Mt. McKinley (Denali)
June 4, 2004
Dan Mallory and Alan Mallory
May 22, 2012
Adam Mallory and Laura Mallory
Elevation
20,320 ft (6,193.6 meters)
Location
Alaska, USA
Range
Alaska Range
Coordinates
63°4’10″N 151°0’26″W
First ascent
1913 Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, Robert Tatum
Our route
West Buttress Route (glacier/snow climb)
On May 23, 2004, Alan Mallory, age 19 and father Dan Mallory, age 53 flew from Toronto to Anchorage Alaska and then on to base camp at Mt. McKinley.
Mt. McKinley (also known as Denali), at 20,320 feet (6,193.4 meters) high, is the highest mountain in North America and one of the most difficult mountains to climb. It receives winds of over 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour and up to 200 miles (322 kilometers) per hour, severe temperatures below zero, and because it’s atmospheric pressure is less than mountains near the equator, its affect on the body is equivalent to a mountain 2,000 – 3,000 feet (610 – 914 meters) higher.
On arriving in Anchorage, we learned that there were two mountain rescues that week from falls into crevasses. We realized that we would be climbing on the Kahiltna Glacier for most of the climb and with 35 bodies still left on the mountain, we knew that we had a challenge facing us. We also learnt that only 17% of the summit attempts that year had been successful.
Alan’s gear for the climb
As we progressed up the mountain, each camp required an excavation into the snow and/or a wall of ice blocks around the tent along with multiple anchors supporting the tent to ensure that it did not get blown away by strong winds.
Some climbers were turned back at “windy corner” that regularly has winds exceeding 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour because of the “Venturi Affect” along with the 5 feet (1.5 meters) of fresh snow. Fortunately, we were able to make our way through this area late in the morning.
At Basin Camp at 14,200 feet (4,328 meters), we commenced to climb the 2,000 foot (609 meters) headwall with the last 800 feet (244 meters) being almost vertical. We dropped off half of our provisions at 17,200 feet (5,242 meters), High Camp only to return to Basin Camp to repeat the effort the following day. We remained at High Camp the second night completely exhausted.
On June 4, 2004, we departed high camp at 5:15 a.m. arriving at the summit of Mt. McKinley on a beautiful clear sunny day taking in the magnificent 360 degree vista before returning to High Camp arriving at 5 pm. A magnificent and challenging mountain.
