What's it take to summit Denali?

Summited in 2006 with 2 friends, no guide. From NYC so trained a lot in the winters in the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, climbed Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood and for altitude experience Aconcagua in the Andes (22,800'). It was a progression of experiences which all helped with climbing Denali.

Denali is a great trip. Determination is vital.  The west buttress is pretty mellow techinically but can be exhausting.  Do you ski?  If so being a good skier helps low on the mountain with double carries.
Logistically the path is very laid out in available resources
The Alaska range is absolutely amazing, especially the first time.  I started mid May. Which was nice.  It can be colder but the glacier is in much better shape.  I would not like to be there late June.  Especially since it was just two of us.  
Camps are less busy but still met some really cool people from all over the world.

The thing I noticed with guided groups is the pacing. Seemed like frustration could really set in always having to stop for others or maintain the group pace.
Light is right. It can be punishing with heavy loads.

Definitely pursue it.  

Marc801 C wrote:

That’s so original and hilarious. I don’t think anyone has ever said that. 

haha yeah i'm a real character lets climb sometime marc

Allen Sanderson wrote: Though written 35+ years ago the best book on climbing Denali is "Surviving Denali." 

I'm reading chasing Denali right now. Really interesting story. I'll have to check this one out too. 

It ain't that hard. The major obstacle is the desire to quit, and go eat a cheeseburger. 

Marc801 C wrote:

That’s so original and hilarious. I don’t think anyone has ever said that. 

True, but he put a nice spin on it by using a U instead of the O in gonna. That caught me off guard.

Thanks to Lisa Madden, Trailridge and x15x15 for posting.  

​beta​

After moving up to Alaska and taking a flight up into Denali NP(on a crystal clear day to see the summit!!) I did some digging and stumbled onto this. https://www.mtnsense.com/p/denali I can’t verify the validity to it, but it may give you some insight from someone who’s “been there, done that” to help you out.  Best of luck!

The beauty of Denali to fuel your motivation ;)

Carolina wrote: So what do I really need to know or be able to do?

The list is huge!
Have you had  mountaineering snow and Ice training?

Alright, Carolina, we need to see your schedule for the first mountain you are going to hike. You being in North Carolina makes that inconvenient and will have to be on vacation of course, unless you can swing a work trip. What's the plan, man?

My plan was to GTF out of Texas in 2003.

Stiles wrote:
beta

Stiles thanks for the link.  I see your thread ended back in 2017 which was before blogging on Instaface about heli rescues.  The world is different now, and the beta may no longer be useful.  BTW did you ever make the summit? 

Carolina...might be helpful to know if you plan on doing a guided trip, or private.

The NPS website has a bunch of useful info.  

https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/mountaineering.htm

A book that still holds up is Glen Randall's Mount McKinley's Climber's Handbook.

The approach to what's needed varies hugely depending on whether you want to be a strong, savvy member on a guided team, or, if you're going private.  What are your plans in that regard?

I guess a set of skills I think would be very useful is being able to be comfortable existing in the environment.  Which means, if you really enjoy winter camping in cold, snowy conditions, and are good with all the aspects of it, cooking, sleeping, staying warm, shovelling and stomping out a tent platform, endless making water from snow/ice, drying out sweaty clothes where you don't have an endless closet of options, keeping your hands warm and functional, keeping your feet healthy, etc.

Other than a few spots and short up climbs with short distances, most of time spent on especially the West Buttress is just lower angle travel between camps, and, setting up, hanging out, and breaking down camps.

My partner didn't have a bunch of bigger mountain experience when we climbed Denali.  But, he was (still is) a really good winter athlete.  Backcountry skiing, camping...just a gob of skills acquired through many years of being in the backcountry in the snow.  My biggest watch out for him was his being used to hammering every day on a backcountry trip.  What I explained to him prior to the trip, and, what he had a hard time with on the trip, was the amount of down time.  Pretty much, if you're out hammering every day, dawn to dark, its really hard to maintain that pace and be healthy for acclimating, staying rested for when the big days come, and not getting burned up and out.  If you're out moving between camps for more than around 5 hours a session, its really hard to be rested and maintain your health (eating, staying hydrated).  I think that's hard for some folks.  So....big thing all successful higher mountain climbers have?  Patience.  4 day storm?  Patience.  Stuck in a tent for days on end with a partner who never shovels out the tent when its snowing or starts the stove?  Patience.

Group dynamics, my guess, ruin about as many a trip as other reasons.  How do you train for that?  Do trips.  Stressful trips with low objective dangers.  Winter camping in a snowy event where folks have to work together (but sometimes don't).  How are your social skills?  Are you the person who gets invited on trips because you have a reputation for getting along and being a good group person?  If you don't know....maybe that's a skill you can work on prior to a Denali trip.

Just some random thoughts.  Good luck!

Carolina wrote:

Stiles thanks for the link.  I see your thread ended back in 2017 which was before blogging on Instaface about heli rescues.  The world is different now, and the beta may no longer be useful.  BTW did you ever make the summit? 

I did. Onsight solo ascent, only summiter 2 June 17, tele descent from top down Sunshine Face.  7 total days of ascent, 2 to descend. Lots of ski days above 14k.

 Got there in April, weather was atrocious (-60F at 17k and -90F on summit for most of May--according to daily NPS weather updates). The bellows on my ski boot cracked from cold on the way up to 14k.  I witnessed roughly 40 cases of frostbite, and 20 people fell into crevasses.  One rescue at ~7800' took rangers 14hours to get the guy on the surface, and reportedly involved a chainsaw and blowtorch. 

The beta on that above linked page is relevant.

More beta:
Denali Dispatches

Stiles wrote:

I did. Onsight solo ascent, only summiter 2 June 17, tele descent from top down Sunshine Face.  7 total days of ascent, 2 to descend. Lots of ski days above 14k.

 Got there in April, weather was atrocious (-60F at 17k and -90F on summit for most of May--according to daily NPS weather updates). The bellows on my ski boot cracked from cold on the way up to 14k.  I witnessed roughly 40 cases of frostbite, and 20 people fell into crevasses.  One rescue at ~7800' took rangers 14hours to get the guy on the surface, and reportedly involved a chainsaw and blowtorch. 

The beta on that above linked page is relevant.

More beta:
Denali Dispatches

Much Respect Stiles!  You ascent sounds like A#1 style.  

Great post Brian, thanks for sharing.  

Tim, still working on my training regimen here.  Been hard to train around here lately with the weather being so nice and all.   But I really like your idea of all expenses paid "work" trip to somewhere else with snowy-er peaks.  

you seem more concerned with the summit than anything else. like with all things in this era of humanity, all you really need for that objective and instagram post is money.

if you want to climb denali....well. you could probably learn a lot from those who haven't submitted, if you weren't so dismissive.

and no, not everyone can learn to shit in a bucket. context is everything in this shituation.

good luck. there's a lot big mountains can teach you. and not just from the (grey, lackluster) summit view.

(also i've never heard of weather being too good to train in.....but you might want to rethink things if your training is dependent on weather.)

mwoodsh wrote: you seem more concerned with the summit than anything else. like with all things in this era of humanity, all you really need for that objective and instagram post is money.

if you want to climb denali....well. you could probably learn a lot from those who haven't, if you weren't so dismissive.

and no, not everyone can learn to shit in a bucket. context is everything in this shituation.

good luck. there's a lot big mountains can teach you. and not just from the (grey, lackluster) summit view.

(also i've never heard of weather being too good to train in.....but you might want to rethink things if your training is dependent on weather.)

Can one really summit a mountain without an instaface post to provide evidence.  Here Hoping for a celebrity selphi on the peak!

And my bad. Guess I thought the best way to learn about summiting Denali is to learn from people who have done it> Anything you would like to add?

You may not know about weather this good in January because you live Helena Montana.  So thars that.  

ColinW wrote:

The beauty of Denali to fuel your motivation ;)

Looks cold up there, maybe I was thinking this was going to be more fun then it really is.