About DENALI
North America
Continent
6190
meters
TBD
Summited
20,310
feet
Denali is probably the most strenuous of the Seven Summits (yes, even more than Everest in many ways).
Climbing Denali (formerly Mount McKinley) via the standard West Buttress route typically takes about two to three weeks. However, guided expeditions often factor in an extra week for acclimatization, weather delays, and a more conservative schedule. This is one of the most challenging climbs that Jenn will face in her mountaineering career. To give you a little taste of how dangerous this one is:
1. Since 1932, approximately 123 people have died on Denali. This figure represents a fatality rate of roughly 3 deaths per 1,000 summit attempts.
2. The average individual success rate (meaning a climber reaches the summit) on Denali is 53% overall. The other 47% start out and have to turn around.
3. Crazy Stat: there are around 9 deaths per 100 successful Summits (VERY DANGEROUS)
4. On Monday, May 20, 2024 Denali National Park and Preserve mountaineering rangers located a deceased climber at an elevation of 17,000 feet on the West Buttress route on Denali.
Despite all of these risks, Jenn is tackling Denali as you're reading this. Here are the updates we've received from Jenn so far.
itinerary
May 17, 2025 Trip starts
Day 1 - May 17, 2025
Morning Update:
"Midnight arrival in Alaska—2 AM Utah time! A little drama with the driver, but we made it. Dragged my bags across the hotel to a room on the opposite side and got a few hours of sleep before heading out. Met my friend Monty for breakfast—he’s a guide and helped me refine my speech for later. Big thanks to him before he heads off on his own adventure!"
Afternoon Update:
"Team assembled—Matt Park and Kaylee are my incredible guides. After a grocery run for last-minute snacks and supplies, we drove two more hours to Talkeetna. The ranger briefing was intense—let's just say, they do a good job reminding you how serious this mountain is! Flight to the glacier delayed due to clouds—waiting and hoping to fly out soon."
Evening Update:
"We made it to base camp! Weather is good, not too hot, which is a blessing here. Dug out tent spots, set up camp, and had burgers with sweet potato fries for dinner. Fun fact—962 permits have been issued, but only about 200 people are on the mountain right now and less than 20 here at base camp. No summits yet this season. Fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow!"
Day 2 - May 18, 2025
First Night Conditions
Morning Update:
"First night at base camp—slept okay, but three of us in a four-person tent makes for tight quarters. I’m a side sleeper, but that’s not working here! And let’s just say, I’m not quite ready to trust the ‘pee bottle’ system at night. Took the long, cold walk of shame this morning instead!""Woke up to a LOT of snow. If I were home, I’d be canceling meetings to go skiing! We’re breaking trail today because all the tracks have been filled in. It’s going to be a challenging day, but spirits are high, and I’m grateful for quiet tent mates who don’t move much at night—makes the sleeping bag shuffle a little easier!"
Afternoon Update (Whiteout Hike):
"We’re officially in a whiteout. My kit feels like it weighs as much as me, and the going is slow—but we’re making progress. This storm will likely delay other teams, and no planes are flying in. That means we’ve got the mountain to ourselves for a bit. Nervous? Yes. But the calm confidence of my guides is keeping me grounded. This is why we train. One safe step at a time!"
Evening Update (Whiteout Hiking):
“I think I’m going to eat a lot to get my stuff to weigh less. Boring section—just hiking in white on white in a whiteout. Hard to tell we’re even making progress.”
Evening Update:
“We’re about two hours from Camp One. With this storm, we’ll set up there and not push on to Camp Two today. Everyone’s pulling a lot of weight—this will be our heaviest pull of the trip. Luckily, fuel and food will start going down as we climb higher.”
“Spirits are high considering, we're grateful to be on Mtn and not waiting to have weather to fly to Mtn.”
“One more break and we will be at camps which means we get to dig out a platform to set the tent and then we work on dinner and getting sleeping stuff set up.”
Final Evening Update:
“Spirits are high, all things considered, and we’re grateful to be on the mountain instead of stuck waiting for weather to clear so we could fly in. One more break and we’ll reach camp, which means digging out a platform for the tent before working on dinner and setting up sleeping gear.
Made it to Camp One. Absolutely dying. Note to self—don’t do a private trip without fully understanding how much gear you’ll have to carry. I’m wiped out! Really could’ve used another body to help with the weight. But we’re here now, so it’s time to chill and try to recover. They call in weather updates every night. We’ve got heavy snow showers continuing, and we’re expecting another 6 inches. The clouds help keep it a little warmer, though, so there’s that silver lining.Going to bed! More updates tomorrow. Tonight is all about dinner and recovery. Thank God we remembered my Theragun Mini—I am officially everyone’s favorite person at Camp One!”
Day 3 - May 19, 2025
Morning Update:
“Up this morning to more snow. It’s cloudy right now, and we’re planning to head up to Camp Two soon to carry a load, then come back here to sleep. If the weather holds tomorrow, we’ll make the full move up to Camp Two. Bodies are definitely sore from the heavy loads yesterday, and with today’s steep section, we need to break up the weight. Spirits are still high, but this is harder than Everest—and they say it’s the hardest high summit. I believe it.”
Just hiked up Ski Hill and doing better with the lighter load, but still recovering from yesterday. We have a long way to go, but progress is progress!
Afternoon Update:
The snow wiped out the trail and there are no wands, so we’re navigating by compass now—it’s slower, but just part of the experience.
Evening Update (Camp 2 Arrival):
We made it to Camp Two—what an adventure! It started out not too bad, but the route is steep at the beginning and the end, which made it really challenging. The whiteout conditions made it hard to see, and since we were ahead of most of the teams, no one was in front of the breaking trail. That made it extra challenging because we had to keep stopping to check the route and make sure we were heading in the right direction—a few times, we weren’t. It’s easy to get spun around when everything everywhere is just white. You definitely feel a bit of vertigo in those moments. Kaylee and Matt have done this route a lot, and the weather doesn’t faze them. Experience really does make all the difference out here.
Final Evening Update (Camp 2 Reflections):
There’s a confidence out here that can only be earned. I’m definitely glad we have skis now—coming down is going to be much easier than it will be for everyone on snowshoes. Visibility is still tough, but with skis we can glide through more of it, and hopefully some of the steeper sections will be skiable. That’ll make all the hard work today worth it!
Gear Cache Update:
Now we dig a hole and bury all the gear we have with us, then ski down and hike back up tomorrow with the rest of it. Honestly, I feel like burning all my gear instead of burying it! And it just keeps snowing—all. damn. day. Which definitely doesn’t help with keeping anything dry.
Okay know that we are in skis right now and switch to boots after camp 2. BOOM! Bagel sandwiches are for breakfast every day which are actually really good but we are really hungry. Tonight we are having curry for dinner. After 17,300 we go to dehydrated meals. Which have custom ones from a guy named Belldon comb which we want to tag and thank because they are uber healthy.
(And better than this vegan garbage.)
DAY 4 - May 20, 2025
Day 4 – Morning Update:
We got up this morning and had hot cocoa and muffins for breakfast, then broke down camp and loaded the sleds with all our gear. We started up the mountain in yet another whiteout. So much snow fell that there’s no trace of the trail from yesterday. There was a huge avalanche—not near us, but we could feel it rumble through the ground. Loads are lighter today, but they need to be if we’re going to make it to Camp Two. Should be there in about five hours. No sun today, so it's hard to charge devices—texting a little less for now.
Day 4 – Evening Update (Camp 2 Return):
Lighter loads today—but they needed to be if we were going to make it back to Camp Two. It should've been about five hours, but Mother Nature really gave it to us today. Cold, snowing, no visibility. We made it, but not without struggle—one of my hardest days on the mountain.When I stepped off my skis, the snow was thigh-deep. We had to pull sleds up again, and when it got steep, mine started pulling me backwards. Brutal. Thankfully, everyone already at Camp 2 got weather today, so when we arrived, we were able to warm up in their tent before setting ours up. I’ve never seen this much snow.Tomorrow depends on what the weather does. The upper mountain needs more snow to stabilize, so we’re staying positive and hoping this dump helps long-term.Fun
FUN SHARE: We left gear at Camp One—that’s called a cache. To protect it, we had to dig a 5-foot-deep hole so the ravens can’t get into it. Yep, ravens! They’re so smart they can unzip duffels and steal your stuff. Not kidding.
Day 4 – Final Update:
Also—worth noting—my guides, Kaylee and Matt, are absolutely amazing. The Mountain Trip guides on the mountain have all been incredibly helpful. They saved us a ton of energy at Camp Two by helping us set up our tents during a snow shower where we were easily accumulating an inch every 10 minutes, if not more.
Quesadillas for dinner tonight, so I’m happy. Going offline now to save battery since there’s still no sun to recharge anything. More tomorrow.
DAY 5 - May 21, 2025
Day 5 – Morning Update (Wednesday, May 21st):
“We got so much snow last night, we had to wake up in the middle of the night to unbury the tent. We’re going to be stuck at Camp Two today because of avalanche danger above us on the route. It’s still blowing sideways out here.”
Day 5 – Recap (Wednesday, May 21st):
“My win for the day? I found the chocolate-covered mangoes I thought I didn’t pack—so just enjoying those while Mother Nature throws her little temper tantrum.The sun popped out for a bit, but we’re definitely not moving today. So we’re praying for good weather. Days like this make you rethink everything in your pack—how many days can I really wear the same socks? How many shirts do I need? How many snacks? And how much can we eat today just to avoid carrying it uphill tomorrow?”
“A ranger stopped by our tent and confirmed weather should improve over the next few days. The plan is to move gear to Camp Three tomorrow, then make the full move up on Friday. That will help us acclimate better. We’ll spend a few days at Camp Three before pushing to Camp Four.Slowly but surely, we’ll gain ground.
The weather has been wild—I read an entire book today. My face got windburned yesterday, so I’m peeling a bit now. The mountain left its mark. The weather's supposed to be better tomorrow, so our guides will carry a load up while I stay back to acclimate. Friday we move up together as a team.”
