This week on the Denali Report, more than 250 climbers were on the mountain this week, and poor weather delayed flights to and from the Alaska Range.
This is the Denali Report for Friday, May 19th, 2023. As of this Wednesday, 942 climbers are expected to attempt Denali this season. Of those, 266 were on the mountain. Fourteen climbs had been completed, with five making it to the summit. That makes the current summit rate thirty-six percent.
Eight climbers are expected to attempt Mt. Foraker. Four of them are currently on the mountain, with no completed attempts as of Wednesday.
In addition, sixty-two climbers were in various backcountry areas of the Alaska Range, including nine on Mount Hunter.
It’s well-established that one of the biggest factors in whether climbers make it to the summit of Denali or any of the other Alaska Range peaks is the weather. Given that nearly all climbing teams fly into and out of the range via planes, the weather can also delay the start of a climb or extend a team’s stay on the mountain after their attempt is done.
That’s also true for ranger patrols. In the National Park Service’s Denali Dispatches blog, multiple patrols are said to be delayed getting out of the Alaska Range by poor weather conditions.
According to the Denali Recreational Forecast and hourly weather data transmitted from 7,000 and 14,000 feet on Denali, the wind in the area is expected to diminish, and much of the cloud cover has cleared. As such, the number of completed attempts and climbers on the mountain could change dramatically as those climbers check back in at the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station.
