Denali is perched at 20,320 ft, she sees approximately 1000 visitors who attempt to summit the mountain, roughly half of those don't make it. The 3+ week trip leaves the Kahiltna glacier only after taking an air taxi from Talketna AK.At this time Climbing Denali will be a two step forward one step back process. Being that Denali is a high altitude climb the acclimation process is a vital part of the journey. When climbing at these elevations the oxygen in the air can be cut but as much a 50%, this means our bodies can shut down due to the lack of oxygen. This is where the acclimation process comes in. The acclimation process takes you up the mountain to be exposed to the lesser amounts of Oxygen and allows you to return to a lower altitude so your body can adjust. If this process is not strictly enforced major complications may ensue. HAPE -High Altitude Pulmonary Edema http://www.climbing-high.com/high-altitude-pulmonary-edema.html is a condition that causes fluid to build up in the lungs creating even less oxygen intake by the body which could lead to death. HACE- High Altitude Cerebral Edema http://www.climbing-high.com/high-altitude-cerebral-edema.html is a condition in which the brain swells severely impairing the climbers motor skills and cognitive thought process which also ultimately could lead to death. Among other health complications on the mountain either one of these would put an end to any summit bid or god forbid... The two step forward one step back process takes you from Base camp to high camp with up to 7 camps in between. During this time climbers spend their days carrying loads up to the next camp leaving food and gear in caches.
Caches are basically holes dug in the snow where food and gear are buried and marked to be picked up at a later time.Also within this time there are rest days in which climbers are able to recover from the previous days climbs and let their bodies heal. During this down time climbers also update their plan of action sort gear and ready themselves for the next big push.
Weather on Denali is another huge factor to overcome. Storms can develop within minutes leaving climbers stranded in temps as low as -50 degrees. Camps must be dug out hourly as to keep the snow from building up and covering tents leaving its occupants to be buried alive.
Climbers must be ready at all times to make the push forward. Being that the window for the climb is May-June Alaska does not get dark. If a storm breaks and its 1am that means you got daylight and better be ready to take advantage of and good weather.
When making the final approach to the summit climbers must make quick work of their ascent. At that altitude time is of the essence, if one takes too much time on this final push their body may fail leaving them only to retreat to lower grounds. When one does make it to the summit their time there is short lived. People do not climb Denali with oxygen so once at the summit you have time just enough for a few pics to prove to your buddies back home you did something way cooler then them a quick phone call to the family to let them know you made it high fives and hugs then its time to go.
It may seem crazy that one can spend weeks to get to the summit and only spend minutes at the top but the reality is... things happen fast up there and every minute spent in an environment not meant for the human body is unsafe.
Also most accidents and deaths happen on the decent so the more time spent up high can open the window for more things to go wrong.Providing all goes as planned the journey down will lead back to the Kahiltna glacier where you wait for the air taxi to take you back to Talketna where beers will be poured and one can actually reflect on the past 3+ weeks. Man balls.
There is so much more to all of this but I just wanted to give you The Gist Of It.
