PRIOR EXPERIENCE

Denali is a tremendous challenge for people with the experience and attitude to enjoy the rigors of expedition life. As an advanced climb, Denali requires a significant amount of prior climbing experience and training beforehand. For the best chance of success, applicants should be in excellent physical condition and have climbed mountaineering routes that require roped glacier travel, winter snow camping, and the use of an ice axe and crampons. Prior winter camping and travel experience for extended periods of time is essential training. Dealing with the cold on Denali is a day-to-day challenge. The figure eight knot series, rope coiling, and belaying with a munter hitch should be familiar. The ability to arrest a fall on a steep snow slope with a pack is paramount to your safety and the safety of your rope team. Above 16,000 feet, expect to crampon with a 60-plus pound pack on slopes up to 30-35°. Some sections of the route require you to bend down and clip through running belays. The mountain is too severe to be learning these skills for the first time. Smaller peaks in the Alaska Range, winter climbs of Mt. Washington, Colorado 14’ers, Mt. Rainier, the

Teton’s, Mount Blanc are suitable training grounds for Denali. A non-technical, high altitude climb is a great way to train for the altitude. Our best prepared expedition members have taken a mountaineering course and trained for a year before joining an expedition.

WEATHER

It is often said that the greatest challenge of Denali is not the climbing, but the weather. While most of the world’s highest mountains are near the equator, Denali is closer to the North Pole. Its location in the southern Alaskan mainland is 200 miles south of the Artic Circle at 63°°. This is 35°° further north than Everest, the same latitude as northern Hudson Bay and central Scandinavia. Denali’s climate around its summit is one of the most severe year-round averages of any spot on earth. The weather dictates our every move and is fickle and un-predictable. It will force us to be flexible and patient and sometimes spontaneous. It is the one thing we cannot change, but we will work with.

WHEN TO CLIMB

The most common question asked by climbers is “which is the best month to climb?” There is no right answer as every year is different than the previous year as far as weather and conditions. It is generally agreed that the popular climbing season on Denali begins late April and lasts through most of July, shrinking the acceptable window down to 90 days. In March and April, cold temperatures and strong winds at higher elevations make conditions too severe. The month of May shows less precipitation on average than June or July, but it is colder and requires more aggressive cold injury prevention. Statistically, there are more people on the mountain in June and therefore more people summit. Once you start getting into mid to late July, the snow conditions on the lower half of the mountain can deteriorated so bad that crevasse hazard becomes extreme and landing conditions impossible

LEADERSHIP AND TEAM WORK

Successful expeditions are properly equipped, have the necessary skills, but most importantly they learn to become a strong team. Good leadership reflects the art of effective team building. From base camp to advanced base camp (ABC) your guides teach classes, hold discussions, and initiate you into the world of expedition life. Above ABC and all the way to the summit your expedition will show signs of strength: tight camps, efficient travel techniques, and positive team playing. We expect you to stay organized, participate all the way, and have fun while supporting the goals of the expedition. Of primary importance is taking responsibility for monitoring yourself; you know best how you feel, how you sleep, how you recover each day. As a team, we are able to help if someone is having a bad day, but ultimately every member must be a regular contributor for the expedition to be successful. Not participating, or failing to meet the day-to-day demands may lead to your departure from the expedition. We expect

you to maintain good expedition behavior (EB): be supportive, solution-oriented, hard working, patient, take initiative and in return you will be rewarded with the climb of a lifetime.

THE CLIMB

We climb the West Buttress in traditional expedition style, relaying loads, establishing camps, and climbing slowly enough for proper

acclimatization. The first nine miles of the route is up the Kahiltna Glacier to 11,000 feet. We typically place three camps on this section of the route. Above 11,000 feet, the terrain steepen’s and we switch to crampons. ABC is 14,200 feet and located in a large basin relatively sheltered from high winds. We often arrive at 14,200 feet on the 9th day. The views of Mt. Hunter and Mt. Foraker from here are amazing. After 4-5 days acclimatizing, resting, and making a carry to 16,200 feet, we depart for the upper mountain. Between 15,500 feet and 16,200 feet are 40-45 ° slopes so we climb clipped to a fixed rope to safeguard our movements. We often place a camp at the top of the fixed ropes at 16,200 feet to break up the climb or wait for

better weather. The stretch to high camp at 17,200 feet is the most scenic part of the route and climbs a narrow ridge to 17,200 feet. When rested and in suitable weather, we will go for the summit. Summit day usually takes 10-14 hours. We cannot guarantee it, but we give it our best shot. Be prepared to wait. After summitting, it usually takes 2 days from high camp to return to base camp.

AMS’ approach to Denali falls in line with our mission as a school of mountaineering. Denali’s summit is a means, not an end, and we will be pushing every day to increase our performance. The mountain provides an excellent stage to practice good mountaineering. We expect all members to share a goal of becoming better climbers on our expeditions.

ITINERARY

Day 1 Orientation, gear check, NPS registration, pack lunches, fly to Base Camp, distance: 60 miles, elevation gain: 6850’.

Day 2 Base Camp: organize, acclimate, review glacier travel and crevasse rescue.

Day 3 Single to Ski Hill, Camp 1, 7,800’, distance: 5.5 miles, elevation gain: 600’.

Day 4 Carry to Kahiltna Pass, 9,700’, distance: 5 miles, elevation gain: 1900’.

Day 5 Move to Kahiltna Pass, Camp 2, 9,700’, distance: 5 miles, elevation gain: 1900’.

Day 6 Single to 11,000’, Camp 3, distance: 1.5 miles, elevation gain: 1300’.

Day 7 Rest day

Day 8 Carry to 13,500’ around Windy Corner, distance: 1.75 miles, elevation gain: 2500’.

Day 9 Move to 14,200’, Camp IV, distance: 2.75 miles, elevation gain: 3200’.

Day 10 Back carry 13,500’ cache, distance: 1 mile, elevation gain: 700’.

Day 11 Carry to 16,200’ , distance: 1 mile, elevation gain: 2000’.

Day 12 Rest at 14,200’.

Day 13 Move to 16,200 feet or 17,200’, Camp V, distance: 1.75 miles, elevation gain: 3000’.

Day 14 Rest day or move to 17,200 feet, C amp VI, distance: 1.75 miles, elevation gain: 3000’.

Day 15, 16, 17, 18 Summit days, distance: 4 miles, elevation gain: 3120’.

Day 19 Return to 14,200 feet or 11,000’, distance: 2.25 miles.

Day 20 Return to Base Camp, 7,200’, distance: 11.25 miles.

Day 21 Fly back to Talkeetna.