Great video! In May of 1989, I was on Denali where eleven people died! It was the second most stormiest year! I witnessed the weather writing on the mountain and "escaped"! In January 1996, on Aconcagua during high winds and snow, I turned around leading five companions safely back to our 19,200' camp! That same year in May, the same scenario turned tragic with many lives lost on Everest during the infamous Scott Fischer - Rob Hall expeditions. They did not heed their plans of a 2 PM turn around time to descend. Only fools try to conquer mountains!!! Sincerely, Steve Thaw, Moraga, California
Wow....this is absolutely one of the very best videos I’ve ever seen about this climb...Alaska is my home, and I see Denali from the Anchorage area all the time and have always wondered what climbing it would be like!
Brilliant video, mentally Denali has to be the most demanding mountain on the planet. There's far more technically and physically demanding mountains I feel I'd be able to face one day but the weather on Denali can only be described as bleak, I couldn't do it. Really well done to all of you.
And zero support from the best I can tell you are the support. Which makes me feel less guilty about to be honest. Watching those sherpas haul gear and drag people up a mountain is unsettling to say the least
Denali has to be one of the most massive mountains in the world. Just the area around the base of it seems massive and the actual amount of feet from its base to the summit seems staggering. Like when people climb everest they are already a significant ways up it from base camp, compared to Denali, at least to me anyway. Also like a majority of The higher peaks in the world, there are no sherpas to carry the gear and basically do the hardest part(s) of the climb. I am no expert by any means, but the approach your team took, to me was very instrumental in the successful summit by your team. The weather obviously dictates much of your strategy, and given the weather you dealt with, the methodical and calculated approach seemed to really work well for you. Rather than a fast and draining pace, your team used a steady yet relaxed approach, lessening the fatigue and energy impact, coupled with well timed periods of rest in between pushes worked phenomenal.. all around amazing. Excellent work and great footage..
That was really awesome to watch! Thank you for even including the animations on how cheyne stokes respirations worked. That definitely was cool to learn about!
My toes go numb as soon as the temp drops below 40f. That's with winter boots on too. I wasn't built for extreme cold. I was built for consuming pizza.
Happy to! Six months before: - 1 hour stair master aiming for HR around 140-150 3 days/week Five months before: - Go up to 5 days/week on stair master Four months before: -Add 30lb weighted vest for stair master -Go up to 6 days/week on stair master Three months before: -Go up to 45lb weighted vest on stair master -One hike/week with at least 2k vertical gain Two months before: -Add fully weighted pack you will use on Denali on hikes -Go down to 4 days/week on stair master. Go up to 2-3 hikes/week -Get up to highish altitude if you can (I hiked up Mt Elbert and spent some time in Breckinridge) Three weeks before: -Taper off all training over two weeks. One week rest.
This is a dream of mine! I've been climbing mountains since a little boy with my old man! Was the funniest Thang too do with the old man he's 50 now and still at it can even out sprint me almost 😂
Nice. Did solo ascent 10 years ago. A hard 6000er. As hard as some smaller 7000ers but much, much easier than 8000er and harder 7000ers. Also supposedly much easier than top of Canada, Mt. Logan.
You mention having years of mountaineering experience prior to climbing Denali. Would you mind sharing a few mountains you climbed in preparation for Denali?
Sure! Pico de Orizaba is a great mountain to test how you handle altitude, which is what I did. As for technical skills I picked those up climbing glaciers in the North Cascades and Mt Rainier over the years. Rainier is probably ideal for training because winter conditions will give you a sense of the temps and allow you to test gear. In the spring/summer you can practice running belay, crevasse rescue, proper crampon technique, exc. Lots of great glacier routes up Rainier of varying difficulty so you can advance over time
Bro if i was climbing the tallest mountain on the continent and then there was a massive earthquake in the middle of the glacier id legit piss myself and pass out. That sounds TERRIFYING
Ha! Cool story bro but the peak of Denali would only be around Camp 2 out of 5 on Everest on a southern ascension. I will say having to pack in all of your own equipment does make Denali a very challenging ascent but any mountain where there is no debate about the use of supplemental oxygen doesn’t really compare to Everest or K2. I wish I had the time and money to attempt something like this but I don’t so I guess I will have to settle with watching others do it on TH-cam. It would be so amazing.
Hey there this is an old comment so I don’t know if you’ll see this or if you’ve already tried without a guide lol. I heavily discourage this climb without an experienced guide if you have any loved ones.
I had three main systems: 2 GoPros, an S21 cell phone, and a DSLR. The S21 was the most useful, since it had three lenses including telephoto, low weight, a great sensor, and it can be stored close to body heat in a pocket. The DSLR was very robust to cold, but a bit heavy and clunky. I used it mainly for timelapses, which eventually killed the battery from cold. The GoPro was useless on the upper mountain, the batteries irreversibly died from cold only a few minutes after exposure, but the hands off capability and low weight makes it great for the lower mountain. If you're lucky it might still work higher up, in which case it's the ideal wide angle camera to have. If I were to do it again, I'd bring the same setup with maybe an insulative case or external power source for the GoPros
@@themountainexperience5692 Did you keep your gopro batteries in a pocket or in your sleeping bag when you slept and when you were climbing? I'm trying to get a sense of how many batteries to bring and if anything can mitigate the extreme cold killing the battery so fast. Maybe I should wrap my gopro in foam? I think I'm going to test the foam wrapping on Orizaba in Feb. Great video btw!
@@LJLeung A foam wrap could help, worth trying out on Orizaba! I did keep my GoPro batteries in my pockets until using them. But the GoPro itself is so poorly insulated that they died within minutes after putting them in the GoPro and powering it on during the storms. The other option to try would be using an external battery pack you can keep in your pocket and running a USB C cable to power the GoPro. Best of luck!
been there done that :) Looks like you guys left for 17k camp not having a good weather window, but it worked out at the end. We sat 10 days at 14k waiting for one.
Even for experienced mountaineers Denali’s conditions are difficult to interpret. What the forecast calls for and what actually manifests are two different things, so both to maximize success and minimize risk you want someone who knows the mountain well making the calls about when to move. It will be more expensive, about 2-3x what it costs for an unguided attempt. Those are the biggest pros and cons
@@andrewdavenport3898 You must train by eating nothing but philly cheesesteaks everyday for 6 months. Also supplement your diet with miller lite. Make sure you bring an oxygen tank because the air is thin up there. Training involved a strict exercise regiment of watching eagles games while yelling at my tv and eating junk food.
Thank you for sharing. What 2 boot styles did you bring for the expedition? Also, what boot size did you end up going with ( considering sock layering/foot swell - while keeping proper cold protection ) Thank you
Some used a 6000m boot with a removable overboot for the upper mountain. I personally just used an 8000m boot throughout the trip to keep it simple, and it worked great for me. It comes down to personal preference, just make sure you have something rated to the range of 40 below for summit day. My feet tend not to swell much so I only did a half size up from normal. And for sure test them out on something smaller like Rainier or Baker beforehand. Hope that helps!
@@themountainexperience5692 Thank you for taking the time to respond. I agree with the simplistic/warmer option of the 8000m boot. Good to know what size option above normal worked for you on Denali. Thank you 🙏🏼
Most of us actually hadn't met until just before the expedition, which made it really cool to see how the group came together over the coming weeks to work together to make the trip a success. By the end of something like this you will know your tentmates well
@@themountainexperience5692 dude, I really enjoyed your vid. I’m planning to do Denali on 2024. Would you mind helping me with a training guide to be ready? Thanks a lot if you do.
Hey I come from Horizon Sports- we are a Nature Sports & Wellness SVOD/Linear channel available in Europe/ Asia and USA. We are looking for video contents to put on our platform, and unlike TH-cam we like to compensate creators on mutually agreed upon previous terms. We would like to have the rights to publish this video on our platform .. Let me know what the conditions may be. Thx, Arturo……. Marketing
Yeah, all the charisma and excitement of making toast, or watching paint dry. I've seen more adventure in laxative commercials. I think I fell asleep there in the middle somewhere beween the helicopter crash and the cannibalism. What happened to the all-Lesbian team?
I understand the allure of these climbs and am fascinated by the videos but ultimately it’s a foolish pursuit. Adventure can be found in less dangerous ways. Dying for a hobby and leaving behind family is irresponsible and rather than really living life by risking it you are taking it for granted.
Any person getting HAPE at 17000 ft should not to on any mountain. From these video shots it,s more a walk to the summit than a climb. I guess I have been watching too many K2 and Everest climb videos.. If you can ski down it it;s only a matter of time before you catch a chairliftt to the top. In comparison to others.This is not one of the great or dangerous climbs around. More tourists die on the swiss and italian alps then here.
Tell me you don't know anything about climbing without telling me. HAPE can hit even great mountaineers; it can strike randomly. Outside of the elevation, Everest is not any more technically difficult than Denali. It's longer and higher; not harder. Skiing down is something very few have done; it's not going to have a chairlift any time soon. If you think Denali isn't a great climb, but consider Everest one then I don't think you know much about climbing. As far as more deaths on the Alps; the Alps are easily accessible so way more yahoos end up there than on Denali. You aren't going to be climbing Denali unless you know what you are doing or you are paying someone who knows what they are doing to take you up there.
How does this not have many hundreds of thousands more views… Amazing, well-produced.
Great video!
In May of 1989, I was on Denali where eleven people died! It was the second most stormiest year! I witnessed the weather writing on the mountain and "escaped"! In January 1996, on Aconcagua during high winds and snow, I turned around leading five companions safely back to our 19,200' camp! That same year in May, the same scenario turned tragic with many lives lost on Everest during the infamous Scott Fischer - Rob Hall expeditions. They did not heed their plans of a 2 PM turn around time to descend. Only fools try to conquer mountains!!! Sincerely, Steve Thaw, Moraga, California
That’s wild. Big mountains are no joke! Kudos to you for making a good call and getting out of there. Cheers
This video deserves a whole lot more views for the accomplishment than much of the nonsense on social media. Awesome work.
Wow....this is absolutely one of the very best videos I’ve ever seen about this climb...Alaska is my home, and I see Denali from the Anchorage area all the time and have always wondered what climbing it would be like!
Very epic adventure! Thank you for a quite informative and great video!
Brilliant video, mentally Denali has to be the most demanding mountain on the planet. There's far more technically and physically demanding mountains I feel I'd be able to face one day but the weather on Denali can only be described as bleak, I couldn't do it. Really well done to all of you.
And zero support from the best I can tell you are the support. Which makes me feel less guilty about to be honest. Watching those sherpas haul gear and drag people up a mountain is unsettling to say the least
Enjoyed every minute of the video, thank you for all the intel. Much appreciated.
Incredible journey thanks for sharing it with us !!
Denali has to be one of the most massive mountains in the world. Just the area around the base of it seems massive and the actual amount of feet from its base to the summit seems staggering. Like when people climb everest they are already a significant ways up it from base camp, compared to Denali, at least to me anyway. Also like a majority of The higher peaks in the world, there are no sherpas to carry the gear and basically do the hardest part(s) of the climb. I am no expert by any means, but the approach your team took, to me was very instrumental in the successful summit by your team. The weather obviously dictates much of your strategy, and given the weather you dealt with, the methodical and calculated approach seemed to really work well for you. Rather than a fast and draining pace, your team used a steady yet relaxed approach, lessening the fatigue and energy impact, coupled with well timed periods of rest in between pushes worked phenomenal.. all around amazing. Excellent work and great footage..
wow, this was so informative. I earned a lot, thanks for making this stuff for free. very well done!
Glad it was helpful!
Absolutely brilliant content, thx mate
This is amazing, congrats guys!
Thank you!
Amazing video. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Thank you for making this video
I was cold just watching this. Congratulations on making the summit!
That was really awesome to watch! Thank you for even including the animations on how cheyne stokes respirations worked. That definitely was cool to learn about!
Thanks for watching!
This is very very beautiful video and with great information on guiding love Alaska
Thank you! Alaska is a one-of-a-kind place
Yes haven't been there would love to visit Alaska in winter and enjoy the mountains and Alaska wildlife and watch live fur rondy
Beautiful work!!
Great video. Alpine Ascents runs a great program.
They really do
Nice job, well done !
Great work
Awesome video! Looked beautiful at the top
Thanks! The view from the top was incredible
Very nice video. Watching it a year after you posted it.
😍😍😍
Thanks for watching!
3:40 what is that guy rubbing on his zipper? And why is he doing that of course lol.
This is such a crazy video well done
Great report, thanks for sharing that
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
My toes go numb as soon as the temp drops below 40f. That's with winter boots on too. I wasn't built for extreme cold. I was built for consuming pizza.
Great video!
Congratulations guys
incredible video, but I am sure it doesn't do the journey justice. What an epic journey
Congratulations. 6 days at 17 camp in a storm is badass (2 nights was enough for me in 2017). Did I see an amputee climber on the summit footage?
You did! He’s an inspirational guy, loved having him on the team
Nice! I only saw the side of that mountain when I was a kid and it was still Mt McKinley.
Seriously cool footage! Do you have a gear list you'd be willing to share? PS sometimes the music is too loud vs. the footage audio.
This is a VICE level documentary dude, I'm impressed.
This was epic.
Any chance you could share the strength/endurance training plan you followed for the 6 months prior to the climb?
Happy to!
Six months before:
- 1 hour stair master aiming for HR around 140-150 3 days/week
Five months before:
- Go up to 5 days/week on stair master
Four months before:
-Add 30lb weighted vest for stair master
-Go up to 6 days/week on stair master
Three months before:
-Go up to 45lb weighted vest on stair master
-One hike/week with at least 2k vertical gain
Two months before:
-Add fully weighted pack you will use on Denali on hikes
-Go down to 4 days/week on stair master. Go up to 2-3 hikes/week
-Get up to highish altitude if you can (I hiked up Mt Elbert and spent some time in Breckinridge)
Three weeks before:
-Taper off all training over two weeks. One week rest.
great video
BONUS FACT: Just like Malaysia's Mount Mulu National Park in the state of Sarawak, Alaska's Mount Denali can only be accessed by plane.
This is a dream of mine! I've been climbing mountains since a little boy with my old man! Was the funniest Thang too do with the old man he's 50 now and still at it can even out sprint me almost 😂
That’s awesome, keep it up
Time lapse shows the atmosphere is basically a river.
Nice. Did solo ascent 10 years ago. A hard 6000er. As hard as some smaller 7000ers but much, much easier than 8000er and harder 7000ers. Also supposedly much easier than top of Canada, Mt. Logan.
You mention having years of mountaineering experience prior to climbing Denali. Would you mind sharing a few mountains you climbed in preparation for Denali?
Sure! Pico de Orizaba is a great mountain to test how you handle altitude, which is what I did. As for technical skills I picked those up climbing glaciers in the North Cascades and Mt Rainier over the years. Rainier is probably ideal for training because winter conditions will give you a sense of the temps and allow you to test gear. In the spring/summer you can practice running belay, crevasse rescue, proper crampon technique, exc. Lots of great glacier routes up Rainier of varying difficulty so you can advance over time
18:00 did you guys ski down?
Those were from another team. Several groups left skis at the base of the fixed lines before continuing on the upper mountain
Bro if i was climbing the tallest mountain on the continent and then there was a massive earthquake in the middle of the glacier id legit piss myself and pass out. That sounds TERRIFYING
I didn't know how cruel this mountain could be. It's way worse than Everest.
Ha! Cool story bro but the peak of Denali would only be around Camp 2 out of 5 on Everest on a southern ascension. I will say having to pack in all of your own equipment does make Denali a very challenging ascent but any mountain where there is no debate about the use of supplemental oxygen doesn’t really compare to Everest or K2. I wish I had the time and money to attempt something like this but I don’t so I guess I will have to settle with watching others do it on TH-cam. It would be so amazing.
how does one climb it? how does one find a job to afford to take the time off?
I heard some people say that Aconcagua & Denali are on the same continent apparently. Even the Spanish wiki page says they are for whatever reason.
Will you please guide me how to climb it in alpine style (without guide) ??
Hey there this is an old comment so I don’t know if you’ll see this or if you’ve already tried without a guide lol. I heavily discourage this climb without an experienced guide if you have any loved ones.
What kind of photography equipment did you use or would you use if you could do it again? GoPro, point and shoot, etc.?
I had three main systems: 2 GoPros, an S21 cell phone, and a DSLR. The S21 was the most useful, since it had three lenses including telephoto, low weight, a great sensor, and it can be stored close to body heat in a pocket. The DSLR was very robust to cold, but a bit heavy and clunky. I used it mainly for timelapses, which eventually killed the battery from cold. The GoPro was useless on the upper mountain, the batteries irreversibly died from cold only a few minutes after exposure, but the hands off capability and low weight makes it great for the lower mountain. If you're lucky it might still work higher up, in which case it's the ideal wide angle camera to have. If I were to do it again, I'd bring the same setup with maybe an insulative case or external power source for the GoPros
@@themountainexperience5692 Awesome! Thanks for your feedback. Looks like it was a great experience.
@@smithawauburn Anytime, happy to help!
@@themountainexperience5692 Did you keep your gopro batteries in a pocket or in your sleeping bag when you slept and when you were climbing? I'm trying to get a sense of how many batteries to bring and if anything can mitigate the extreme cold killing the battery so fast. Maybe I should wrap my gopro in foam? I think I'm going to test the foam wrapping on Orizaba in Feb.
Great video btw!
@@LJLeung A foam wrap could help, worth trying out on Orizaba! I did keep my GoPro batteries in my pockets until using them. But the GoPro itself is so poorly insulated that they died within minutes after putting them in the GoPro and powering it on during the storms. The other option to try would be using an external battery pack you can keep in your pocket and running a USB C cable to power the GoPro. Best of luck!
did you guys utilize a hypoxic chamber pre-trip?
We did not
underrated video
fucking amazing! a dream peak of mine....hopefully one day.
been there done that :) Looks like you guys left for 17k camp not having a good weather window, but it worked out at the end. We sat 10 days at 14k waiting for one.
is this mckinley?
Yes
What were the pros and cons of climbing with Alpine Ascents?
Even for experienced mountaineers Denali’s conditions are difficult to interpret. What the forecast calls for and what actually manifests are two different things, so both to maximize success and minimize risk you want someone who knows the mountain well making the calls about when to move. It will be more expensive, about 2-3x what it costs for an unguided attempt. Those are the biggest pros and cons
I've been to the highest point in the state of Delaware.
Do you have a youtube documentary I can watch about this? I am thinking of doing the highest point in Delaware in 2026. How did you train for this?
@@andrewdavenport3898 You must train by eating nothing but philly cheesesteaks everyday for 6 months. Also supplement your diet with miller lite. Make sure you bring an oxygen tank because the air is thin up there. Training involved a strict exercise regiment of watching eagles games while yelling at my tv and eating junk food.
Great video 🙂 I wanted to climb that but after watching this I realized that I couldn't do it. Awesome video!!!!
Hi! I'm a TV producer and we'd like to buy some of your footage of Denali. I can't find any email on your page. How can I contact you? Thanks!
Sure thing! Send me an email mountainguye@gmail.com
@@themountainexperience5692 Thanks! I've sent the email. Did you receive it?
Im 19, and one day i hope to summit Denali.
ik it'll be ass, but I really want to do it
5:36 What a shot
Thank you for sharing. What 2 boot styles did you bring for the expedition? Also, what boot size did you end up going with ( considering sock layering/foot swell - while keeping proper cold protection ) Thank you
Some used a 6000m boot with a removable overboot for the upper mountain. I personally just used an 8000m boot throughout the trip to keep it simple, and it worked great for me. It comes down to personal preference, just make sure you have something rated to the range of 40 below for summit day. My feet tend not to swell much so I only did a half size up from normal. And for sure test them out on something smaller like Rainier or Baker beforehand. Hope that helps!
@@themountainexperience5692 Thank you for taking the time to respond. I agree with the simplistic/warmer option of the 8000m boot. Good to know what size option above normal worked for you on Denali. Thank you 🙏🏼
What other mountains have you conquered with Alpine Ascents?
Just Denali so far!
Did you choose your tent mate? Can't imagine spending 20 days cooped up with a stranger.
Most of us actually hadn't met until just before the expedition, which made it really cool to see how the group came together over the coming weeks to work together to make the trip a success. By the end of something like this you will know your tentmates well
@@themountainexperience5692
dude, I really enjoyed your vid. I’m planning to do Denali on 2024. Would you mind helping me with a training guide to be ready? Thanks a lot if you do.
Does every climber needs to attach their own ropes or do you use the ones that are already there? Thx
The fixed lines above 14 camp are maintained by NPS starting usually around mid-May. All other ropes used are brought by individual climbing teams
can you ski down from summit to camp 17?
Under the right snow conditions it's feasible, a fair number have done it. But on the day we summited the ice conditions were not great for skiing
what fitness gym built a muscle car and didn't weight for the spotter to say your ripped
Da solo è difficile per via dei costi
How do hikers go to the bathroom during these long ass hikes 🤔
On normal hikes you dig a cathole. same thing in the snow
holy shit an earthquake too? daaaaaaaaaamn
Hey I come from Horizon Sports- we are a Nature Sports & Wellness SVOD/Linear channel available in Europe/ Asia and USA. We are looking for video contents to put on our platform, and unlike TH-cam we like to compensate creators on mutually agreed upon previous terms. We would like to have the rights to publish this video on our platform .. Let me know what the conditions may be.
Thx,
Arturo…….
Marketing
I’d love to chat. Send me an email: mountainguye@gmail.com
guy in red loves zippers
Mt. McKinley
Booooring...more of a science lesson than an adventure.
@hollyfernandez-dq9pw let me see your video of your denali summit please?
Yeah, all the charisma and excitement of making toast, or watching paint dry. I've seen more adventure in laxative commercials. I think I fell asleep there in the middle somewhere beween the helicopter crash and the cannibalism. What happened to the all-Lesbian team?
Mount McKinley
Denali
I understand the allure of these climbs and am fascinated by the videos but ultimately it’s a foolish pursuit. Adventure can be found in less dangerous ways. Dying for a hobby and leaving behind family is irresponsible and rather than really living life by risking it you are taking it for granted.
Gosh such an original comment!
Any person getting HAPE at 17000 ft should not to on any mountain. From these video shots it,s more a walk to the summit than a climb. I guess I have been watching too many K2 and Everest climb videos.. If you can ski down it it;s only a matter of time before you catch a chairliftt to the top. In comparison to others.This is not one of the great or dangerous climbs around. More tourists die on the swiss and italian alps then here.
You may enjoy watching the ski descent of K2 by Andrzej Bargiel.
Tell me you don't know anything about climbing without telling me.
HAPE can hit even great mountaineers; it can strike randomly.
Outside of the elevation, Everest is not any more technically difficult than Denali. It's longer and higher; not harder.
Skiing down is something very few have done; it's not going to have a chairlift any time soon.
If you think Denali isn't a great climb, but consider Everest one then I don't think you know much about climbing.
As far as more deaths on the Alps; the Alps are easily accessible so way more yahoos end up there than on Denali. You aren't going to be climbing Denali unless you know what you are doing or you are paying someone who knows what they are doing to take you up there.
Joe VAN DIJK I suggest doing some research on the topic before commenting...
AMERICA BAD
You sound silly. You need to stop.