Denali Report for June 11th, 2021

Earlier this month, KTNA’s Phillip Manning spoke with Denali National Park South District Ranger Tucker Chenoweth about the season and some of the concerns that mountaineering rangers had shared through the official mountain blog.  In the following excerpt from that interview, Chenoweth describes how, while the most common route up Denali may not be the most technically challenging, it should not be underestimated.

“You know Alaska has its own grading system, Alaska grade 1 [through] 5. And it’s unique because it also incorporates the remoteness and altitude considerations, and I think that that’s where there might be a bit of a disconnect.  The West Buttress is not easy. Technically, it’s not hard, but then you factor in the remoteness, and then you also factor in the altitude, and then all of a sudden an Alaska grade two, which is what the West Buttress is rated, becomes a serious endeavor, and there’s a sense of flying from Talkeetna into base camp, you lose perspective on how far you’ve traveled into the wilderness. 

“That’s the first component you get a disconnect there. You get into Basecamp and there’s people there. There’s sometimes 100 people plus in there. Again, you get a disconnect for the environment that you’re in and how remote you are but as you climb in especially the higher you get on the mountain, you’re relying on a trail you’re relying on other people around. If you forgot something you can ask another climbing expedition for a thing. Maybe it’s–you don’t have enough fuel or are your tent back at the other camp, you can kind of rely on that infrastructure.

“And then you keep going up the mountain, and your team, let’s say you get to High Camp, and a bunch of teams have summited, and now they’re gone and you’re up there. All of a sudden that wilderness component where you’re the only team–or maybe it’s somebody and you’re really late in the evening and everybody’s already down below you. You’re so far out there at that point that that remoteness–it might be the first time you feel it, and the reality of what wilderness really is, and the seriousness of your situation in the event, something goes wrong.

If you know of an interesting or unique story about climbing Denali this season, you can let us know by emailing news@ktna.org.