Palmer climber attempts to be first woman to ascend Denali in winter

Two climbers set out of Friday morning to attempt a winter ascent of Mt. McKinley. The climbers are French-born Palmer resident Christine Feret and Russian climber Artur Testov. Feret is trying to become the first woman to succeed climbing Denali in winter.Talkeetna Air Taxi flew the two up to Kahiltna basecamp on Friday and TAT owner Paul Rodrick reports they had good weather so far and made it to the bottom of Ski Hill at 8,500 feet, as of Monday. Rodrick said that they expect weather to move in and that they probably are hunkered down for a while.

Feret and Testov tried last winter to summit Denali but after 19 days on the mountain and 12 days stuck in a snow cave due to blizzards, they turned back.

In 1998, Testov and his Russian climbing partner Vladimir Ananich had successfully summited Denali in January.

Feret has a facebook fan page under the name Winter McKinley with satellite phone podcast updates. Her website is  http://www.wintermckinley.com