A group of four climbers will meet this morning in Anchorage, Alaska in preparation for an attempt to climb to the summit of Denali via its classic West Buttress route.  This is the third year that Mountain Trip has offered a Denali climb where the climbers can travel on skis and actually have the opportunity to get some skiing in while they are climbing the mountain.

The goal of this expedition is to summit Denali and hopefully find some good Alaskan powder to schuss through.  If the entire team is up to it, and if conditions are perfect, the team might attempt to ski from the summit, but that would be the icing on the proverbial cake, so we’re not counting on it happening at this point.

They will spend today reviewing the expedition and our guides will carefully sort through the team members’ equipment to make sure that they have what they need, but not too much extra.  They will undoubtedly make a run to the local equipment shops to pick up some last minute items.  We elect to meet in Anchorage for just this reason, as we have more options open to us than if we met elsewhere.

Tomorrow, the team will drive to the small town of Talkeetna and register with the National Park Service.  They NPS will provide an orientation to the climbers about climbing Denali and they will then head over to our friends at Talkeetna Air Taxi where they will prepare for the flight to the glacier.

Let’s meet the team!

John Went
Nick Logic
Tim O’Keeffe
E John Del Monte
Rob “Durny” Durnell (lead guide)
Doug Workman (guide)