On Friday, June 26th, a small group of climbers will meet in Anchorage, AK to join a team of Mountain Trip guides for an attempt to climb the highest peak in North America. Denali rises 20,320′ above the not-too-distant sea. Located close to the Arctic Circle, it is famous for presenting climbers with extreme cold and weather, in addition to it’s high elevation. Climbers have been attempting to climb the peak for over 100 years and in 2013 we celebrated the centennial of the first ascent of the mountain.
Let’s meet the team:
Mickey Zakurdaew from Alaska
Kenneth Jeppesen from Denmark
Anders Thomsen from Denmark
Alejandra Ulehla from Argentina
and Perrine Torrent from France.
And our team of guides:
Adam Smith from Alaska
Travis Williams from Colorado
and Ulises Corvalan, liaison guide, from Argentina
The team will have a busy couple of days, starting off with the Team Meeting/Equipment Check on June 26th. The afternoon and evening after the meeting, the team will enjoy some free time before waking early and traveling 2.5 hours north to the small town of Talkeetna the morning of June 27th. In Talkeetna, the team will check in with the National Park Service and participate in a mandatory climber orientation. The team will also check in with our air taxi service,Talkeetna Air Taxi, and weigh all of the expedition equipment and supplies. Then, it’s off to the glacier! If the weather cooperates, the team will fly that afternoon to Base Camp, located on the south fork of the Kahiltna glacier.
We will post updates on the team’s progress as we hear from them, but often, weather and work can prevent teams from calling out on their satellite phones. Please keep in mind that no news is truly good news.
