How many people have climbed Denali?

The National Park Service has counted every attempt on Denali since the first expedition in 1903. Up to and including the 2026 season, that comes to about 27,300 summits from about 52,800 attempts, a success rate of 52%. Those are ascents, not people. Guides reach the top many times over, so fewer different people have stood on the summit, and the park does not publish that number.

Recent seasons

About a thousand climbers register each year, almost all of them for the West Buttress. How many reach the top swings with the weather:

• 2022: 69% of 1,127 climbers

• 2023: 30% of 1,017

• 2024: 50% of 1,049

• 2025: 36% of 960, after poor weather at both ends of the season

• 2026: 60%, 582 summits from 976 climbers, in a season that cost five lives on the West Buttress

How the total is counted

The park's statistics workbook runs from 1903 to 2024: 26,358 summits from 50,867 attempts. The 2025 report gives a rate rather than a count, which works out at about 346 summits. The 2026 figures are the park's preliminary ones, published before its final report. That is why the total above is rounded.

The first ascent

Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper and Robert Tatum reached the summit on 7 June 1913, by the Muldrow Glacier. Harper, an Alaska Native, was the first of them on top. Every climber on the finisher lists has stood there since.

Climbing it yourself

Start with planning your trip, then registration and fees and whether to go guided or independently. The park's reports have called the mountain McKinley since 2025; Is Mount McKinley the same as Denali? explains why this site does not.

Where the numbers come from

• Mountaineering statistics 1903 to 2024, National Park Service

• Annual mountaineering summaries 2020 to 2025, National Park Service

• 2026 season wrap-up, National Park Service (preliminary)