This will be our 46th consecutive season guiding on Denali, and we’re honored to welcome the June 22 team and all of the other climbers that have trusted us to help them test their fortitude on the highest mountain in North America.

At 20,310 feet (6190 m), Denali rises a full 18,000 feet 5486 m) above its surrounding landscape.  It has the highest vertical rise of any mountain on earth, and due to its location so close to the Arctic Circle, conditions can often be very winter-like well into the summer months. Around the solstice, the Alaska Range experiences over 20 hours of daylight, and even in the depths of night the sun never truly sets. The West Buttress, the route the team will be taking, will lead them through heavily glaciated terrain from base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier at 7,200′, to Camp One at 7,800′, Camp Three at 11,200′, Camp Four at 14,200′, High Camp at 17,200′, to the 20,310′ summit.

Yesterday the team flew from Talkeetna to the Kahiltna glacier, where they set up camp at Base Camp and reviewed glacier travel skills and sled rigging skills.

Let’s meet the climbers!

Manuel Siebler from Germany

Matthew Churcher from England

Jeff Kane from the US (Denver, CO)

Nate Oakes from the US (Denver, CO)

Graham Cooper from the US (Piedmont, CA)

Kurt Shobesberger from Austria

The Mountain Trip guide team will be led by Jesse Wright, who will be assisted by Brett Baekey and Jesse Yon.

Please keep in mind the adage of “no news is good news” in terms of the updates from the team in the field. There are some days when circumstances, like poor satellite phone reception (this happens frequently at Camp 2 at 11,200′, as it is situated in a high-alpine basin with massive peaks on all sides), fatigue from a particularly long day, no change in their situation due to weather, etc., will prevent teams from calling in an update. Friends and family are encouraged to leave comments for their loved ones on this expedition, but keep in mind that they will not be able to see posts or comments until they return to Talkeetna after the end of their expedition, once they leave the glacier. You can also follow along with the team’s progress up the mountain via their inReach, which we will provide a link to in the next trip report that we post for the team once they have arrived on the glacier.

Best of luck to the climbers!