Lane Christenson and Dalton Borton of the U.S. will spend a lonely Christmas on the flanks of 6,190m Mt. McKinley. The young pair, 22 and 20 respectively, flew two days ago to the Kahiltna Glacier for a winter attempt on the highest peak in North America.
Located in Alaska, McKinley (better known as Denali) is also the tallest mountain in the world from base to summit, with 5,500m of vertical gain.
Despite their age, the climbers, both students at the University of Alaska Anchorage, are experienced in their state’s cold, high mountains. Borton summited McKinley in 2022 at age 17. One year later, he climbed its Cassin Ridge in March to get familiar with wintry conditions.
Christenson climbed it earlier this year, during the typical late spring, to prepare for this winter ascent. In 2023, he summited 2,440m Bashful Peak, the highest peak in Anchorage’s Chugach State Park.
This winter experience will provide a new dimension of hardship. They will be completely alone in the huge Alaska range, with extreme temperatures during the shortest days of the year. Due to its latitude, it will be dark most of the time and colder than the high Himalaya.
Less than 20 winter summits
Only 17 people have summited McKinley in winter. Four climbers died on the ascent, and two perished on the way down during those climbs, according to Denali National Park’s archives. Art Davidson, Ray Genet, and Dave Johnston did the first successful winter ascent over a period of 42 days in 1967.
Interestingly, only two people have summited Denali in winter in the last decade, both on solo climbs: Lonnie Dupre‘s in 2015 and Jost Kobusch‘s in 2023.
Heavy loads
The climbers recorded a video explaining their choice of gear, which includes down suits and boots commonly used for 8,000’ers, together with fuel, food, climbing gear, extra clothing, sleds, and skis. They estimate they will start up the mountain dragging 200 pounds (91kg).
