Denali Report for June 6, 2025

This is the Denali Report for June 6, 2025

As of this week, there were 923 mountaineers registered to climb Denali and 501 of them are on the mountain right now. There were 26 people registered to climb Mt. Foraker, and 5 climbers are on that mountain.

207 have finished their expeditions.

This week on Denali:  National Park Service rangers have located the body of a deceased man who fell while climbing on Monday. Alex Chui, of Seattle, Washington, fell near the area known as Squirrel Point.  Squirrel Point sits at about 12,000 ft on the West Buttress route. It is often icy and windswept. It sits above a sheer drop of more than 3,000 ft above the Peters Glacier. The 41 year-old-man was part of a three member team that was traveling unroped when he fell and disappeared.

Extremely poor weather hampered search efforts for two days after the fall. Winds were reported to have been severe, therefore keeping the high-altitude helicopter grounded, delaying search attempts.

The first week of June is historically one of the busiest times on Denali. Climbers who began their expedition in mid-May are descending and climbers who began in early-June are ascending. More than half of all registered climbers are on the mountain together during this time.

Most guiding companies on the mountain are reporting that they have been hunkering down at either the 11,000 ft. or the 14,000 ft camp. That translates into cooking elaborate, calorie-rich meals, such as Jambalaya, pancakes and Tortellini Pesto. It also translates into frequent bouts of shoveling, hydrating, reading and weather speculation. The mountain forecast does look to have some weather breaks this weekend.  

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the National Park Service said the number of climbers who have summited this year, as of this Tuesday, was 53. That’s a summit rate of roughly 28%, midway through the 2025 season.

You’ve been listening to the Denali Report.  For KTNA, I’m Colleen Love