Denali Expedition 2016

Motorcycle Hill

Below is the abbreviated trip report from my Denali Expedition 2016.

I’m considering writing a short book on it. Please let me know if you’d be interested

Enjoy!

Aaron Linsdau

Denali Expedition 2016

Denali Expedition 2016 Report

Denali, formerly known as Mt. McKinley, is the tallest mountain in North America. The peak is at 20,310’ above sea level. Every year, climbers from around the world converge for the May-July climbing season in hopes of reaching this high, sub-arctic peak. It also has the greatest vertical relief of any mountain above sea level on Earth, 18,000’. The vertical relief is much greater than Mt. Everest.

The mountain is the tallest in a sub-arctic climate. All other mountains this tall are located much closer to the equator, making Denali especially challenging. Also, the mountain and national park are located at the confluence of two weather regions, nearly guaranteeing poor sky conditions for climbers. I found this to be the case on Denali Expedition 2016.

Denali is also considered the second most difficult of the Seven Summits. There are no porters, sherpas, lamas, or any other pack services to employ while climbing the mountain. Climbers must haul and carry everything they are to use. Many consider this climb overall more laborious and the workload higher than climbing Everest.

My goal was to reach the summit in 14-21 days after starting out on the Kahiltna glacier at 7,200’. My plan was to climb the mountain solo, without a guide or team. There are only a few solo attempts on the mountain every year. This is due to the difficulty and danger of travel alone on such a large and crevasse-ridden mountain.

I arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, on May 9 and was in place to fly from Talkeetna to the glacier on May 10. After a brief weather delay, I was at base camp at 4pm on May 10. Often, climbers will be stuck for up to 5 days in Talkeetna, waiting for the weather to clear.

At Base Camp

After receiving my gallon of white gas, I decided to make a break for Camp 1 at 7,800’. The weather was perfect and the air temperature was cool enough to travel. As a I was to travel 5.5 miles from base camp to Camp 1 alone, traveling during the cool hours of the night was paramount. The glacier warms up significantly during the day and crevasse falls are much more likely. Many climbers have been injured or killed in crevasse falls on the Kahiltna glacier.

I reached Camp 1 at 11pm at night and went straight to sleep. When I awoke, windy, whiteout weather had moved in. This is quite common for 8,000 to 11,000 feet on Denali. Being comfortable with blind travel, I struck out for Camp 2 at 9,800’. It took about 7 hours of traveling in a complete fog whiteout, going up steep hills with a 50lb pack and a 90 pound sled before reaching Camp 2. I never saw anything but fog and trail wands (3’ bamboo markers placed 150’ apart for safer/easier travel) the entire time.

The next day, the wind had picked up an conditions worsened. I chose to keep moving forward, as I was acclimated to 10,000’ in the previous week of training. At 10,000’, I buried 2 days of food in a cache at 10,000’ before climbing the hill to camp 3 at 11,000’. By the time I arrived at Camp 2.5, the wind was at 20MPH with 30MPH gusts. Though not ideal, I was well trained with pitching a tent in a storm from my Antarctic experience of pitching tents in 40+MPH winds.

I took a rest day after that, waiting to acclimate and for a mild headache to subside. This is where I experienced the heat of a glacier. The camp is situated at the base of Motorcycle Hill, a steep, 900’ hill which is the first challenge of the climb.

The next day, I moved 16 days of supplies (38 lbs) up to 13,500’ while carrying emergency supplies. The climb up and past Squirrel Hill was icy and uncomfortable. A slip and significant slide would have pitched me off a 4,000’ vertical drop. I was used to this with a heavy pack, but with a sled constantly yanking me toward the cliff and without a rope-in, it was stressful going.

The move around Windy Corner was also exciting, as the drop off is just as severe and the sled always wants to pull you toward it. I roped up with a military team here for safety to get past the crevasses. By the time I cached at 13,500’, weather moved in and I was blind returning around Windy Corner. I lost the trail and got myself into a bad position before finding my way back.

I rested another day at 11,000’ before moving up. This day had an air temperature of 105 deg outside. Quite unbelievable and completely crippling. The next day when I moved, I learned to leave early to avoid the stifling heat. It took 7 hours to reach 13,500’.

Camp 3 of Denali Expedition 2016

With a shorter elevation gain, I moved up to 14,200’ the next day at Camp 3. This is where all teams stage their summit bid. When I arrived, the wind was whipping and made camp creation fun. People dig pits and build tremendous snow walls to protect themselves from the storms that blow through. The next morning brought calm at 14k camp, but up high was as different story.

The ridge at 16k was howling. Though it was half a mile away, we could hear the roar of the wind like a distant waterfall. Whispy tails of snow were seen. Few teams went up that day, virtually all were turned back due to winds.

For the next several days, the weather varied from hot to cold, while the winds aloft remained strong and dangerous. We had a severe Arctic blizzard blow through camp on one day, forcing everyone to stay inside. A full foot of snow fell in the storm, preventing anyone from climbing higher. No one moved at all, probably due to recovering from the storm and for fear of avalanches.

For the next 2 days, I climbed and rested, waiting for a chance to move up. All along, I slowly felt worse. My sinuses were congested and I never felt great. Then, then winds began building to 50MPH and were predicted to be at 80MPH in a few days. At this point, teams had been stuck in Talkeetna or unable to escape the mountain for 4 days.

Strong Winds

The prediction called for strong winds for nearly 5 days. At this point, I was feeling worse and realized that I would have to stick it out for at least 7 days to wait for a chance to go up. With the weather delaying flights, there was a high chance that I wouldn’t be able to make a summit bid in time before I had to leave for dwindling supplies. I didn’t want to be stuck at the glacier while begging for food and fuel for water. I was forced to turn around, as were countless teams during their Denali Expedition 2016.

It took 2 days to return to base camp. The climb back around Windy Corner was harrowing, as the wind picked up my sled like a kite and tumbled it around. All while being near mile-high drop-offs. After escaping that danger, I made base camp the next day. On the take-out day, 8 aircraft initially had flown into the glacier to bring in teams stuck for 5 days. More left on the same aircraft and many more were poised to evacuate.

Weather on Denali wiped out a lot of expeditions during the May 2016 window. I returned safely with no frostbite or other injuries of note. Other teams, some guided, suffered minor frostbite due to climbing into strong winds, then being forced to turn around.

Denali is a tough mountain, one of the toughest. Though I enjoyed my time as a soloist, I do not recommend anyone attempt it. The chance of falling into a bottomless crevasse or off a cliff in a whiteout is high. Climbing with a team is always safer, reduces your gear load, and gives you someone to lean on when times are tough.

Thank you for reading my Denali Expedition 2016 report.

Climb safely!

Aaron Linsdau

Denali Expedition 2016

Read about my record-breaking expedition to the South Pole in Antarctic Tears, available on Amazon.com

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