Denali
At 20,320 ft, Denali, also known as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain in North America. For 29 days and nights, N.O.L.S. instructors Steve Goryl and Jim Chisholm led an expedition up and down the mountain. At the time, Steve was the lead mountaineering instructor at N.O.L.S., and Wilford the chairman of the board.
K-2 Aviation took us to the Kahiltna glacier at 7,500 ft where our 7-mile trek to camp 1 commenced. This photo, taken by expedition leader Steve Goryl, includes N.O.L.S. instructor Jim Chisholm kneeling to the left of the N.O.L.S. banner.
This photo of Mount Denali notes our route.
This photo gives one a good sense of how massive and challenging this mountain is to climb. Note that to climb high mountains such as Denali and Everest, it is important that you “climb high and sleep low”. By climbing up to the next camp site a few thousand feet above the previous camp, one is acclimatizing one’s body to an atmosphere with less oxygen. By then climbing down and “sleeping low”, you are giving your body a rest from the higher altitude you will soon return to.
It was determined that the climb should be up the West Buttress route, which necessitated this seven-mile journey using roped glacier travel to Camp 1.
Wilford’s nephew Dr. Steve Barr joined the expedition.
Each day, Wilford recorded what was happening, which later was condensed into this interview aired on NPR’s Morning Edition:
Every night we had to dig into the snow several feet, into which we anchored our tents to reduce the risk of our tents, and the climbers inside, being blown away by 100 mph winds.
On day 14, the mountain was hit by a major storm that forced us to stay put for 4 days at 14,000 ft. During those same days and nights, a Japanese team was trapped near the summit, resulting in the death of their leader from high altitude pulmonary edema.
Our two leaders, Steve Goryl and Jim Chisholm, led our team for fifteen hours in deep wet snow from 14,000 to 17,500 ft, Then, at the request of the National Park Service, they continued up to 18,500 ft and brought the body down. The next day a team made up largely of National Park Service rangers, came up and lowered the body down to 14,000 ft where a helicopter brought the body to Anchorage.
Setting up camp halfway up the mountain with many climbing days ahead.
View on ascent of the highest point in North America.
Our team on the summit