Denali season wraps up for 2021

Zero.  That is the current number of climbers attempting to summit Denali, which means the season is officially over.

On Saturday, the National Park Service shared some statistics from 2021, some of which we covered throughout climbing season on the Denali Report.

In total, just over a thousand climbers attempted North America’s highest peak this season, which is a bit less than normal, but more than the initial estimates from the beginning of the season.  Fifty-three percent of those climbers made it to the summit of Denali, which is a little more than average.  It’s possible those numbers could change slightly as National Park Service staff double-checks files from this year’s expeditions, but the general trend shouldn’t change.

One aspect of mountaineering that was brought into sharp focus this year is safe techniques and search and rescues.  In total, there were twenty-two search and rescue operations in the Alaska Range.  While there were no fatalities on Denali, itself, two climbers died in accidents elsewhere in the range.

Another big question at the beginning of climbing season was how much of a factor COVID-19 cases would be on mountaineers and rangers in 2021.  According to the National Park Service, it wasn’t a factor at all.  According to Saturday’s blog post, there were no known COVID cases on Denali this season.

Official statistics will be released as part of the annual mountaineering report this winter.