Denali under a lenticular cap, from Eielson visitor Center, interior Alaska
Denali The highest mountain in North America, cold and glaciated.
63°04′N 151°00′W · 6,190 m 20,308 ft · United States
Denali at a glance
Elevation 6,190 m / 20,308 ft
Summit of North America
Location United States
First ascent 1913
Main route West Buttress
Season May–Jun
Trip length 17–21 days
Typical cost from ~$9,000 Registration, fees and the rules on the mountain follow the National Park Service; this season's figures are on the Permits & costs page.
Where on Earth: Denali, one of the 7 summits. · Imagery: NASA Earth Observatory “Blue Marble” · borders: Natural Earth (public domain) All maps of Denali
Denali (6,190 m 20,308 ft ) in Alaska is the coldest of the 7 summits and demands full expedition skills: glacier travel, crevasse rescue, and hauling everything you need on sleds.
What Denali costs With a guided expedition $12,700–$14,950 for the middle half of the 19 trips we researched.
The full range is $10,000–$23,830.
4 more are priced in other currencies and are not included here.
Each company’s own price, in the currency it quotes, read from its website. Prices change, so check with the company.
Every company that guides it → Compare them side by side →
Usually extra Organising it yourself About $2,500–$3,500 on the mountain.
The $450 National Park Service fee, the ski plane from Talkeetna and back, three weeks of food and fuel, and lodging in Anchorage and Talkeetna.
Our estimate. International flights, gear and insurance are extra.
What every peak costs, guided or not →
Climbing guide Table of Contents →
Table of Contents Full contents of the Denali guide, linked page by page. Climbing Denali: Overview So close to the Arctic Circle that the air is thinner and the cold fiercer than its height suggests. You land on the Kahiltna Glacier by ski-plane, then haul your own sled and build snow walls against the storms. Denali: Permits & costs What climbing Denali involves on paper and in cash: the climbing permit and its 60-day registration, park and rescue realities, insurance, and guided-climb costs. Introduction: the 7 summits Denali among the 7 summits: why its far-northern latitude makes it one of the coldest and, overall, one of the hardest of them all. Planning and preparation Everything to settle before you fly to Alaska: trip planning, route choice, the risks, altitude and health, fitness, the cache-and-carry system, and what to pack. Background information Life on the mountain (permits, sanitation, weather, rescue, communications and camp craft) plus the history of Denali, the state of Alaska, and the National Park. The West Buttress route The standard route, followed by 80–90% of Denali climbers: nine stages from the flight in to Kahiltna Base Camp all the way to the 6194 m summit and back. Reference GPS waypoints for the West Buttress, the maps, books, websites and services behind this guide, and a linked A–Z index of everything it covers. Books & films The guidebooks, expedition accounts and films worth your time before Denali. Denali expedition operators Every company that sells a guided climb of Denali: who guides it, what it costs, and how long each has been in business. Did you know?
In 1910, who reached Denali's North Peak first, and why does it matter that it wasn't the South Peak?
Four Fairbanks miners known as the 'Sourdough Expedition' (Billy Taylor, Pete Anderson, Charlie McGonagall, and expedition organizer Tom Lloyd) climbed the North Peak, not realizing it was about 850 feet lower than the true summit.
Taylor and Anderson planted a 14-foot spruce flagpole near the top using improvised gear like sheet-metal crampons and coal shovels. None of the four had prior mountaineering experience, and the climb was widely dismissed as a hoax until Hudson Stuck's 1913 team spotted the pole from a distance three years later.
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Chasing Denali: The Sourdoughs, Cheechakos, and Frauds behind the Most Unbelievable Feat in MountaineeringJonathan Waterman · 2018
