Category: Blog

by Brooke Warren Denali “The High One” is the third highest of the seven summits, right behind Everest and Aconcagua, at 20,310 feet. It is an “ultra-prominent” peak with soaring vertical relief of 18,000 feet, greater even than Mount Everest (a mere 12,000′ of vertical relief) when measured from its 2,000-foot lowlands to its lofty […]

Misconceptions about climbing gear can leave you wandering in the woods. In this article, we’ll look at the top-10 most common gear-related misconceptions for those newer to mountaineering, and offer some quick comments in answer. This piece was originally published in 2017, but it’s proved so helpful that we pulled it from the archives and […]

by Maria Faires, RD Strength-to-weight ratio is an important key performance indicator for the mountain climbing athlete. Have you ever tried to hike up a steep trail with a heavy backpack?  The more you carry, the harder the effort. Weight matters.   A mountaineer’s performance will be enhanced by being as close to their ideal body […]

by Trevor Husted  How to decide if the items you can’t live without should come along your next adventure Humans naturally seem to flee from the discomforts of life, mountain guides gravitate towards that light. It is as if there is some sort of element in a mountain guide that finds something bizarrely satiating in taking […]

by Micah Sherman As we skinned our way up a snow covered forest road to the Heliotrope Ridge trailhead, we knew we were about to have a fun time on Mt. Baker, but we had no idea what a spectacular adventure we were in for. With heavy packs supported by fresh legs we made our […]

Headed to Denali this Spring? Start planning that team name! Every expedition cooks up a team name they use to identify themselves when they check in each day via sat phone for the Cybercast. Family members can follow along with the Cybercast from home as teams make their way up the mountain, marveling at clever […]

by Ciara Sampaio I went over the Denali Prep Gear List a million times and checked everything off.   I was ready to go!   Was I really ready to go?   Eventually, I just had to go.  Checking off the carabiners and gloves was the easy part.  I found assembling 8 days worth of food to be […]

by Eric Murphy  Our ongoing and very successful ($37,000 +) Kilimanjaro Covid-19 Hunger Relief Fundraiser has just completed the 2nd food distributions for all 310 crew and staff. Members from our Tanzanian partner company Big Expeditions handled all aspects of whole purchase and transport of over 12,000 lbs of rice, corn and sugar. Arusha crew […]

Hey Alpine, I’m headed up to Denali this May (!!!!) and I heard that climbers insulate their ice axes? Interesting… What’s the rationale and how do I do it? Thanks in advance and see you in Talkeetna! Sincerely, Seeking Toasty Mitts Hi Toast Mitts, Thanks for reaching out and stoked you’re headed up to the […]

Nanda Devi, Indian Garhwal Himalaya by Gordon Janow When I heard that writer and climber Ed Douglas was publishing a book on the Himalaya, I wondered what more could possibly be written?   Any account by Douglas was clearly a must-read, but I couldn’t help but anticipate a rehashing of well-worn tomes such as John […]