US Alaska Denali Climb

Denali National Park, Alaska · United States

Expedition Grade21 daysNorth America~£6,000 est.

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Overview

Denali is the cold test. At 6,190m it is North America's highest peak, but the latitude is what makes it bite: barometric pressure this far north makes the summit breathe like 7,000m, and the weather comes straight off the Bering Sea with nothing to slow it down. The West Buttress is the classic line - a ski plane drops you on the Kahiltna Glacier at 2,200m, and for the next three weeks you move like an ox: double-carrying loads by sled and pack through the crevasse fields to the 4,330m basin camp, up the fixed lines of the headwall, and onto the exposed ridge to high camp at 5,240m, where storms routinely pin teams in reinforced snow walls for days. Summit day crosses Denali Pass - the route's frostbite factory - before the final ridge to the top of the continent. Nothing here is technical by alpine standards; everything is serious. The variables are weather patience (build a 21-day window and mean it) and cold discipline: minus 40 at high camp is normal in May. Register with the National Park Service at least 60 days ahead. Unguided teams can do it for around £6,000 including flights to Talkeetna and the glacier plane; guided expeditions cost roughly double. May to early July is the season.