We are pleased to welcome the team members of our 9th Denali team of the 2015 climbing season.  The team consists of climbers from points around the world, as far away as the Czech Republic and New Zealand.  Climbing a big, cold mountain such as Denali entails a lot of preparation, as well as a healthy dose of trust in your partners.  We really appreciate the trust these climbers have placed in us as partners in their upcoming experience.  The guides have been busy packing food and the team equipment as well as reviewing skills, procedures and strategies for the expedition.

Let’s meet this international team!

Atanas Skatov from Bulgaria

Lloyd Hales from New Zealand

Vitus Laengerer from Germany

Robert Byrd from Texas

and Tomas Otruba from the Czech Republic.

And our  guide team:

Sebastian “Seba” Grau, a native Chilean living in California

Nick Aiello from Massachusetts

and Brady Deal from Alaska.

Team members packing lunch food and snacks at the Millennium Hotel.

On Sunday the group gathered for a team meeting/equipment check at the Millennium Alaska Hotel, in Anchorage.  Following an overview of the expedition and some detailed discussion of the days to come, the climbers double checked their equipment and packed up some snacks for the climb. They left Anchorage early Monday morning for the two hour drive north to Talkeetna, where they checked in with our air taxi service and participated in a mandatory National Park Service climber orientation. If the weather cooperates, the team will fly to the Kahiltna glacier this afternoon.

We will do our best to provide daily updates from the field, but please understand that on occasion, we will most likely miss a day or two.  This can result from the team being busy and not having time to call in or from weather and terrain variables, either of which can make calling in from Denali a challenge.