Mountain Trip is thrilled to welcome our May 10, 2021 West Buttress expedition team to Alaska! Six climbers have made their way to Anchorage and are en route to the small, end of the road (literally!) town of Talkeetna, from where they will fly to the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and then begin their climb of North America’s tallest mountain.

At 20,310 feet (6190 m), majestic Denali rises higher from it’s base than any other mountain, soaring a full 18,000 feet 5486 m) above its surrounding landscape.  Due to its location so close to the Arctic Circle, conditions can often be very winter-like well into the summer months, so the team will undoubtedly encounter some of the temperatures and weather for which Denali is famous. The team will climb the West Buttress route, which will lead them through heavily glaciated terrain from the glacial air strip and Base Camp on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier at 7,200′, to Camp One at 7,800′, Camp Two at 11,200′, Camp Three at 14,200′, High Camp at 17,200′, to–conditions permitting–the 20,310′ summit!

Let’s meet the climbers!

David Artusi

Eric Hunter

Mike Farris

Christopher Pawlik

Patrick O’Neill

Jon Kallen

The Mountain Trip guide team will be led by Matt Park, who will be assisted by Jesse Yon and Jordan Cargill.

Throughout the team’s expedition, please keep in mind the adage of “no news is good news” in terms of the updates from the field. There are some days when certain 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.

We wish the best of luck to the team!