Our high-altitude capable helicopter delivers a patient to Basecamp after a rescue off the upper mountain. Photo: G. Dossin
Some Season Statistics
Note: these numbers are preliminary and may change when our final report comes out in the next six weeks.
Registered Climbers, McKinley: 976
Registered Climbers, Foraker: 14
Summits, McKinley: 582, 60%
Summits, Foraker: 5, 36%
Search and Rescues by Helicopter: 28
All deaths we deal with are devastating, and have far-reaching effects outside of the Alaska Range. Unfortunately, this year was particularly tragic, with 5 climbers losing their lives on the West Buttress, including one of our own climbing rangers.
Weather
The weather this year certainly felt unusually bad during the month of May. There were a handful of summits through May, but we did not see a significant rise in the summit percentage until June 3, when an astounding 83 people summited on the same day.
Here is an interesting graphic depicting cloud cover at the Talkeetna Airport for the month of May, which can correlate with whether planes are able to access the range, and climbers are able to move on the mountain:
Source: WeatherSpark
Another good marker of how markedly the poor the weather was this May is how long it took the climbing rangers to get our infrastructure installed on the West Buttress route this year. We use our helicopter to sling loads between Base Camp and 14,200’ for our communications and medical tents and supplies, and need clear weather to get into the range and then between the camps. This year, this work was not finished until May 29. We were unable to install our radio repeater on Mount Crosson (12,800’) until May 30.
In 2025, our gear was delivered to 14,200’ by April 24, and the Crosson repeater was installed on May 6.All that to say, looking into 2027, this should not inform peoples’ decision on when to come climb. People will continue to climb and summit in late April through early July. The weather in the Alaska Range is always uncertain, and the best way to set yourself up for success is by planning a trip of at least three weeks in length.
Search and Rescue
Though our first SAR on the West Buttress did not occur until May 26, things quickly picked up steam and we entered a 15-day period until June 10 in which we evacuated 18 illnesses and injuries, 5 fatalities, and 4 partners of injured climbers (so that they would not remain on the route solo, and thus exposed to further hazard).
Illness and Injury Pattern:Trauma: 9
High Altitude Illness (HAPE/HACE): 7
Medical: 5
Severe Frostbite: 5
Hypothermia: 1
Poisoning: 1
Alaska Range Patrols
One of our goals every season is to get out into the range and gather as much information on the ground as possible, including in terrain off the West Buttress. Unfortunately, poor weather in May shut down many of these trips, but we were still able to get out a little bit.Check out an excellent trip report on the Moose’s Tooth from Scotty Barrier.Ranger Galen Dossin made it to the base of Mt. Russell, in the southwest corner of the park. I was able to lead an exploratory patrol on the Muldrow Glacier, the first expedition to travel on the glacier since 2019—stay tuned for a trip report. And many of our rangers were able to make it into Base Camp for some climbing.Ranger Dossin was also the only ranger to make it to the upper reaches of the mountain this year, between weather and SAR work. He took a left instead of a right at Denali Pass and ended up on the North Summit at 19,470’.
VIP Brian Kasavana approaches the North Summit. The South Summit, at 20,310’, is the left skyline, and Mt. Foraker stands in the right background at 17,400’. Photo: G. DossinThe North Summit is a beautiful and rarely visited place. It offers an unimpeded view off the North Side of the Alaska Range, and an opportunity to look down the 14,000’ vertical relief of the Wickersham Wall.
Volunteers
As always, the Volunteers-in-Parks program is crucial to the success of our operation. This year, we had 24 volunteers contribute 7,104 hours of their time. We are also incredibly appreciative of the climbing rangers from Grand Teton, Mount Rainier, and Rocky Mountain National Parks who came to support us in the aftermath of Robin’s death. It truly was a team effort this year.
Ranger Alan Davis ascends the Kahiltna Glacier on clean-up patrol in late June. Photo: J. Ramos-Leon
We will see you all back in the mountains for the 2027 season.