north to the small town of Talkeetna, Alaska, the gateway to Denali National Park and jumping off point for expeditions in the Alaska Range. Once the team flies in, carried with all of the gear and supplies by a small plane piloted by our friends at Talkeetna Air Taxi, they will begin to call in satellite phone updates from the glacier. The team will do their best to call each day, but occasionally they are kept from calling by a variety of circumstances. If this is the case, please keep in mind that no news is good news from the team. Those following along from home are encouraged to leave comments for the climbers, but keep in mind that they wont be able to see them until they return to Talkeetna after the expedition.

Best of luck to the climbers!