We’re honored to welcome the May 30 team and all of the other climbers that have trusted us to help them test their strength and fortitude on the highest mountain in North America this season! For many, reaching the summit of Denali is a lifelong goal, and the culmination of many months of training, and years spend in the mountains. The team will be making an attempt at the classic West Buttress route, which ascends over 13,000′ from base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier to the 20,310′ (6190 m) summit of Denali–the highest point in North America.

Denali rises a full 18,000 feet (5486 m) above its surrounding landscape, an impressive prominence, especially when viewed from Talkeetna.  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 their current location at 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–conditions permitting–the 20,310′ summit.

Let’s meet the climbers!

Bharat Sonal Puri

Matt Millard

Gary Ervin

Asher Perez

Roi Negri

The Mountain Trip guide team will be led by our rockstar longtime lead guide Kristin Arnold, who will be assisted by Kakiko Ramos-Leon and Kyle Hornor.

The team packing up snack lunches for the trip as a plane flies overhead.

We’re excited to have you following along! 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.

Good luck to the climbers and guides!