We Do Stuff: Denali - North America's Highest Mountain

Denali 20,310'

June 2022

Denali or as many know it, Mt. McKinley, stands as North America's tallest mountain. Located in Alaska’s Alaska Range north of Anchorage, it stands proud at 20,310 feet and towers over its neighbors; Mt. Foraker is its closest rival at just 17,400 feet.

Denali is big, remote, cold and unrelenting. Because of its location so far north, the elevation feels higher than 20,000' and the cold is always present. It is considered to be as cold as Mt. Everest and by their easiest routes, a more difficult climb as well. There are no porters, no established base camp with tents and warm meals. You carry or pull everything you need for the entire trip.

Rough terrain low on the Kahiltna glacier

Denali is full of crevasses and a strong and smart team is a must if you want any chance at success. Laura and I talked about partners a lot and ultimately decided that Brian, Laura’s brother was the best choice. He is smart, has mountain sense, makes good decisions and is levelheaded. He would take it to the limit but not go too far. Never being too serious, he would also keep things light and fun.

December 2021. It is the New Year holiday and Laura decides she’s going for the Manitou Incline. She calls Brian and he meets us there. Laura is wearing a supportive boot / soft cast on her right foot that was rebuilt with plates and screws after a rock climbing accident in October. The doctor had just cleared her for partial weight bearing exercise the week before. Denali is her comeback mountain and she is determined. I usually move up the Manitou Incline, which is 2,000 feet of stairs over 1 mile distance in just over 30 minutes. It takes Laura well over an hour and even longer to come back down. We went back the next morning, and then the following evening and again the next day too. I knew it was happening. She had it in her head we were going to Denali and she would be in shape for the climb so I had better get myself in gear and develop a training plan.

I borrowed a book from a friend called Training for the New Alpinism and after reading various parts of the book, developed a 24-week training plan that I felt would be highly beneficial and effective while being achievable without being away from Hazel, our two year old daughter every day. Running, lots of inclines before work during the week, tall Colorado mountains on weekends, wind and cold included. The back half of the plan would include weight, 30+ pounds on the incline once a week and on weekends in the mountains, and even more elevation for acclimatization. I knew we were in for a serious challenge and I was going to be physically prepared no matter how ready anyone else was.

Our little helper taking a break from packing

Laura and I would talk gear regularly and eventually put together a comprehensive gear list. Tents, negative 20 or negative 40 sleeping bags, boots, a single set of clothes that could be added to or subtracted from, all of which would be worn on the coldest days, ropes, rescue gear, food and the list goes on. For anyone looking for the entire list, I’ve added it as a picture.

Justin and Laura's gear ready to go

We would try to go light so we could move up the mountain with less weight but each ended up with 35 pounds on our backs and 45 pounds in sleds. In reality, we were happy with this as most groups are carrying in the range of 125 pounds per person rather than 80 pounds.

Laura and I trained together and made an effort to do several climbs with Brian as well. We would go to the Manitou Incline after work when time allowed. Many times I would carry Hazel on my back. Mountain weather at home in Colorado throughout the winter was harsh but was also perfect training. Freezing temperatures and high winds on many peaks we climbed helped to prepare us for what we would encounter high on Denali as well as on our summit day. We dialed in our gear, clothing systems and food. As our trip got closer, our mountain days got longer and more frequent. I believe I climbed over 14,000 feet five times in the month preceding our climb.

Hazel turned two on May 31st and we had family and friends over to celebrate. We spent as much time with her as we could and set her up with Grandpa and Grandma’s as we departed for Denver on June 3.

Laura, Brian and I met at the airport and loaded our duffel bags and suitcases onto a cart. Each of us used approximately a 100 liter duffel plus another case or smaller 65 liter duffel. I also carried my boots and a few miscellaneous items in a carry on, as did Laura and Brian. The flight from Denver through Seattle and onto Anchorage was uneventful. We arrived in Anchorage late afternoon, grabbed our bags and met up with our shuttle driver.

Nice views of Denali, Hunter and Foraker from Talkeetna

Gary owns Go Purple Shuttle and while a bit scattered with scheduling, is prompt and makes sure his customers are well taken care of. The three of us along with two other ladies loaded our bags and headed north. The two ladies had both been to the mountain before. Their gear totaled more than Laura, Brian and I combined. I assumed they had a plan to be on the mountain for the standard 21+ days. We’d only see them one time during our trip when they were moving to 17 camp and we were descending from our successful summit. Gary would tell facts about Alaska and point out the different mountain ranges as we drove. In addition to lunch and a grocery store stop of which we did not need, he stopped for scenic pictures as well as cookies and coffee. We arrived in Talkeetna by 4 pm and were soon checked into our room at Latitude 62. Laura checked in with the guys from Sheldon’s Air Service and paid them. We spent the evening sorting gear and getting everything from our duffel bags into our backpacks. We were scheduled to fly to the glacier the next day but first we would have to do our mandatory meeting with the climbing rangers.

Gear prepped at the hangar

Final weights. That extra team gear consists of sleds, clean mountain cans, snowshoes, pickets, axes, poles and fuel as seen in the picture above. Stuff really adds up.

Laura had a meeting scheduled with the climbing ranger at 9 am. We hoped that it would go quickly and we’d be able to fly to the glacier immediately following. Waking early, we walked through town stopping for breakfast before walking down to the river at the end of town. It was a clear day and we were lucky to see Denali, Mt. Hunter and Mt. Foraker in the distance. Even 50 miles away, the mountains looked big and the excitement began to build.

The ski plane that would fly us to the glacier

Justin and Laura looking out as we fly through the mountains

Meeting at the national park office, we filled out some paperwork and joined a team of 5 Nepalis and one American climber in a room with the volunteer ranger. The meeting covered everything from where the standard camps were on the mountain, what resources were available (none), and keeping the mountain clean from human waste and trash. After the meeting each person was assigned a clean mountain can or “poop bucket” as well as one extra per team to cache at basecamp. We jumped into the Sheldon Air Service van and stopped by our hotel to gather our bags and we were at the hangar ready to fly at 11 am. Our pilot, Dave, gave us our white fuel and we all chose sleds and rigged them however we thought they would work. Each of us weighed our gear separately and came in well under the 125 pound per person limit. I believe I was around 85 - 90 pounds, as was Laura. Brian’s gear weighed in closer to 100 pounds. Dave, our pilot, let us know the plane was small and he would have to drop our bags at the glacier and then come back to get us. We spent a few hours eating lunch at Latitude 62 and were back to the hanger when Dave got back. Boots and mountain gear on, we loaded up on the plane and flew to the glacier. The flight was scenic and amazing. We flew past three major glaciers and while it only took 30 minutes, we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Justin, Brian and me on the flight to the glacier, excited to get to the mountain

Denali base camp and landing strip. Justin and me getting geared up to hike.

Finally, we were on the glacier and ready to get going. It was 3 pm and the day was warm, but overcome by the excitement, we decided that we would try to make it to camp one tonight. When we flew in, we had seen others out moving on the glacier and figured, probably foolishly that we would go too. Each of us rigged our bags to our sleds and we tied into the rope.

The hole I made when I fell through a snow bridge

Laura would be in front setting the pace, Brian second and I would be last on the rope team. Laura maintained that I’d move too fast to be in front and would “drag” her and Brian up the mountain. Unlikely, but I didn’t argue as I know she is good at navigating glaciated terrain. From basecamp, we started down heartbreak hill, losing 700’ of elevation and each arguing with our sleds as they tried to knock us down, run us over and trip us with every step. At the bottom of heartbreak hill, the terrain flattened out and for the next five miles we trudged along wearing our snowshoes through the soft snow. About an hour and a half into our walk across the lower glacier Laura was crossing a snow bridge and punched through into a crevasse being stopped at about waist level by her backpack. Brian was able to step back and put tension on the rope and she was able to climb out without any harm done. From that point forward all of us were a bit more aware and more cautious as we walked. On our way to 7,800 ft camp, we passed several people who were on skis and others who were not. Some of them were not even roped up. We are a bit surprised by the lack of caring and awareness of the dangers of the crevasses low on that mountain. Arriving at 7,800 ft camp, Laura picked out a spot and pulled out the probe and probed our campsite before we set up our tent and cooked dinner for our first night on the mountain. We were all fairly tired from pulling sleds and knew tomorrow would be a big day going from 7,800’ to 11,200’ so after dinner we quickly crashed.

Approaching 7,800 camp on Denali with ski hill behind

Brian with our tent set up at 7,800 camp, our first night on Denali

The next morning we woke early and climbed out of our sleeping bags to once again tying into our sleds and each other. This time the slope would be uphill and it would be steep. Directly out of camp was ski hill. A steep climb before several small roller hills. We’d pass by 9800’ camp, which was vacant, and eventually reached the last hill that guarded 11,200’ camp. As we started up, the sleds would pull us backwards with every step. It was very difficult to stop for rest so we went at a slow pace but tried to keep moving upward, as any momentum you gained was a huge benefit. We started our day at 9 am and we pulled into 11,200’ camp at 3:15 pm.

Taking a rest at the top of ski hill

At 11,200’ camp we were able to once again secure a campsite that was previously occupied. Grabbing a previously used site is always a benefit because then you don’t have to build walls around your tent. It was sometimes challenging to find a site big enough for our large four-person tent, but we lucked out for most of the trip and didn’t have to build any on our own.

Justin and me relaxing at 11 camp

Brian next to our tent at 11 camp with our gear hung out to dry

Relaxing at 11,200’ camp, the three of us discussed a plan for the following days. We had learned that it was very hard hauling heavy sleds up steep hills and directly out of 11,200’ camp was motorcycle hill, which is immediately followed by squirrel hill totaling somewhere around 2,000’ of elevation gain in mile and a half. We decided that we would split our gear and do a carry to 14,200’ camp and drop our food and heavy gear and then go back to 11,200’ camp for one more night. The next day we would take the tent and our sleeping gear up to 14,200’.

Laura breaking trail going up squirrel hill on our way to 14 camp

The first day leaving 11,200’ camp it had snowed overnight and so we had to put in a trench through the new snow. This made the going slower and made us work harder for every step. Luckily the weather was nice and as we worked our way up and around windy corner. Unlikely as it may be, it wasn’t even windy. We cashed our gear at 14,200’ camp in our small two-person tent and headed back to 11,200’ for the evening. It was a hard day and we did it all over again the next day. This time the weather wasn’t as nice. We hiked in full sun to blizzard conditions and everything in between. At 14,200’ camp there was about two feet of new snow when we arrived. Just below windy corner there were three skiers having a blast skiing down in the fresh snow.

Descending motorcycle hill back to 11 camp

Some gentlemen from Utah enjoying the fresh powder with windy corner in the background

Snowy with poor visibility as we pass windy corner on our move to 14 camp

Two long and hard days of sled pulling and we were very pleased to be at 14,200’ camp after just four days. We were right on schedule and were very optimistic about the remainder of our trip. Laura was pushing to move higher again the following day, but Brian and I had hoped for a rest day at 14,200’ camp. Laying in our sleeping bags that night none of us had a firm plan for our fifth day on the mountain.

Views from our tent at 14 camp

Marker directing the path to the poo crevasse

Today is June 8th and we’re at 14,200’ camp. There is a weather board near the ranger tents, so we go over and check it each morning. Today’s weather looks good and Laura sees that out of camp some of the guided groups are heading up the fixed lines to 17,200’ camp. Brian and I give in and pack our stuff along with the two-person tent and a day’s worth of food. Before heading up to 17,200’ camp we wanted to toss our waste bags in the crevasse at 14,200’ camp so we roped up and walked over. Before even making it back to our tent, each of us realized that we were totally exhausted and there was no way we were going to 17,200’ camp today. We knew that we needed a rest day. We decided to go over to the edge of the world look out and take in the views for a few minutes. We then spent the remainder of the day relaxing around camp.

Edge of the world

Laura and I went out and chatted with some of the other people at 14,200’ camp. The guys who we had seen skiing just the day before were having a dance party and getting everybody at camp involved as they circled and danced through the field of tents. As they passed by we were chatting with a gentleman from Spain who commented that he thought they may have altitude sickness and should consider going down the mountain. He was joking of course.

Dance party at 14 camp

Leaving 14 camp headed up to 17

June 9. Weather still looks decent, so we’re up and out headed up towards 17,200’ camp today. My legs feel recovered as we start up towards the fixed lines with heavy packs and I’m thankful for the amount of training I put in before coming here. Laura set a good hiking pace up the lower hill before reaching the fixed lines and up the fixed lines to 16,000’ as well. We rested only twice but Laura and I felt great. Brian was struggling a little bit and later mentioned that he didn’t remember ascending the fixed lines. He was experiencing some altitude sickness and this would be problematic for him for the remainder of the trip. From 16,000’ you cross a long narrow ridge and go over and around several rock bands until you reach 17,200’ camp. There are fixed pickets in the ice and we would do running protection with our rope as we traversed across the ridge.

Looking up the last bit of the headwall above 14 camp

Taking a break near the top of the fixed lines above 16,000'

Brian and Justin climbing past Washburn's thumb on Denali

On the ridge above 16,000' feet

On the ridge as we approach 17 camp with a view of 14 camp on the left

At 17,200’ camp we cooked dinner and then smashed into the two-person tent as best we could. This was our biggest tactical error of the entire trip. We never should’ve gone to 17,200’ camp with three of us and a two-person tent. It simply wasn’t practical and none of us slept a wink.

17 Camp with Denali pass in the background and the climbers route across the autobahn

Justin and Brian trying to relax and stay warm at 17 camp

June 10th. Crawling out of the tent at 17 camp is a miserable experience even on nice days. When we awoke it was probably close to -10 degrees and it was overcast and windy. We chose to at least make an attempt at the summit today since we were there. We roped up and started up the autobahn towards Denali Pass. About halfway up the autobahn, Brian stopped because he was once again not feeling well. He was lightheaded and knew that it was the wrong decision to continue. He was worried that he would hold us back and didn’t want to do that. He said he’d be fine getting back to camp and we could see him every step of the way, so he turned around and was back in camp as we watched within 30 minutes.

Justin and Brian ready for our first summit attempt; leaving our tent at 17 camp

"Hero" pins that were given to us for assisting
other climbers in need of help

As Laura and I continued up the autobahn we would soon encounter a team of two climbers from Indonesia. As we approached them, we could tell that there was something wrong. There was one man and one woman and the woman had frostbite on her cheeks and was exhausted to the point that she could hardly stand. She asked us if we would help her. Laura and I came up with a plan to short rope her between pickets but we simply didn’t have the gear to make it safe as she was falling down with every step. It would’ve endangered us as much as her and so we chose to stop and tie her into a fixed picket so that she couldn’t fall down the autobahn. Reluctantly, we abandoned our summit bid and went back down to 17 camp. There was a guide waiting down there who asked for information about what was going on and said he knew that they had hit their SOS emergency device but that no help was coming for them because the conditions on the mountain were too poor. Over the next several hours that guide and two others gathered gear, sleds and tents and ascended to the two people in need of help. They would bring them down to 17 camp where they would wait until a helicopter could fly in to get them. It took them seven hours to get the lady down in a sled and another three hours to get the man down. We later learned from the rangers that they would likely lose fingers and thumbs and that they had been on the mountain for three years in a row and had not submitted yet. It is my opinion that she had summit fever. We learned that it took them 18 hours to summit from 17 camp and they had been out in the exposure for approximately 30 hours before we contacted them. Despite having frostbite, it was impossible for rangers to get her off the mountain because of bad wind conditions for a helicopter flight. We talked about it and couldn’t imagine sitting in a tent watching your fingers turn black along with the pain for five days before being able to be rescued off the mountain. A few days later we chatted with rangers at 14 camp and were offered two “hero pins” for our efforts in helping the climbers in need. We returned to 14 camp that night along with Brian with a plan to move back to 17 camp with our four-person tent the next day.

Back at 14 camp disappointed after a failed summit attempt

June 12. We broke down camp early in the morning and loaded up heavy packs to start up the fixed lines towards 17 camp. Within 30 minutes Brian had expressed that he was not doing well and he knew he needed to turn around. He felt like he had pushed too hard to get to 14,200’ and needed more rest and that’s why he was not acclimating well. Without argument Laura and I turned around and we reestablished 14 camp. We would be pinned down by bad weather for the next several days.

Brian and Justin relaxing at 14 camp waiting out high wind

Typical morning at 14 camp, lots of frost

Brian's glasses in the morning at 14 camp

There were two storms rolling in over the next couple of days. The winds would be high at the higher elevations on the mountain and we knew that the summit was not an option with those forecasts. Each morning Laura would get out of the tent as soon as the sun hit at 8:30 and go check the weather board. It always said the same thing. High winds, storms moving in. Basically you have no chance of summiting safely. We stayed at 14 camp for another day or two.

Clouds indicating high winds over the mountain

Justin in front of the poo crevasse

June 13. Brian had bowed out because he was still feeling altitude symptoms so Laura and I loaded up the two-person tent and moved to 17 camp. I remember feeling almost a sense of relief as we moved up the mountain together. We were faster, smoother and it felt good. I told Laura that I knew we would summit now. I had my climbing partner back. It took us just 5:15 to get to 17 camp today, about 45 minutes faster than the last time we moved up.

Laura headed up toward Washburn's Thumb

Route leading up to 17 camp with Denali pass in the background

Justin checking out the views from 17 camp

Winds were blowing 25 mph at camp and were forecast for 40 mph overnight with low temperatures around -25. We decided that because of the weather outlook this may be our last shot at the summit so we were going to give it one last chance and go for the summit again in the morning. We knew the weather wasn’t in our favor but we wanted to give it everything we could before we headed home. Around 6:00 in the morning the winds were blowing so hard that we knew we wouldn’t be going to the summit that day and our trip was over. We had all but given up. We rolled over in our sleeping bags and went back to sleep when suddenly we heard a group of two climbers who had come up from 14 camp early that morning. They were chatting with the guys in the camp next to us and we heard them say they were going to make a summit attempt that day. Overhearing the news too, Laura sits up and looks at me saying “Let’s go. Get dressed”. We figured if they were going, we were going. So we got our warm clothes on and got out of the tent.

Forecast posted on our summit day

I walked over and talked to them and they had a forecast from Chris Tomer who is a meteorologist with accurate mountain forecasts. They were informed that today was the best of the following week and that was their reason for going. Laura and I got ready and started off toward the autobahn out of 17 camp around 8:30 AM. Jake and Jerico would follow close behind.

Just above Denali Pass we stopped at a small area out of the wind. As we rested and added more warm clothes, Jerico stopped in the same area. My toes were frozen and Laura was cold as well. Jerico asked how we were doing and when I told him my toes were cold; he offered me his backpack to put my feet in. I declined, but that was reassuring that he offered help. Jake and Jerico would add more layers at the stop as well. This is the first time during the day that we had considered turning around. Laura asked if I needed to go down but I decided that we should add our last heavy layer of pants and give it an hour to see if our feet would warm up.

After moving above Denali pass my feet did warm up and the sun began to shine. The winds were still blowing hard but we knew this was our chance at the summit. We kept moving forward. Each time we’d consider turning around we would look behind us and Jake and Jericho would be within a few hundred yards. We figured if they were still going, we were going too. Later at camp talking to them, they had said the exact same thing about us. They had thought about turning around but, what the heck, we were still moving forward so they kept going too. Without each other none of us would have made the summit that day, so it worked out great.

While Justin and I were battling the wind, Brian was relaxing in the tent with amazing views

As we weaved along the path towards the summit, the weather deteriorated somewhere before we reached the football field. Conditions were a white out. We couldn’t see more than 50 feet and we honestly had no idea where we were on the mountain. We’d walk across a flat area and ask each other if this was the football field and then we’d get to another flat area, and then another one and another one. We would go up small hills now and then, hoping that we were at pig hill, but little did we know pig hill is big, steep and has fixed pickets and you definitely know it when you get to it.

We were six hours into our summit bid and somewhere in the middle of the large flat area of the mountain called the football field. We stopped to take a rest. We knew we were close to the summit, probably within an hour or two, but we also knew that we couldn’t keep pushing in the conditions that we were in. We couldn’t see 50 feet in front of us and were questioning what we were doing out here in these conditions. We both knew that navigating down in these conditions would be very difficult and that the summit was only halfway.

Laura near a cornice on the summit ridge

While we rested, I stopped and looked to the sky and asked my dad for a little help. I asked him to get us to the summit. We needed something and we were out of options. I simply didn’t know what else to do. I chatted to him for a minute or two and said keep us safe and please help us with a break in the weather. Laura was ready to move again, but I just stood there, looking up. She asked what I was doing but when I responded, she was quiet. We kept moving up the mountain and within 30 minutes we were halfway up pig hill and the sun had broken through the clouds. We could see the summit ridge and the winds had calmed to a manageable speed. I couldn’t believe it as I looked to the sky and realized just how much I missed dad at that very moment. He was my motivator, supporter, friend. And now he was playing a part in helping us to summit the tallest mountain in North America.

Justin on the summit ridge

Geological survey marker at the summit of Denali

After taking a short break as we reached the summit ridge. Passing several false summits, Laura wasted no time and moved quickly to the top of the mountain and the summit geological survey marker set into the snow. We had done it. We had summited Denali and were the only two people standing on the tallest point in North America. The feeling was amazing as we looked out over the mountains below. The temperature was around -20 and it was a bit windy but we had clear skies. We enjoyed our summit for 15 minutes before turning down, passing by Jake and Jerico, who were just a few minutes away and would get their summit too.

Justin on the summit of Denali

Headed down the summit ridge as Jake and Jerico are coming up

Descending, it took us 3 hours back to 17 camp. On the autobahn we crossed paths with a group of three climbers headed up. Laura chatted with them for a bit and learned they were from Nepal and were headed to the summit despite the time of day, 8pm. Once we learned it was Nims (Nirmal Purja) of 14 Summits fame, making a summit push all the way from 11 camp, we knew we didn't need to worry about them. When we arrived, we were congratulated by other teams in camp. Many of them who had considered going that day but decided against it due to high winds. We were almost out of water and we had exhausted our fuel in our stove so we went to bed with a snickers bar and a borrowed liter of water from Jerico.

Looking down at 14 camp from high on the ridge

June 14. After a good night's rest we woke up, broke down camp and loaded all of our gear. We headed down to 14 camp. We wondered if Brian would be surprised to see us so quickly but as usual he was not. He knew how hard we would push and that we would get to the summit. He was genuinely happy for us but I can only imagine that he was bummed because he was not feeling well and wasn’t able to go. We were out of time and he wouldn’t get his opportunity for another summit attempt. We relaxed and chatted at 14 camp for a few hours before breaking it down and moving down the mountain past 11 camp and all the way down to 7,800’ that evening. That night laying in bed we were exhausted as we heard a massive, maybe one minute long rock fall somewhere in the vicinity of camp. We all just kind of looked at each other without saying anything. We knew it was a massive rockslide or avalanche but that it was likely a safe distance from us.

June 15. Our final day on the mountain. We broke down camp at 7,800 at 4 AM and hiked out along the lower glacier and up heartbreak hill which was definitely very difficult. At the end of heartbreak hill you reach the upper part of the landing strip where planes were landing to pick up guided groups. We texted the guys from Sheldon‘s and within two hours Dave, our pilot, was there to pick us up. This time he had taken the rear seats out of the plane and as he strategically loaded our gear, he built back seats out of our duffel bags.

Laura and Nims

Waiting for our air taxi

Dave strategically loading the plane

Lots of crevasses on the lower glacier

The flight out was extremely scenic and we took a different way out than we had flown in. The glaciers in Alaska are absolutely amazing. They are big and winding and it is a very special place. We landed in Talkeetna, unloaded our gear and had beers, melons and cinnamon rolls waiting for us for breakfast. We are all happy to be off the snow and on warm ground once again.

Celebrating back at the hangar

After having a snack and relaxing for a few minutes we laid out all of our gear in the sun to dry and took the shuttle to town to drop off our clean mountain cans. The rangers asked us a few questions and congratulated us on our summit. We spent the next few days in Talkeetna hanging out, going to concerts, joining in on a game of hacky sack, doing an Iditarod dog sled tour which was a blast and just enjoying our trip. We would be picked up by Gary and fly home Sunday, June 19.

Drying gear behind the hangar

All in all we had a successful trip. No one got hurt, no one lost fingers, there were no fights and everything was great. This will be a trip I’ll remember for a long time and that I’ll look back on as a great experience. We had some tough days, cold nights and difficult situations but it’s funny how quickly you forget the challenges and suffering and only remember the good, the fun and the successes. We’re proud to have stood on North America’s tallest mountain.