Why Climb Mount McKinley | Denali with Alpine Ascents?
Was grateful for the support staff and their help especially in logistics travel and lodging after the climb. It was great to know these details were being handled so we could just relax and celebrate our accomplishment. Also appreciated the office staff in the weeks and months ahead of time, making sure we were on target with training, gear, travel, etc. Clearly AAI has this level of support nailed!
Like a well-oiled machine, the logistics for the entire trip were flawlessly executed by administrative and office staff at all levels. Well done! This is one of the reasons why I go on trips with AAI. You have your act together and I trust you to get things done.
I truly feel all 11 of us summited Denali because we were able to work together and for each other. Victor, Josh and Val were instrumental in developing this culture among our team. All 1 team, working together for 1 common goal.
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Since the inception of our Mount McKinley | Denali program, Alpine Ascents has continued its industry leadership on the mountain with extremely high summit success. Much of our success can be attributed to our outstanding guide staff and climbing teams. With strong praise from the National Park and media, and excellent working relationships with other guide services, we look forward to achieving equal success this year. We continually assist with rescues on the mountain. In fact, many of our guides have received “Denali Pro Pin” awards from Denali National Park in recognition of their high safety protocols and selflessness in aiding others. As Alpine Ascents operates an intensive mountaineering school, we often get to know our climbers before they embark on such a climb as Mount McKinley | Denali.
Much of our guiding reputation was forged on Mount McKinley | Denali and we are a longstanding concessionaire of Denali National Park. We handpick lead guides and assistants and since we operate a mountaineering school and concession on Mt. Rainier, our guides are employees and not hired on a first-time basis for Mount McKinley | Denali. We have an office and launch facility in Alaska, providing both smooth logistics and well-needed resources for getting climbers on and off the mountain.
Recent Success
Alpine Ascents has been running successful Mount McKinley | Denali expeditions for 30 years and is extremely well regarded among concessionaires and climbers. We are proud to share that our guide teams have some of the most depth of experience in the area as it gets, with many of our lead guides having 10 plus expeditions on their resumes and experience on other 6000m+ expeditions globally. Alpine Ascents is traditionally known to have some of the highest success rates on the mountain, which we attribute to our guide staff and screening process.
- 2024: 12 of 12 expeditions reach the summit, 100% team success in the 2024 season
- 2023: 8 of 10 expeditions reach the summit it what was considered to be one of the most challenging weather seasons in 40 years
- 2022: 10 of 12 expeditions summit (two teams aborted their summit attempt to aid a rescue effort)
Key Elements of our Climb and Success
Alpine Ascents carefully selects each Mount McKinley | Denali guiding team, aiming for the highest experience level possible. Our team of lead guides is composed of established climbers, instructors and regional experts. Guide bios can be found here.
Denali can be a complex mountain, and Alpine Ascents believes having as many guides as possible to helps solve the logistical problems that are associated with this climb. Alpine Ascents schedules paired expeditions to launch one day apart so a total of six guides can be utilized to best allow teams to move up the mountain. (In some cases where teams are not paired, we move to 2:1 or similar.)
Our climbers must prepare for the challenges of the ascent and the wellbeing of their fellow team members. Every team member must have climbed with us in the past or have their climbing history evaluated by our guiding staff. Please see the Screening page of the website. While there is always a level of trust when reviewing a bio, we work hard to have the strongest overall teams on the mountain. Many of our climber comments reflect being part of a team well-suited for the challenge.
Alpine Ascents’ Mount McKinley | Denali trips are renowned for their safety record and their summit success. We encourage you to contact former climbers to discuss their experiences.
We have been a concessioner for Denali National Park for over 15 years, and our guides have been working on the mountain for over 30 years. We are one of five authorized Denali concessionaires (all other outfitters must act as subcontractor), and one of two companies with concessions on Rainier and Mount McKinley | Denali.
Each team is equipped with satellite phones, and we offer cybercasts for each team. Alpine maintains an office in Talkeetna. We have postings on our website (Cybercasts) noting team progress.
We offer as many as 14 trips per season, allowing teams to assist each other.
We are competitively priced for 2026. All meals are included (we ask you to bring some supplemental snack foods). Meals are preplanned and purchased in our Talkeetna office (airplane hangar) with great care to ensure that meals are of the highest quality.
Every effort is made to provide quality gear such as tents, as well as preplanned menus. We provide all meals but do ask climbers to bring preferred snack foods as outlined in your confirmation package.
If you are interested in climbing Mount McKinley | Denali and need to review or hone your skills and/or physical conditioning, we offer a number of courses to help you prepare. Contact us with questions and feel free to speak with former expedition members.
Unreal. Breathtaking. All the details of the expedition were thought through and there was never a moment where I doubted the leadership. And the food was delicious.
