Talkeetna Air Taxi

The largest peak in North America allures us all with its size and beauty. Being able to fly next to Denali or land on one of its glaciers is a once in a lifetime experience for most. For some the urge to climb the mountain takes over. One hundred years ago the first climbers stood on the summit of Denali. It is amazing to think about how Denali expeditions have changed over the last 100 yrs. Below is a picture of Harry Karstens and Robert Tatum from the first expedition on Denali.

 

During this historical year there will be another first on Denali. Expedition Denali, as part of the National Outdoor Leadership School, will be a group of all African American participants. They aim "to inspire youth of color—and particularly African American youth—to get outside, get active, and become stewards of our wild places." Learn more about this inspiring journey here: http://expeditiondenali.nols.edu/about/

This year there will be several events and exhibits to check out around Alaska celebrating the centennial summit of Denali. Here are links to some of them:

http://www.uaf.edu/museum/exhibits/special/legacy/

http://www.nps.gov/dena/historyculture/1913.htm

Picture below courtesy of Tyler Westhoff.

 

We are more than halfway through the Denali climbing season.  Summit success rates have been a bit over 40% most in part due to the Denali weather, the biggest obstacle in climbing this mountain.

 Here are the current stats from the National Park Service. 

Climbing Statistics the 2012 Season	Mt. McKinley	Mt. Foraker
Number of Registered Climbers	1,166	12
Climbers Currently On Mountain	440	3
Completed Climbs	488	9
Number of Summits	212	0
Summit Percentage	43%	0%

 

 

Lisa has arrived at her camp for the next 2 1/2 months, where she will be there to meet and greet climbers that come from all over the globe to climb Denali.  She and her troop of strong volunteers flew into the Kahiltna Glacier on Friday April 27th to shovel her tent spot for the season.  They dug down about 8 feet to provide shelter from the wind, cold temperatures and the inevitable meltage from the Alaskan midnight sun. 

 

TAT's Downtown Superstar Randi volunteered to help set up basecamp.  Here she is resting her back from shoveling while basking in the sun.  Seems like one of the first years that basecamp set up has happened without delays on a beautiful bluebird day.  Hopefully that weather trend will continue this summer with beautiful days of mountain flying and taking climbers to their next adventures.

Interested in flightseeing tours in 2012? Peruse through our e-brochure, or you can call or email to request a live copy of your very own. 

Call or email 7 days a week from 9-3 AST for questions or reservations. 

Looking to save on your Alaska vacation, visit our website to see our current specials.

Happy holidays.

 

 

Come one, come all! Just come dressed up as a TV character. Think Jersey Shore, Gilligan's Island, Fat Albert, The Office, The Lone Ranger, MASH, Charlies Angels, Fantasy Island, Starsky and Hutch... the list can go on and on.

We love accessorize it day!

We work hard to keep things running smooth around here...

Check out the cool motorcycle one of our customers drove up in from California. What will they think of next?

Team Salamander spent 10 fun days on the Pika, flying out July 1, 2011. Weather was in-and-out sun, allowing a total of 5 climbing days. The trend was toward evening clearing, with two days of full sun. The moats are in but with rain and warming things are quickly melting. There is still a decent snow bridge to the Gargoyle Buttress. The start of the first pitch had some ice which we attacked with ice axes (though one could climb with rock shoes and creative route finding). An Anchorage team replaced the webbing on the first 9 anchors last week. The Middle Troll has widening moats as well, but there are still a couple of intact bridges. The first 200' are loose gravel and boulders, and are not safe for more than one party to be on at a time. Lost Marsupials approach was straightforward. Summit ridge with corniced, soft snow. AMS arete approach without major crevasses, though the glaciers on either side are bare to the dust layer and snow cover melting fast.