Denali: hauling 50kg to the highest point in North America

Denali is the highest mountain in North America, 6,194 metres, and the cold one. A small plane drops you on a glacier and from there you are on your own. No porters, no resupply. You carry everything you will eat, you melt your own water, and you move it up the mountain on your back and in a sled behind you, close to 50 kilos split between the two.

I tried Denali twice. In 2019 my partner and I turned around at 5,300 metres, a few hundred short of high camp, too worn down to be safe. The reasons were dull and honest: not enough food, not enough rest, not enough training for what 50 kilos does to you at altitude. Denali won that round.

I came back in 2022 with three friends and a better plan. Nine days of single carries, snow walls every night, and a weather window we chased the moment it opened. On summit day we left high camp before ten, crossed the long ridge with drops on both sides, and stood on top in clear, windless air. The GoPro had already frozen.

The mountain reminded us what it is. On the way down a helicopter was circling. A climber had died near the summit that day, one of around a hundred people going up. You move a little more carefully after that.

Five of the seven done. This was one of the hardest.

Vinson and Everest are what's left. Following both.