'99 Denali Expedition of the DAV Sektion Münster

In the summer of '99 three members from our section made an exciting trip to Alaska. They climbed Mount McKinley also known as Denali. The native indians gave the mountain this name. It means The Great One. Denali truly is a great mountain! With 6194 m (20320 ft) it is North Americas highest mountain.

Denali (Mount McKinley)
Elevation 6194 m (20,320 ft)
Location Denali National Park, Alaska, USA
First ascent 1913


Our Expedition Card © by Olaf Meyer, 1999
The Team Here it goes ...
When May 19th - June 16th 1999
Where Denali National Park, Alaska, U.S.A.
What West Buttress Route, also known as the Classic Route
(click here to view a topographcial map of the route)
Resources Guide Books: Other Books on Denali: Other useful books: Other Denali Expeditions: Other links Stores

Biwak di Cantu
Olaf and Rolf in the Biwak di Cantu, Ortles, Italy, 1995
Norbert in Action
Norbert in Action 		Chris in Action
Chris in Action

Why Denali?

Most people ask us: "Why Denali?" The question why people climb mountains is probably as old as mountaineering itself. My best answer is "Because it's there!" Coming up with a rational answer is almost impossible.

Arial view of Mt. Foraker and Denali (right)
If you are into mountaineering you probably know what I'm talking about, otherwise it's really hard to explain. To put it simple: We just enjoy climbing mountains. Of course Denali is not like any other peak. After all it is the highest mountain in North America. And be honest: When you look at the picture to the right, don't you think this is a great mountain? So here's the story how I actually got hooked on Denali:

It began sevral years ago when my friend Rolf started making serious plans about a Denali trip. He has dreamed of Denali for quite a long time. In the summer of 1996 his dream finally became reality. He joined an organized expedition, since he did not know too many other friends with similar high goals. But maybe I should let Rolf describe his exciting trip himself:

"I heard about Denali for the first time in 1980 and since then I kept it in my mind, but there were many obstacles to overcome: Rolf suitable friends, suitable time, profession, family etc. Finally in 1996 I said to myself "now or never" and joined a multinational team of 12 climbers (including 2 women) from 4 different countries (Italy, Germany, Latavia and Switzerland). We had never seen each other before but nevertheless we proved to be a very harmonious team. With us was Reinhard Pattscheider, the well known mountain climber from Italy who died last year in the Swiss Alps.

In Talkeetna we formed 2 groups of 6 people and together we made it up to the medical camp at 4300m (14,000ft). From here Reinhard made a solo attempt via Orient Express and West Buttress and reached the summit in bad weather. He said it was one of his hardest climbs. In the medical camp one group of 6 called it a day. Chris, Gerold and I made camp at 5200m and we spent 3 days and nights tentbound in bad weather. We then made our summit attempt together with Hans and Ursi from Switzerland who then came up. Below Denali Pass we turned back in white out and went back "home" to Talkeetna to all celebrate this nevertheless great and wonderful experience and adventure. Gerold and the 2 people from Latvia stayed at the medical camp and tried it a second time. They were lucky and got one glorious day for the summit. Congratulations!

Now I am back with Chris - the friend with whom I spent the days stormbound up high at 5200m (17,200ft) - and with my other two friends Norbert and Olaf from the German Alpine Club, Sektion Münster. Norbert and Olaf had to wait so long for their turn. Perhaps we are going to be lucky this time, but you never know in advance: Denali is unpredictable. First of all we want to enjoy our trip, because you are not winning if you are not having fun."

Since Rolf mentioned Denali the first time, I slowy got interested in an ascent as well. The only thing that I knew about the mountain back then was that it is supposed to be the coldest mountain on earth. This certainly did not seem too inviting to me, because I did not want to risk loosing any fingers or toes. Rolf planed to climb the mountain again after his first attempt and made loose plans the following years. I still was a little sceptical since I still was fearing the possibility of severe frostbite.

Last November Rolf then told me that he was making definite plans for this year, after last years plans did not work out. I got sevral books on Denali right away in order to learn more about the mountain, especially to evaluate the risk of an ascent. I came to the conclusion that with excellent physical preparation and knowledge about the mountain and its difficulties we would be able to minimize the risk to an acceptable level.

As it is very important to keep the spirits high especially during bad weather periods, I'm going to be taking a travel guitar along :-) Hopefully my fingers will still work in the cold ...

The Mountain and its Classic Route

This is a really nice description of the mountain and the West Buttress Route that I got from a british Denali expedition. I modified it slightly for our expedition.

Introduction

Mt. McKinley is the highest mountain in North America. It is situated in Alaska about 200 miles north of the capital Anchorage, and at a latitude of 63 degrees north is sub-arctic in character. Denali From the southern side the mountain rises almost 13,200 feet above the Kahiltna Glacier from where the normal routes begin, making the base to summit elevation greater than that for Mt. Everest. Night-time temperatures on McKinley frequently drop to -25ºC and the northern latitude means that the oxygen content in the air on McKinley's summit is equivalent to the oxygen available on the summit of a Himalayan peak that is 1,000 - 1,500 feet higher. All this adds up to a mountaineering challenge of significant proportions. Whilst the normal route of ascent is not technically difficult, it is a serious proposition and considerable effort is required to reach the summit.

The Classic Route

The West Buttress is the most frequented route on the mountain. Over two thirds of the climbers who attempt the mountain each year do so by this route. It has gained a reputation as being a crowded and simple walk, and it is true that when climbing the West Buttress you will pass many other climbers on the route. Nevertheless, the Buttress demands respect and as well as being a very long and arduous route, there are several exposed passages where a slip would be fatal.

The starting off point is the landing strip on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier at an altitude of about 7,200 feet. A descent down Heartbreak Hill leads to the main Kahiltna Glacier.
Mt. Foraker
Mt. Foraker - Denali's Satellite
At the base of this hill at an elevation of 6,750 feet you turn right and begin the long haul along the Kahiltna to the foot of Ski Hill at 7,700 feet. Ski Hill rises steeply for about 1,000 feet before levelling out towards the Kahiltna Pass at 10,320 feet although the pass itself does not need to be reached. The route then heads east up to the camp at 11,000 feet where snow shoes are usually left. This camp is at the bottom of Motorcycle Hill, a short but steep hill which leads to an exposed, rising traverse and eventually to a plateau at about 12,000 feet. The route along the plateau rises steadily until it reaches Windy Corner, a shallow notch between the West Buttress and the 13,500 foot hill to the right. This is potentially one of the more exposed parts of the route as the wind can rip around the corner and make travel impossible.

There is a campsite at about 13,500 feet just past the Corner but if conditions are good and the party going well it is best to continue to the main 14,000 foot camp which is very spacious and relatively sheltered. Once around Windy Corner, the laborious part of the route has been cracked and the rest of the route is a delight.

Mt. Foraker (Sultana) from 14,000 ft
It is normal to spend two or three days acclimatizing at the 14,000 foot camp and indeed this is often obligatory if the weather is bad. A steep headwall rises out of the basin that is the 14,000 foot camp. Initially simple plodding, the route eventually comes up against a 40 degree snow and ice slope which is fixed for its entire 700 foot length. Hard work jumaring up these fixed ropes leads to a small campsite on a ridge at about 16,200 feet. It is usual to first do a carry to this 16,200 foot camp before returning to collect the cache and move to the camp at 17,200 feet, known as the Crows Nest. This is the top camp and summit attempts are made from here.

The summit day is a hard one; over 3,000 feet of ascent and not an inconsiderable distance stretches out past Denali Pass, past the Archdeacons Tower, the Football Field and the final steep headwall which gives access to the summit ridge. Summit day is usually no less than ten hours up and down, the time required being totally dependent on snow conditions, weather and the strength of the party. Normally a near perfect day is required in order to be able to make a summit attempt.

Climbing Style

Climbing McKinley is unlike climbing any other mountain. Being so far north, the mountain experiences 24 hour daylight for most of the climbing season, making it possible to climb at any time of the day or night. It is customary to move very early in the morning or late in the evening on the Kahiltna Glacier to avoid the worst of the sun. Because of its very remoteness and the considerable distances involved, it is necessary to be completely self sufficient when arriving at the Kahiltna glacier.

The McKinley range is extremely remote and the only way it can be reached, other than a demanding 10 day glacier trip, is to fly into the Kahiltna Glacier by using one of the Air Taxi operators such as Hudson Air Service, K2 Aviation or Talkeetna Air Taxi. These are run by highly experienced bush pilots who have adapted their single engine Cessnas to land on skis. The planes can take up to three people plus equipment and the 45 minute flight takes you from the endless forests of the great Alaskan wilderness over the aptly named 'One Shot Pass' to the high mountains and a dramatic landing on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. There is a small ranger station here, equipped with radio, and most groups including ours are in daily contact with this base camp for weather forecasts.

Much of the initial stages of the route involves sled hauling. These sleds are basically childrens plastic sleds, although professional models are available. Since the professional sleds are much easier to handle especially in difficult terrain, we will be taking these along. Our loads are divided between sled and backpack to make for a truly

Denali towering above all other peaks
in the Alaska Range
enjoyable experience. The sleds (known locally as Kahiltna Pigs) are pulled by a rig attached to your rucksack waistbelt whilst prusick loops or clove hitches on the tailing rope ensure the sled doesn't stray too far from the rope to which you are tied. Suffice it to say that sled-hauling is an art that most people who climb McKinley never wish to repeat but it is unfortunately an essential part of the job. Snow shoes or Skis are also necessary. Since three of us are skiers we are opting for Skis. Rolf who has not skied a lot but is very athletic will also take skis along.

Once past the 11,000 foot camp, skis are usually abandoned until the return. Some sleds are taken as far as the 14,000 foot camp. Once past this, the climbing becomes more alpine and many climbers regard this camp as the real base camp of the mountain. Jumaring up the fixed line to the 16,200 foot camp leads to an airy alpine style ridge to the top camp at 17,000 feet. The summit day is a long and tiring climb which ascends to the windswept Denali Pass, continuing easily past the Archdeacons Tower and the exposed plateau known as the Football Field, and a final narrow and exposed summit ridge.

The key to success is to acclimatize properly. The only way to achieve this is to climb slowly. Each year people get HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) because they do not follow the basic rules on the mountain. This may have fatal consequences if it is not recognized early and treated properly. The only cure is rapid descent.

Tentative Itinerary

A vital part of the itinerary are the rest days. The only way to acclimatize to the high altitude is to take it easy and ascend slowly. Your body and also your mind need time to adjust to the changing environment. If you do not obey these basic rules you will most likely get HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) or even HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema). These cannot only jeopardize the success of the expedition, but they may also have fatal consequences if not treated properly. The only cure is descend, descend, descend.

On Denali almost everything depends on the weather. The itinerary certainly does, so this one is the perfect one, i.e. if we don't have any delays caused by bad weather.

Day Activity
1 Chris, Norbert and Rolf fly in from Frankfurt. Olaf flies in from Seattle. We meet in Anchorage in the evening. We transfer to the Anchor Arms Motel, located conveniently close to downtown Anchorage.
2 After breakfast we can visit the nearby climbing equipment shops of REI and AMH where late equipment purchases can be made. In the afternoon we make the two hour drive by minibus to Talkeetna. On the way we do our last grocery shopping. This sleepy village is the gateway to Denali National Park. We stay at the Swiss Alaska Inn.
3 Today we will have to register for our climb at the Ranger Station. Later we can check in with Hudson Air Service to prepare for our flight to the Kahiltna Glacier. If weather permits we probably want to do it today, otherwise we have to wait.
4 We fly into base camp on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier with Hudson Air Service. Their slogan is 'Fly an hour or walk a week', and the flight is one of the highlights of the trip, especially the crossing of 'One Shot Pass'. Base camp is at 7,200 feet where there is a pre-fabricated Rangers hut with a radio link. Usually the weather is warm during the day and it is common practice to move in the late evening on the lower part of the route. Therefore we would expect to spend this day rigging our sleds and preparing equipment before leaving base at about 6pm to make a camp at the foot of Ski Hill at about 7,800 feet.
5 Leaving our camp erected, we make a carry to about 9,700 feet and descend back down to spend another night at the foot of Ski Hill. We should be able to take most of our food and fuel on this carry.
6 We pack our camp and move to a camp at 9,700 feet. 
7 Single-carry to the foot of Motocycle Hill at 11,000 feet.
8 Rest day and acclimatization at 11,000 feet.
9 A critical day as we make a carry of food and fuel around Windy Corner to about 13,500 feet. Snow shoes are cached at 11,000 feet as we switch to crampons. We return to the 11,000 feet camp to sleep.
10 A tough day as we move with all our personal equipment and tents to the large camp at 14,000 feet. We collect one days food from our cache at 13,500 feet as we move through. We take one sled along.
11 We descend to 13,500 feet to recover our cache and return to our camp at 14,000 feet.
12 Rest day and acclimatization at the 14,000 feet camp.
13 We make a carry of about 5 days food and fuel to a cache site at 16,200 feet. The ground to about 15,500 feet is easy. Above this fixed ropes lead up a 40 degree snow slope to the ridge at 16,200 feet. We descend back down to our camp at 14,000 feet.
14 Yes, another rest and acclimatization day at the 14,000 feet camp.
15 We return to the cache at 16,200 feet and collect our food cache. We then continue to climb the awkward ridge towards the highest camp at 17,000 feet where we camp.
16 Rest and acclimatization at the 17,000 feet camp.
17 Summit day. Leaving the tents behind and carrying only light rucksacks, we climb the steepening slopes to Denali Pass. This can be a bitterly cold place, especially first thing in the morning. We turn south along a broad ridge and continue past the rocky outcrop of the Arch Deacons Tower to the west. Passing over a small col we are confronted with the sting in the tail. Across the flat plateau called the Football Field is a 700 feet headwall. Luckily it is technically straight forward. The final ridge to the summit at 20,320 feet can be quite narrow. We descend to the camp at 17,000 feet. Summit day will take between 10 and 14 hours depending on conditions and the strength of the party.
18 We reverse our steps back to the ridge and descend to the camp at 14,000 feet. If we are quick and not too tired we will descend all the way to the camp at 11,000 feet.
19 An early start and the thought of fresh food and cold beers spurs us down to Base Camp in one long day (7 hours or more). 
20 Fly to Talkeetna.
21 At leisure in Talkeetna.
22 - 27 We have built in to the itinerary an absolute minimum of six spare bad weather days. These are in case we are delayed in our itinerary on the mountain due to bad weather, or delayed flying into or out of the Kahiltna Glacier by bad weather. If we finish the expedition early that's great since we then have some time to travel. Denali National Park and the Kenai Peninsula would be our goals then.
28 Olaf flies from Anchorage back to Seattle.
29 Chris, Norbert and Rolf fly from Anchorage back to Frankfurt.

Expedition Equipment

Having the right equipement at the right time can make life much easier and more importantly last longer! A Denali expedition always involves serious winter camping, even if you go there during the summer. We are taking enough food along too endure a stay of up to 25 days on the mountain. Here's a list of the gear we're going to be hauling along:
  • Group gear
    Snow Saw
    Snow Shovel
  • Personal gear
      Clothing
    • 1 Warm Down Parka
    • 1 Warm Fleece Jacket
    • 1 Shell Gore Tex Jacket
    • 1 Warm Fleece Pants
    • 1 Shell Pants
    • 1 Pair of One Sport Everest Expedition Boots Everest Boot
    • 1 Warm Sleeping Bag (-40ºF/-40ºC rating)
    • 1 Closed Cell Foam Sleeping Pad (e.g. Z-Rest long)
    • 1 Therma Rest Sleeping Pad (Standard, long)
    • 2 Storm Proof Fire Lighters (Zippos do not work well)
    • 3 Pair of Socks (1 Pair sealed for the Summit Day)
    • 1 Pair of Down Booties
    • 1 Pair of Wool Mitts (Walkfäustlinge)
    • 1 Pair of Overmitts
    • 1 Pair of EMS Expedition Mitts
    • 2 Pair of Fleece Gloves (1 Pair sealed for the Summit Day)
    • 1 Pair of Liner Gloves
    • 1 Balancava
    • 1 Warm Hat
    • still incomplete ...
      Technical gear
    • 1 Expedition sized Backpack (80-90 liters)
    • 1 Expedition Sled
    • 1 Pair of Snowshoes or Alpine Touring Skis
    • 1 Pair Of Telescope Ski Poles
    • 1 Liter Thermos Bottle
    • 2 Wide-mouth Water Bottles (1 liter)
    • 1 Pee-bottle ('cause you don't want to have to leave the tent at 40ºF below 0)
    • Sunglasses
    • Ski goggles
    • 1 Ice Axe
    • 1 Ascender
    • 1 Climbing Harness and additional Carabiners, Prusiks, etc.
    • still incomplete ...
      Camera equipment
    • Slik U8000 tripod
    • Nikon F-90 with custom external power supply
    • 28-70mm and 70-300mm lenses
    • 30 rolls of Fuji Velvia Slide Film
Sleeping Bag It took me a long time to choose my sleeping bag. I've now settled with a Western Mountaineering Bison Super DryLoft. I was told by a lot of people that that temperatures can easily drop to -40ºF/-40ºC and that I should not settle with anything less. The best is just good enough.

Here's the story ...

Somewhere over the Atlantic, October 19, 1999.

Here I am sitting on a flight from Düsseldorf to Philadelphia reflecting over our Denali expedition. I always like to think about our time in Alaska. It has been my greatest mountainering adventure so far.

Meeting at the airport in Anchorage

Our whole adventure starts in Anchorage where Rolf, Norbert, Chris and I meat at the airport. I am flying in from Seattle and the other three are flying in from Frankfurt, Germany. It is great to see my friends again. We've not seen each other since the beginning of January, but we've kept in touch via e-mail and phone to get all the details organized. Long live the Internet! Alaska welcomes us with some really nice weather. Temperatures are in the high 60's and the sun is shining. While we are waiting for our shuttle we have some live music: I have to give a brief demonstration with my new travel guitar. Later on the guitar turns out to be one of our most valuable pieces of equipment.

We spend our first evening at Humpy's, a really cool Alaskan ale house. Rolf orders King Crab legs while the others enjoy fresh Alaskan fish. Of course we also have a few beers but we do not stay too long, since my friends are very tired due to their jet lag. The next day we buy our last pieces of equipment at the local stores and also get our rental sleds. Bill picks us up in order to get us and all our equipment to Talkeetna. Bill is the always smiling and friendly son of our landlord Werner in Talkeetna. Werner runs the Swiss AlaSka Inn in Talkeetna. On our way to Talkeetna we stop in Wasilla to do our last grocery shopping. Talkeetna does not have any grocery stores - at least not any worth to mention. Even the people from Talkeetna drive 80 miles to Wasilla in order to do their shopping.

Once in Talkeetna we get our first view of Denali also known here simply as "the mountain". The view is breathtaking. The Alaska Range is dominated by three mountains and all the other peaks seem so insignificant from the distance. Denali as the highest mountain rises to more than 20,000 feet above sea level (more than 6000m). The second highest peak Mount Foraker is more than 3000 ft below Denali and the third highest peak Mt. Hunter is even more than 6000 ft below Denali. Most of the other peaks are well below 10,000 feet and still unclimbed and unnamed. We enjoy the late afternoon walking through Talkeetna stopping by at the airstrip and down by the river. Although it's already nearly 11 pm the sun has just set behind the ridges of the Alaska Range. On our way back to the Swiss Alaska Inn we stop by at the ranger station. Through one of the open windows I can listen to the radio traffic of a dramatic rescue mission near the summit of Denali. Three british climbers are trapped high on the mountain at nearly 19,000 ft. Two of them are currently being airlifted with the Lama helicopter, one at a time. Air rescue missions like these are only possible when the weather conditions are nearly perfect but there have been high winds on the upper part of the mountain for the last days and therefore the resuce mission was not possible any earlier. The third climber is still unaccounted. Apparently he started descending on his own. Planes are still searching for him. After having listened to the rescue mission I go to bed with mixed feelings. We've just been reminded again that Denali should not be underestimated.

The next morning we stop by at the ranger station in order to get the permit for our group. Together with some other groups of mountaineers we get a brief introduction to the route by one of the rangers. The ranger also informs us about the current policies regarding the disposal of human waste and that of trash. This brief introduction definitely is just a refreshment of already acquired knowledge and cannot replace the detailed planing in advance. It's now time to get back to our lodge and start packing all our stuff ready for the flight to the mountain. Luckily it's warm and nice weather and we can spread out our equipment in Werner's backyard. It's a little frightening to see how much gear each of us has to take along. There are no Sherpas on Denali that carry your equipment! Each of us has a sled and backpack loaded with equipment totaling a weight of approximately 60 kg. After sevral hours of careful packing we are ready to take off. We throw all our stuff in the pickup and drive to the airstrip. Our planes are already waiting to be loaded. Each Cessna takes two of us with our gear and a pilot. Rolf and Chris fly with one plane, Norbert and I hop on the other plane. The flight to the basecamp promises to be one of the highlights. We have perfect flying conditions, not meaning that there aren't any clouds. Mount Hunter - close to the basecamp - appears behind a barrier of clouds.

To be continued ...

One of the highlights was the party at the medical camp at 14,000 ft on June 2nd. Although 10ºF below zero we had live music and a lot of other cool presentations :-)

We summited on June 4th and returned safely from the mountain on June 6th.

The Music

The travel guitar that I took along turned out to be one of our most valubale pieces of equipment. To quote one of my teammates: "Taking the guitar along was the best idea ever". Our live music was also welcomed by a lot of other teams on the mountain. Especially the Denali West Rib team from Tuscon, Arizona enjoyed the music a lot.

Here are some recordings of songs that my teammates enjoyed a lot :-)

Song Artist Format
Song For A Winter's Night Gordon Lightfoot MP3
Go My Way Gordon Lightfoot MP3
Blood And Fire Indigo Girls MP3
Closer To Fine Indigo Girls MP3
LA Freeway Guy Clark MP3
Tears In Heaven Eric Clapton MP3


Last modified: Sat Feb 17 22:26:14 CET 2001 by Olaf Meyer 		Zur Startseite unserer Sektion