Alpine Ascents International ("AAI") Enjoys Great Success on Denali

Alpine Ascents was 100% successful climbing Denali this season as the weather window closes for the year in the Alaska Range.

Denali / Bryan Goff

Alpine Ascents International

Alpine Ascents International (“AAI”) enjoyed a very successful climbing season on Denali in 2024. Alpine Ascents, a world-class mountain guiding company headquartered in Seattle, has been leading climbing expeditions for 38 years. Founder and President, Todd Burleson, is a business leader and one of the world’s most prominent mountaineers. Todd has led 8 expeditions to Mt. Everest and has successfully guided expeditions on each of the Seven Summits. His company currently offers 30 different expeditions and 50 training courses in 14 countries, including the Arctic and Antarctic regions. These expeditions range from three-day climbs on Mt. Rainier to training courses in the North Cascades and Alaska, and ascents of the highest mountains around the world. Here is a final dispatch from Alpine Ascents teams 'Climb & Punishment' and 'Hasta La Vista' from Denali this year:

“Our final two teams – Climb & Punishment and Hasta La Vista – descended the Kahiltna Glacier as sunset melted into sunrise in the summer sky, and have now flown off the glacier. What a season it’s been! Our teams went 10 for 10 reaching the summit; the cherry on top of a special season – thanks to all who joined us.”

AAI Mission Statement

Alpine Ascents is committed to developing risk cognizant, self-reliant and environmentally-conscious mountaineers, and offering courses and expeditions of unsurpassed quality throughout the world. Our business practices stress ethical and culturally aware travel.

Denali

Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, is North America’s highest peak, standing 20,310 ft. in the remote and beautiful Alaska Range. As North America’s tallest mountain, Denali is a member of the epochal Seven Summits – the highest peak on each of the seven continents. Climbing Denali represents a significant mountaineering challenge, which requires extensive climbing experience, preparation, technical skills, and a high-level of conditioning. The Alaska Range faces some of the most extreme weather in the world, and Denali is its most prized and exposed jewel. This extreme weather, coupled with diminished oxygen at high altitude and its remote location, makes Denali one of the hardest and most dangerous climbs in the world. Denali actually ‘climbs higher’ than its actual height due to its proximity to the equator – and high altitude exacerbates all aspects of climbing.

The first verifiable ascent to Denali's summit was achieved on June 7, 1913, by climbers Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum., who climber Denali via the South Summit. In 1951, Bradford Washburn successfully summited the West Buttress route for the first time. The West Buttress is considered to be the most straight forward and safest route, and therefore the most traveled and popular route today. The ‘West Butt’ demands considerable expertise in glacier travel, crevasse navigation, and technical climbing on rock and ice.

Beyond such mountaineering prerequisites, the weather stands out on this mountain as a key variable and concern. The extreme weather results in temperatures often dropping below -40°F (-40°C), and high winds that can exceed 100 mph (160 km/h). The aforementioned high-altitude poses significant risks, including acute mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), and high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE). Climbers must be well-versed in recognizing and managing these potentially deadly conditions.

With a topographic prominence off 20,194 ft., and a topographic isolation (the distance to the nearest peak of equal or greater height) of 4,621.1 miles, Denali is the third most prominent and third most isolated peak on Earth, after Mt. Everest and Aconcagua. Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.

Denali - Alaska Range / Landon Arnold