Today a group of climbers from around the world are finishing their journey to Anchorage, Alaska, where they will join together as a team to attempt to climb a classic route on the highest peak in North America. The West Buttress route is an iconic challenge for mountaineers, ascending 13,000′ from a tributary of the vast Kahiltna Glacier to the 20,320′ summit of Denali.

In conjunction with several experienced Mountain Trip guides, they will forge themselves into a team and work together for the next two to three weeks.

The climbers are:

Will Stoll from Georgia

and Samuel Urech from Switzerland.

The guide team consists of:

Sean McManamy from Alaska
Brian Kramp from Alaska
Aaron Diamond from Pennsylvania

The team will meet on June 23rd for an expedition orientation and equipment check. The guides will help them acquire whatever bits and pieces of kit they might still need, by driving them around Anchorage that afternoon. The following day, the team will drive 2 hours north to the small, but pretty, town of Talkeetna for an orientation provided to all climbers by our National Park Service. The next stop is with our air services provider, Talkeetna Air Taxi, for a weigh-in of all of the expedition equipment. If the weather cooperates, they will fly to the glacier on the afternoon of the 24th!

We invite you to follow the team via these expedition dispatches. We ask team members to call in and report in their own words, so as to help give you a taste of their experience. Dispatches will often come through daily, but very often, teams are too busy to call in each day. Weather and terrain can, and often will, prevent teams from calling as well. Keep in mind the old adage, “No News Is Good News!” If you simply cannot wait for the next post, feel free to contact our Colorado office for the very latest information on the team.

Here are some photos of team members in training (thanks for the photos, Dawn!):