Welcome to our Denali Expedition

Not far below the Arctic Circle a huge mountain dominates the skyline. Known by the Athabaskan natives as Denali, the truth in the translation of its name, "The Great One," is immediately apparent by anyone who has been fortunate enough to cast eyes on it. The tallest peak in north America, it rises 20,320 feet (6194m) into the thin air, at a latitude just below the Arctic Circle.

Denali has a greater vertical relief than Mount Everest and many climbers of both peaks will attest that Denali can be the more challenging of the two. Located so far north, it is subject to a thinner relative atmosphere, making it feel like a peak a thousand meters higher than it's true height. Tremendous storms are common and the temperatures climbers must contend with are bitterly cold. It is the challenge of a lifetime for many climbers and the experience of a lifetime for even more.

Mountain Trip is one of the few mountain guiding services authorized to guide climbers on Denali and we have been doing so since 1976. We are incredibly fortunate to share this beautiful peak and it's surrounding Alaska Range with climbers from around the world.

On May 2, 2010 a group of climbers from three continents are gathering in Anchorage, Alaska to meet three Mountain Trip guides in preparation for an attempt on Denali. Let's meet the team!

Guides:
Rob Durnell (Durny) from Girdwood, AK
Caitlin Hague from Girdwood, AK
Jason Buttrick from Anchorage, AK

Climbers:
Keith Mambretti currently living in Hong Kong
Trudi Siewald from the US
Peter Ellis from the UK
Mark Dixon from the UK
Stephanie Nelson from the UK
James Ellway from the UK
David Hogendorn from the UK
Neil Williams from the UK
Richard Parks from the UK

We will update this blog as often as possible so as to both provide you, the reader, with an accurate description of what the team is up to each day, and also to provide future readers with an account of what it is like to climb Denali. Please keep in mind that communication from the Alaska Range is not always easy and that weather could easily conspire to prevent us from hearing from the team.

Comments posted to our reports will occasionally be passed along to the climbers on the mountain, but we cannot always guarantee that messages will always be relayed. Please know that all of your kind thoughts and best wishes will be read and deeply appreciated by the climbers when they get back to "the real world," so we encourage you to post them frequently. If you should ever need to contact one of the climbers, please call or email our Colorado office.

Enjoy the posts!