AAI's Denali 2009! Trip Roster and Climber Profiles

Denali from the southwest.

DENALI NATIONAL PARK RATES AAI #1 GUIDE CONCESSION APPLICANT

Denali offers one of the world's greatest expedition challenges. While it is exceeded in elevation by peaks in South America and Asia, its arctic environment – with extreme temperatures and severe storms – and its great height above the Alaskan plain make it a severe test of personal strength, team work, and logistics. No peak in the world has greater relief: Denali rises 17,000 feet above its surrounding plain, Kilimanjaro 14,000 feet, and Everest 13,000 feet. Vertical elevation gain on Everest from the normal base camp for the South Col route is 11,000 feet; from our landing spot on the Kahiltna Glacier Denali's summit rises another 13,000 feet.

Camp below the access couloir and the start of the route.

High on Denali's West Rib. Joe Stock

In the context of technical climbing skills, the mountain offers quite varied lines of ascent, from several which require intermediate alpine mountaineering skills to others which rank among the world's most difficult alpine routes. By any route, however, the mountain requires great physical effort, skillful and cautious mountaineering and expedition practices, and patient acclimatization and climbing over a three-week period. We have chosen the West Buttress, West Rib, and Cassin Ridge for our ascents of Denali. All three have more limited objective dangers than other challenging routes on the mountain, and together they offer three distinct levels of technical challenge. The West Buttress requires intermediate level mountaineering skills; the West Rib is more difficult and includes sections with sustained climbing on exposed 55-degree faces; and the Cassin Ridge is very challenging, with 65-degree hard ice, mixed climbing on steep ground, and rock to 5.7. In addition to appropriate technical skills, all routes require winter backcountry experience in very cold conditions and top physical conditioning.

As in other parts of the world, AAI expeditions in Alaska are run with small groups of climbers who have carefully prepared for their objective. The Institute takes a team approach to its climbs, and expedition members are expected to take responsibility for themselves and a share of responsibility for the overall operation of the expedition. We do not accept climbers who are under experienced and who need to be "hauled" up and down the mountain. Trying to push ill-prepared climbers up the peak is what keeps so many guided and unguided groups from succeeding on Denali.

The Institute gives its clients careful and detailed counsel in their preparations for climbing objectives and, when appropriate, has them first achieve intermediate goals. Climbs on Denali obviously involve many factors that we cannot control, among them temperature, wind, snowfall, and changeable climbing conditions. The key to success therefore lies in doing an excellent job on those areas in which a climber has some control: skill in dealing with cold conditions, skill in climbing at an appropriate technical level, and personal conditioning. To develop these abilities and then to combine them with a carefully designed and guided itinerary is the most direct line to safety and success.

Ascending fixed lines on the lower West Rib.

AAI expeditions enjoy a rate of safety and success rarely matched by other teams. With well-prepared climbers, we do not have to rely on perfect conditions in order to move. Able to remain poised high on the mountain in poor conditions, our teams often make successful summit bids in small windows of good weather when other teams are out of position. AAI doesn't pretend to guarantee good health, good weather, or success on these expeditions, but we are committed to building strong teams and creating high potential for safe and successful climbs. The average individual success rate on Denali is 54% overall and 59% in guided groups other than AAI. The Institute's success rate for individuals for the last nine years is 76%, and for expeditions it is 83%.

AAI has the highest level of commitment to environmental protection and restoration, and on all expeditions and instructional programs we teach and follow Leave No Trace ethics and practices for travel, camping, and climbing. The Institute has been a leader in the conscientious use of wilderness environments, including both remote and popular areas of Denali and the Alaska Range. Each year the National Park Service presents "Denali Pro" awards to individuals who have made major contributions to protecting the mountain. Twenty AAI guides and clients have had the honor of receiving this highest Denali National Park and Preserve award since its inception four years ago.

With regard to expedition processes, we make five to seven camps as we climb alpine style, moving all camps higher as we go and leaving none established above or below. It is not uncommon for temperatures high on the mountain to fall as low as -30F, but at lower elevations daytime temperatures on the glacier can reach as high as 70F, so there we sometimes sleep in the day and ferry loads at night when temperatures are between 0F and 15F. The night's cold improves conditions under foot, and we still have adequate light because of the extreme northern latitude. Double carries are done during the first part of the expedition to ease the work and to help with acclimatization.

All expeditions begin with a meeting and orientation in Anchorage. We spend one night there, then travel by van the next morning to the small town of Talkeetna. There we repack our equipment, meet our ski plane pilots, and as soon as possible, make the beautiful flight to the Kahiltna Glacier at 7300 feet. Soon after our arrival and a review of glacier travel procedures, we begin moving to our first camp.

Moving up the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier to our
9400' camp, which is placed near the beginning of the
technical climbing route, a 2000', 45-55 degree couloir.
Michael Silitch

Denali's West Rib is a beautiful, three-mile long ridge that rises dramatically from an 11,000-foot base. In its 9000-foot vertical rise it offers a full range of snow and ice climbing challenges, from ascents and traverses of narrowly winding crests, to sustained technical challenge on 55-degree ice faces. In addition to its variety, the route's dramatic outline and nearly direct rise to the mountain's summit add to its appeal.

The American Alpine Institute approach is to climb this line "alpine style." In other words, we climb the normal West Buttress route up to Camp III at 14,200 feet to acclimatize. We leave a cache of food and fuel there and then descend back down to West Buttress Camp I at 7,800 feet with light packs. This approach will allow us to climb the West Rib in a single push without the use of fixed ropes.

Climbing up to Camp III at 14,700' with Mt. Hunter in the background.
Michael Silitch

The following day we will travel up the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna and establish a Camp at 9,400 feet. From the base of our route at 11,100 feet, we face a rather spectacular beginning: a 2000-foot couloir of 45 to 55-degree snow and ice. We pitch out this steep section as it is very strenuous and there are no options for shelter before reaching West Rib Camp III at 12,800 feet.

Once comfortably established on the crest of the Rib, we are confronted with another ice dome that requires additional pitching and climbing on hard alpine ice up to 60 degrees. Above the ice dome the climbing eases some, with a mixture of 45-degree snow and rock climbing as we work our way to Camp IV at 14,700 feet and Camp V at 16,400 feet. On summit day we climb snow and ice couloirs and then easy mixed rock, which leads us to the summit plateau at 19,400 feet. From that point we turn east and climb gradually to the final summit ridge.

Besides offering high quality climbing, this entire line of ascent is aesthetically attractive and provides great views of surrounding peaks and routes. As soon as we reach the rib crest we have the impressive outline of the Cassin Ridge off to our east; as we climb higher we see the West Buttress route and then look down onto its 14,000-foot plateau camp; and finally as we ascend the high snow and ice couloirs, we are able to look out to all the major peaks of the Alaska Range. With a descent via the lower half of the West Buttress route, we enjoy varied and remarkably beautiful terrain from beginning to end of this expedition.

You will need to arrange your travel schedule so that you can attend the mandatory expedition orientation and gear check with guides at the hotel at 2pm on the day BEFORE the scheduled start date of the trip. Your return flight home should be no earlier than two full days after the trip ends.

Exclusions: Transportation to and from Talkeetna (from Anchorage about $90 roundtrip); food and lodging except on the glacier; rescue and evacuation costs; national park fees; baggage, accident, rescue, and trip cancellation insurances; gratuities to guides; personal equipment.