Climbing Mount McKinley is the challenge of a lifetime, but with the correct training, preparation and team you can make this expedition a more enjoyable experience. I have been on a numbers of Denali expeditions on two different routes and I recommend you consider the West Buttress route for your Mc Kinley expedition. Check out our training advice for Climbing Mount Mc Kinley.
Who Should Consider Climbing Mount McKinley
If you are planning to climb the 7 summits at some point you will need to tackle Mount McKinley in Alaska. The decision to climb Mount McKinley should not be your first of the seven summits. Along with Mount Vinson, Mount McKinley is the least supported of the seven summits. This means you need to be extremely competent, a self sufficient mountaineer, well versed in a mix of mountaineering disciplines and ready to work hard to make this expedition a safe and successful adventure.
I personally think you should have climbed Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Carstensz, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, Lobuche peak, Aconcagua and undertake a Denali specific mountaineering course. If you would like information on any of these trips or training trips prior to climbing Mount McKinley, contact us today.
1). Acclimatization
Over 25 of taking on high altitude expeditions I can tell you without enough acclimatization in your itinerary you limit success. You also risk getting altitude sickness, adding additional physical and mental stress. Everyone acclimatizes differently, so without the correct acclimatization in your itinerary you risk an early exit from Mount Mckinley.
2). Training
A lot of people are miss underestimating what it’s like to move up steep terrain at altitude, with a heavy pack, pulling a sled in challenging weather. That doesn’t sound very appealing. It’s not appealing and it’s hard work. You need to be proficient in moving on snow in crampons, on steep terrain. How is your French stepping?
I listened to a podcast recently on climbing Denali and it said 20% of the training should be with a heavy pack. I must disagree with this 60% to 70% of training should be on steep terrain or stairs with weight and in my opinion building up to carrying around 65lbs over months 6/8 months build up. In the last 2 weeks pull back to 50lbs in weight in your backpack. You also need to take the base, build, peak approach to training take a rest week every 6 to 8 weeks. Check out our step by step approach to training
Focus on being light, lean and strong. You need a strong core, lower back, shoulders, legs and calf’s. You need to focus on build the correct endurance training, working out in a zone 2 heart rate. You should be building towards 2 hours of training per day with one longer training session per week. I really focus on building excellent leg strength for going up and down hill. Can you do 1,000m/ 3,280 feet back to back with weighed backpack and then get back in the gym on back to back days? We have personal trainers that can help.
3). Mountains you should climb before Denali
The build up to Denali should be years of prior trips, specific technical courses and many trips to high altitude. The approach to Mount Mc Kinley is unique, especially compared to the other 6 summits. Climbing McKinley requires a wide range of technical and mountaineering skills. You need to know how you will perform at high altitude. It is important to know how you perform at high altitude carrying weight. You need to well versed in mountaineering techniques and we highly recommend doing one of our specific Denali training courses as you prepare for your climb.
There are a range of mountains you should consider climbing including Mont Blanc, Kilimanjaro, Lobuche east or Kyajo Ri in Nepal. You should also think about climbing Elbrus, Carstensz, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, Lobuche peak and Aconcagua as part of your preparation for Mount McKinley.
4). Personal Gear
We have a full detailed and itemized kit list we will send you. There are a few things you do not want to leave at home.
5). Denali training course
We highly recommend doing a Denali training course with our team. This course will re enforce the skills you have used in the mountains and refine them to make sure you are fully preparation to step foot onto the Kahiltna Glacier.
6). Harness and sled rigging
I think of climbing Mount McKinley in two portions. The lower mountain, between Base Camp 7,100 feet/ 2,164m and Camp 3 14,200 feet/ 4,328m and the upper mountain above Camp 3 which is 14,200 feet/ 4,328m to the summit 20,310 feet/ 6,190m.
The lower mountain on McKinley is all about pulling weight on sleds moving on more manageable terrain.
7). Know your knots
8). Team ( build a team) similar levels etc
9). Picking the team
10). Equipment
11). Have plenty of contingency days
12). Having the correct experience. Denali should be a trip you consider after years of climbing other mountains
14). Manage your tent. Make sure you go camping in the cold, test your air mattress, sleeping bag, pee bottle, gear, pillow on snow would be best to know how to build a platform with skis or snow shoes and digging out a place for your tent. Set up, inside using ice axe crampons, shovel. Treat the tent like your home.
15). Solar and battery
Extra weight but great if you get stuck for days. Download movies, podcasts etc…
16). Cashe days, how it works and what to cash. At windy corner you can cash jumar, upper mountain snacks etc
17). Mountaineering training, denali specific. Above Camp 2 the terrain is steep, motorcycle hill, squirrel hill, windy corner and then above 14,200 camp 3 the terrain gets steeper up to the 16,000 foot ridge.
18). Help the team and guides, building toilets, kitchen tent, help teammates but up tents.
19). Think about taping your feet, use ski socks lower down, manage your feet regliously. It can be extremely hot on the lower glacier.
20). Patience. You need contingency days on a denali trip. Trying to battle the cold and wind can take a lot out of you. Trying to move when the weather is more favorable should be the goal. It’s not always possible and easier to move in inclement weather lower down. Trying to battle windy corner in bad weather is not a good idea.
21). Repair kits it is nice to have 1 sowing kit and 1 thermarest repair kit per tent. Duct tape, heavy duty tape. Spare lighter,
22). Warm down booties
There are a range of ways to manage comfort in camp. Down booties in your Overboots, down booties inside your mountaineering boot. You can also find some warm down booties with gortex shell.
23). Hydration. The items you need are 2 Nalgene bottles and 1 hydro flash and you need to be drinking 4 liters of water per day. You need sleeves for the Nalgene bottles. Above Camp 2 you need to keep your Nalgene bottles in your sleeping bag so the water does not freeze. You can also keep your bottles upside down to help the top from freezing.
24). Toilet. You need to sit on the can.
25). Hand warmers bring at least 8 sets
26). Bring an inreach
27). Download your favorites. Make sure you have podcasts and offline movies downloaded from Netflix, amazon prime or your favorite shows.
28). Travel Times. stay out of the midday sun. Depending on the weather and forecast you may need to travel early in the morning or late at night to avoid the scorching heat on the glacier. This needs serious attention to detail and can make or break your trip.
29). Tape up your feet. We have seen so many people with blisters early in the trip and this can end the whole trip. Go test your boots on other peaks, use them on steep angles and see weaknesses. Then you should bring compeeds, athletic tape or hydroseal pads. The minute you feel a hot spot, address it immediately.
30). Be busy. Always be taking care of yourself, addressing gear and clothing concerns. Make sure you are not getting sunburnt.
31). Above camp 3 is real high altitude mountaineering. You need to be technically, mentally and physically prepared for long challenging days back to back. Sometimes we have to move from 14,000 feet to 17,000 feet and summit the next day. Are ready for that?
32). Bring a trekking pole for summit night
33). Hand warmers
How are Last Trip Played Out!
Day 1 and Day 2: 29th May & 30th May – Left the hotel at 4:45am drove to a Starbucks and Grocery store to pick up some food. It took 2 hours 30 mins to drive to Talkeenta. We checked in at the airstrip and then drove to the NPS building at 8:15am for our briefing. We drove back to the airstrip and started to unload all our gear, food, sleds, duffels and bags. We sat and waited and at 1:35pm they said we are flying. At 2pm we took off and landed on the glacier at 2:28pm. We found a place to camp. We had to build a flat ledge, hole for the kitchen and toilet area. We did some training on rigging a sled. Had dinner and slept.
Day 3: 31st May – 5hours 30 mins from Base Camp to Camp 1. Carrying about 35/40lbs and pulling 55/60lbs on the sled. Sled and backpack rigging with cord and tie-downs write about this. Hunter Munter hitch. Clove hitch, figure of 8.
Day 4: 1st June – 6hours 30 mins camp 1 and back to cashe -10c cold winds. Dropped crampons, summit gear, some upper mountain snacks, ice axe, helmet, summit snacks, Jumar, I dropped 5 small bags. Bring 2 liters of water and some snacks for moving.
Day 5: 2nd June – The plan was to move at 6:30am but there was too much snow. Rest day in camp charging, reading relaxing. Pasta dinner
Day 6: 3rd June – The weather has the team snowed in. It has snowed for 24 hours straight now. We have a 2 feet of snow. Still windy and snowing at 3pm. Burrito dinner
Day 7: 4th June – Move to camp 2 at 11,200 at 9:30am it took 8 hours to get to camp 2 with breaks and we stopped at the cashe to dig out some meals and continued up the steep hill 30/35 degree angle for 2 hours. Slow and steady. Rice and lentils for dinner.
Day 8: 5th June – We did a back carry which took 2:30. 20 mins down hill to the cashe and 45 mins to dig everything up. Then 1 hour 30 back up hill with 50 lbs 30 in the backpack and 20lbs in the sled. Chicken casadias after snack. Eat chicken burger with sweet potato fries for dinner.
Day 9: 6th June – windy morning. The sun hits camp 2 at 9am. We decided to stay in camp as windy corner and cashing gear and food would be too cold. We had breakfast sandwiches, coffee and organized gear for moving higher. The afternoon was spent hydrating and resting. Chicken/ pasta dinner 6pm
Day 10: 7th June – Wake at 7am and prepare for a 9:30am start. There was a helicopter rescue at 8:30am for someone with frostbite. We had a 7 hour day. We went up motorcycle hill (700 ft). It’s a steep ascent with a bergschrund 3/4 ways up. You need to French step a lot of the hill. From there we go up the step squirrel hill (700 ft). From there we hug the left side of the glacier gradual at first and then steeper up to windy corner another (800 ft). There is some potential rock fall on the left. Helmets are needed. Then we cross the crevasse field to the cache area at 13,516ft. 2,500 feet up and 2,500feet back to camp. We arrived back at 4pm. A long day. I cashed group gear and my base layers, overboots, summit mitts, summit gear, summit snacks, upper mountain snacks, down vest, lighter down jacket, jumar.
Day 11: 8th June – 6am wake up and weather check. It was snowing with light wind so we decided to wait a day. Rich was not feeling the best and struggled with the hills the day before. We did some work on digging out tents to prepare for hopefully leaving tomorrow morning. Pizza for dinner.
Day 12: 9th June – 6am wake up drink a liter of water and dig out 2 feet of snow. The snow was halfway up the tent. 7am start digging out the tents. We left at 11:30am and arrived at 6pm I had 70lbs of gear in my backpack and sled. It was heavy and off loaded 2 tents. It took 2 hours to set up camp and still working at 8:15pm. A very tough day. 9pm eating a Philly cheese steak and off to sleep.
Day 13: 10th June – it was pretty cold in the tent. -20F. The sun hit the tent at 10am for some relief. The plan is to go back down the hill at 12:30 to 13,500 ft and dig up our cashe and come back to camp. It took 25 mins to drop down and 1 hour 30 mins to slowly come back up with 40lbs. It’s time to reorganize gear, and charge everything up. My thermarest ripped and added some extra stress. This is a problem sleeping so close to the snow and temps are below 0 F. Meatball sandwich for dinner.
Day 14: 11th June – Today is a cashe day. We will bring up food for high camp, base layers, googles, snacks, summit snacks, Overboots and face mask. The plan was to take off at 8:30am and start the 3 hour steep ascent up to the west buttress ridge. we cashed our poles at the bergshuard 15,500 feet and then clipped into the fixed lines for 650 feet steep ascent to the ridge line. It is steep and challenging terrain roped together and using the jumar. Once at the top 16,200 feet we rested before another 45 mins on steep terrain up to cashe point at 16,500 feet. It was an 8 hour round trip. 2,300 feet up and 2,300 feet down.
Day 15: 12th June – Rest day. Reorganise gear for going up and gear that stays in camp. Checking crampons and practicing moving through anchor points with big mitts on. I was also going through each piece of kit to make sure I only bring up what I need, nothing extra.
Day 16: 13th June – 6:45am wake up, drink a liter of water. Breakfast at 7:30am for an 8:30am start. The goal is to be in camp 4 by 4pm to get organized and rested before going to the summit the following morning. This ascent is steep challenging and requires everyone to be proficient in alpine climbing. We did everything today, fixed line climbing steep alpine climbing and moving across exposed ridges. The scenery was out of this world. Today was a 7 hour ascent and we came up 3,000 feet, we arrived at 3:30pm. The last team had left tents for us so we did not have to carry tents or set up on arrival. A major plus as we rest for the summit push.
Day 17: 14th June – 6am wake up and prepare for the summit. Sun hit the tent at 7:15am. Thermos of hot water came at 7:30am eat breakfast We started at 9:45am. Straight into the autobahn steep and challenging terrain and takes 2 hours to cross. There are no breaks on this section. From Denali pass the terrain is steep up to the top of zebra rock at 18,700 feet. Still up but more manageable to the football fields. We get some easier terrain before pig hill which steep and challenging at 20,000 feet. After pig hill
We have a 35 minute climb along the exposed summit ridge to the top. 7 hours 45 mins to reach the top with breaks. It took 4 hours to get back down to camp 4 at 10pm.
Day 18: 15th June – wake at 7am it was windy outside. Hot water at 8am and pack up camp and descend back to camp 3 (14,200 feet) we left at 11:15 and got back to camp at 2:30. Had a grilled cheese and then rested for the afternoon into the early evening. After reviewing the weather we decided to descend all the way to Base Camp as the weather on the 17th and 18th June was not looking great for flying. We packed up all our rubbish, tents, personal gear and remaining food and starting hauling it all back down the mountain. Just after 10pm we started the 12 mile/ 19.3km trek to McKinley Base Camp.
Day 19: 16th June – After 10 hours to trekking, pulling and re-arranging we arrived back in Base Camp at 8am to get our names on the list for the flight back to Talkeetna. We were able to secure our flight at 10:30am and arrived back to civilization at 11am. We took off our mountaineering boots, but on flip flops and when to the Denali brewpub for a burger. After checking out of the National Park office we drove just over 2 hours back to Anchorage. I changed my flight for the evening flight as I was heading to Peru the following week.
Power in numbers
Working with a company who have on the ground logistics and multiple teams on the mountain is a major plus for additional safety and support. More in tent swaps, food, snack, communication etc……
Best time to climb Denali
May, June and July although the weather is extremely variable.
Training to climb Denali
Normal lead up to a Denali climb
Hypoxic training
Cashe days and acclimatization
The gear and equipment needed
Here is a list of all the items I bring on Denali.
Why climb Denali
Denali can be a brutal place for an expedition with inconsistent weather in Arctic conditions. A lot of people go to Denali to ski, climb and ski regional peaks. The other group of people are climbing Denali in an attempt to climb North America’s Highest peak and add to the list of 7 summits they have climbed. If some of the 7 summits are on your list Denali should be apart of your story. Summit or not the glaciers, mountains, terrain and climbing high on Denali has world class mountain viewing.
More headings needed
Why climb with us
We only allow team members sign up that have a proven track record at high altitude on our trips. We also need to see a solid mountaineering background. This means we don’t run trips every year, but we can help you build up the correct experience with our award winning teams around the world. You need to have been on a trips that require fixed lines climbing, have completed one of our Denali prep courses and been on a trip that you need to carry weight at high altitude. This means our Denali teams will be safer, more successful. Running our Denali teams this way offers you a Denali expedition with less risk throughout this amazing journey to North America’s Highest peak.
Expedition Logistics
The guides will work with the team to manage all aspects of the Denali Expedition with safety of all team members in mind. Our guides will continually review Denali’s ever-changing weather conditions. Regularly check forecasts and be prepared to alter your plans accordingly to ensure safety and success.
We will manage every aspect of your expedition meticulously, including transportation, permits, and logistics. Being well-prepared will minimize unexpected challenges during the climb.
Camping Strategies
Our team will optimize your camping setup for Denali’s harsh conditions. Choose suitable tent sites, secure gear against wind, and employ effective snow and ice anchoring techniques.
Medical Preparedness
Equip yourself with only basic medical knowledge and we will have a comprehensive first aid kit. Understand the symptoms of altitude sickness and other common mountaineering ailments to address issues promptly.
Sled Rigging and Management
Efficiently rig and manage sleds to transport gear and supplies. Distribute weight evenly and secure loads to prevent mishaps while navigating challenging terrain. Our guides will cover this in preparation for moving onto the glacier.
Route Navigation and Decision-Making
We like to see climbers as self-sufficient as possible. Having strong route-finding skills and make informed decisions based on current conditions. Be ready to adapt plans to ensure safety and maximize summit opportunities.
Crevasse Navigation
Learn and practice crevasse rescue techniques. Self rescue using prusiks is a great skill to have. Our guides will carry the necessary equipment, but it is important to understand the principles of safe glacier travel to mitigate risks associated with crevasses.
Altitude-Related Challenges
Be vigilant for signs of altitude-related illnesses in the team. Educate yourself on symptoms, prevention, and treatment to address any issues promptly. Always inform the guides and do a daily check up as a team.
Leave No Trace Ethics
Adhere to Leave No Trace principles to minimize environmental impact. Respect the fragile ecosystem of Denali and practice responsible mountaineering.
Communication with Base Camp
Our guides will establish reliable communication protocols with Denali Base Camp. We will also have satellite devices to keep in regular contact. Regular check-ins provide vital updates on weather conditions and can be crucial for safety coordination.
Emergency Preparedness
We have developed a thorough emergency response plan. You should familiarize yourself with evacuation procedures and carry the necessary equipment for self-rescue or assistance to others in case of emergencies.
Permits and Regulations
Our team will manage all aspects for the permit requirements and park regulations. Respect the guidelines set by the National Park Service to maintain the integrity of Denali’s wilderness.
Conclusion – Top 20 Tips for Climbing Denali
Climbing Denali is a serious endeavor and should not be attempted by amateurs. Conquering Denali is a monumental achievement that demands physical prowess, technical proficiency, and unwavering determination. Contact us.
By incorporating these Top 20 Tips for Climbing Denali into your preparation and expedition, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the challenges of North America’s highest peak. Follow us on Facebook.