Rising more than 18,000 feet above the nearby tundra, Denali is infamous for its harsh weather conditions. At 20,310 feet tall and 63 degrees north latitude, Denali is the highest peak in the Arctic. “The Great One” can be a magnet for storms that blow from the Gulf of Alaska or across the Bering Sea, and sometimes it seems to create its own weather with the summit shrouded in lenticular clouds, a sign of high winds which blow. the mountain.
Bad weather comes and goes with beautiful sunny and calm days, usually mixed with windy and snowy stormy days. On a 22-day expedition, most climbing teams, in a more typical season, will find a three- to four-day weather window sufficient for a good shot at the summit. But not this year…
A seasoned Denali and Alaska Range guide described his weeks on the mountain in May 2023 as being “in the apocalypse of wind and snow for days, with good weather windows of less than 24 hours.” ‘barely opening to allow us to move’.
This season, several teams found themselves waiting at 14,000 foot camp, acclimated, fit and ready to go to high camp, but they simply never had more than 12 to 24 hours of respite due to the weather to travel to camp. in high mountains, I have even less chance of trying to reach the summit. Often, teams leave the mountain after dealing with weather for a week or more, and with the next weather window expected seven to ten days later.
One of our most experienced Denali guides, leading his 26 Gear up to climb the mountain, returning from 11,000 feet! They lost days waiting to arrive at base camp due to weather conditions. They lost more days climbing the Kahiltna Glacier in difficult conditions, then another week stuck by weather conditions at 11,000 feet. Ultimately, they were running out of time and no change was in sight, so they made the difficult decision to go back down to try again on another season. Mad!
The associated avalanche risk has compounded the wind and snow problem. Deep snow and wind-laden slopes need time to stabilize, and the bitter cold of this climbing season has exacerbated that process. The terrain above Genet Basin, at 14,200 feet, often required at least two days before the probability of triggering an avalanche became reasonable enough for teams to cross it.
In early July, our last teams of the season waited in winter storms at 14,200 feet, while wind-driven snow loaded the slopes above camp with storm slabs and deep wind slabs. With no appreciable improvement in the weather to reduce the avalanche risk, they eventually turned around and returned to base camp. By mid-July, the snow had still not stopped.
As parts of the country experienced extreme heat and drought, the Alaska Range saw a series of low pressure systems move in from the Gulf of Alaska, with only short ridges of high pressure passing between the large low pressure systems. This was the most consistent series of humidity and low pressure systems we had seen, and in early July, as our season ended, we were closing in on the records set in 1963 for accumulated precipitation in the central -southern Alaska. None of these weather conditions were unprecedented; it was just relentless throughout the climbing season. Ironically, the 2022 season has been quite the opposite with a series of high pressure systems for most of the season and a success rate above 70% for the Denali summits.
Weather forecasting has improved over the past decade, and for several years we have hired a professional mountain weather forecaster to help us, making our forecast for the Alaska Range a better tool than ever. Our forecasts helped us choose summit windows, but perhaps more importantly, this year they helped us keep our teams out of trouble as short-lived days of good weather deteriorated into high winds and heavy snow.
Mountain guides have the responsibility to make decisions that are in the best interest of our climbers, with the well-being of our guests and guides being our priority. It is said that every accident is preventable, and while that may be true, the problem is that we cannot predict every accident. We know, however, that imposing conditions that are even slightly outside of our risk controls renders our risk management systems fragile and increases the likelihood of an unacceptable outcome.
This season we’ve seen a few other Denali teams rise to the top out of frustration at being stuck in bad weather for days or weeks, then return to camp with multiple cold weather injuries. Frozen fingers, toes, ears or noses are not worth the summit.
The following, as found on our website, summarizes our approach to climbing great peaks.
Our philosophy for guiding a Denali climb can be summed up in three objectives:
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- Everyone goes home healthy.
- Everyone has a great experience.
- Everyone is at the top.
We will never sacrifice our first two goals for the third…
2023 has been an incredibly difficult season. Congratulations to the few teams who participated in the summit; however, most of our climbers did not, which was very disappointing for each climber, guide, and our company as a whole. Ultimately, we’re really proud of how our climbers and guides handle challenges. Part of climbing in the Alaska Range is accepting the unknown outcomes of trying to do difficult things. It was amazing to see teams come together, work hard in difficult conditions, and have a great experience with new friends, even if they couldn’t get the upper hand.