For the first time in more than sixty years, no one will set foot on the highest point in North America in 2020.
As of Friday, all climbing permits for Denali and Mt. Foraker have been suspended for the season. Climbing season normally kicks off in late April and runs into July. Denali National Park and Preserve spokesperson Maureen Gualtieri says that timeframe is problematic due to the spread of COVID-19.
“By CDC guidelines, and by looking at reality in other countries, we are not expected to be through this crisis.”
For most of the winter, registration to climb Denali was on pace with previous seasons. Gualtieri says that changed within the last two weeks as COVID-19 spread throughout the world.
“Where we’d normally be seeing every morning…between forty and fifty new registrations, we were seeing less than ten.”
Some of the most common advice during the current pandemic has been social distancing, keeping away from others and avoiding situations where the virus can spread. Maureen Gualtieri says, on the mountain, that just isn’t possible.
“Climbers on Denali are sharing tents. They’re sharing cooking equipment, rope lines, things like that….In healthy conditions, it’s easy to transfer disease in the backcountry.”
In addition to the potential spread of COVID-19 to and from climbers from around the world, there would also be real potential health and safety risks for a climber who contracted the disease. While those with healthy respiratory systems often recover, Gualtieri says COVID-19 could exacerbate some elevation-related health issues that rangers already deal with on a regular basis.
“Pulminary ademas, acute mountain sickness, a lot of those do have a respiratory commonality. That alone pointed to the fact that park staff and responders were going to be needing to address a lot more respiratory emergencies.”
In addition to direct health risks, Gualtieri says COVID-10 presents a real logistical problem, since there is not personnel depth at many critical search and rescue positions, and those exposed would have to come off the line for a time. The end result of all of those factors is that, at least until next year, Denali will not see the touch of a human.
