Climbing season is fast approaching

Denali climbing season is right around the corner, and while some things are looking more normal than they have for the last two years, there are also some changes in store for 2022.

Maureen Gualtieri, spokesperson for Denali National Park and Preserve for mountaineering, says registrations for this season are slightly higher than they were at the same time in both 2021 and 2018.  There are currently just over 700 people registered to attempt North America’s highest mountain in the coming months.

Gualtieri says this year’s registrations are more international than last year, when COVID-19 put a damper on some international travel. That contributed to some American mountaineers to come to Denali instead of climbing abroad and some international teams not coming to Alaska.  Currently, forty-three countries are represented in the expected climbers for 2022.

While the numbers and global nature of the expected climbers are in line with pre-pandemic figures, there are some changes coming for this season.  Gualtieri says there will be new mountaineering rangers joining the team.  While those rangers are new to the National Park Service, they have experience on Denali as guides.  In addition, there will be a new pilot flying the contracted rescue helicopter this season.  Anyone in or around Downtown Talkeetna in recent days has probably seen and heard pre-season helicopter preparations.

Gualtieri also says COVID-19 remains a focus for the National Park Service. Last season, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among climbers on Denali.  Gualtieri credits that to a combination of mitigation and timing, since climbing season ended before the highly contagious Delta variant emerged.  COVID-19 mitigation measures this year will include continuing to brief climbers outside and making them aware of available local testing.

The National Park Service plans to fly in supplies for patrol and medical camps later this month, with the first ranger patrol planned for the end of April or beginning of May.