Why Climb Denali with Alpine Ascents?
Climbing Mt. McKinley with Alpine Ascents transformed a cold, logistically complicated climb into a rewarding, simple, and even socially rewarding experience. The food was plentiful and nourishing and the climbing schedule was demanding but sensible. These guys have been up the mountain long enough to dial in what works. Overall, if you want a good shot at climbing a tough mountain, go with Alpine Ascents. Joe Glickman, New York Times >>Read More
Alpine Ascents is "the premier way to experience Mt. McKinley with a guide service." Outside Magazine, June 2003
Alpine Ascents was selected by National Geographic for the film Life and Death on Denali featured on "National Geographic Ultimate Explorer."
Our scheduled trips filled early and our teams for next season are rapidly filling.
Much of our guiding reputation was forged on Denali. We encourage you to contact former climbers.
Climbing Denali with Alpine Ascents
- Guides: Alpine Ascents carefully selects each Denali guiding team, aiming for the highest experience level possible. Our team of lead guides is comprised of established climbers, instructors and regional experts. Guide bios can be found here.
- Climber-to-guide ratio 6:2. The most unique aspect of our climbs is the 3:1 climber-to-guide ratio. Over the past seasons, we have had excellent success guiding Denali. These low ratios not only improve your chances of summitting but also provide a much richer climbing experience.
- 9:3 for early season trips. Our early season climbing teams are comprised of 9 climbers and 3 guides. We opt for a larger guiding team as there are far less climbers and guides on the mountain early season. This gives us the same level of support we have during the later part of the season.
- Responsibility of team members: We place a high degree of responsibility on our climbers to prepare for the challenges of the ascent and the safety of their fellow team members. Every team member must have climbed with us in the past or have their climbing experience evaluated by our guiding staff.
- Summit Success and Safety Record: Alpine Ascents Denali trips are renowned for safety and summit success, we encourage you to contact former climbs to discuss their experiences with Alpine Ascents. Alpine Ascents maintains one of the highest safety records on Denali.
- Experience: We have been a concessionaire on Denali for 12 years and our guides have been working on the mountain for 18 years. We are one of 5 Authorized Denali Concessionaires - (all other outfitters must act as subcontractor).
- Communications and Logistics: Each team is equipped with a Satellite phones and we offer cybercasts for each team. Alpine maintains a full office in Talkeetna.
- Flexibility: We offer as many as 14 trips per season allowing teams to assist each other and broadening the scope of assistance on the mountain.
- Value:Very competitively priced for 2012. All food is pre-planned and purchased in our Talkeetna Office (airplane hangar) with great care to ensure meals are of the highest quality.
If you are interested in climbing Denali and need to review or hone your skills and/or physical conditioning, we offer a number of courses designed specifically to help you prepare. We encourage you to contact us with questions and please feel free to speak with former expedition members.
Alpine Ascents is an authorized concessionaire of Denali National Park and Preserve.
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