A gutsy woman is in the process of making another first in the world of mountaineering. Christine Feret is on her way up Mt. Denali. This will be the first winter climb a woman has ever done. According to The Adventure Blog, Christine was flown into basecamp yesterday. The climb is expected to take four weeks.

Denali is such a great climb. Brings back some fond memories for me. It’s going to be cold, but what a fantastic accomplishment.

Mt Denali is an amazing climb. The mountain itself is unique and the location makes the climb unlike any other in the world. Denali is the old Athabascan (Native American) word meaning “High One.” Maybe the Athabascans should have named it “cold one.” At night, the temperature on Denali drops to -40 degrees. One of the fascinating things about that is that -40 degrees is the only place where Fahrenheit and Celcius meet. 

When I climbed Mt Denali, it was the middle of summer and the autoban leading up to Denali pass was beautifully warm and sunny. As we continued our march up to the pass, we met a group going back down. The pass was just too cold for them. As our group arrived at the pass, we found out why temperatures were so different there than on the autoban. The wind in the pass was fierce. Wind chill made the rest of the climb more of a challenge than I had expected. 

Take some time to visit my report about the Denali climb. There are several incredible photos of the intense scenery surrounding Denali. Plus, the summit photo is truly unique. We reached the summit just after midnight and were able to take photos of the summit in the waning light of the midnight Alaskan sun. 

If you want to get a good feeling of what it was like to be at Mt. Denali, watch this video. 

If you have aspirations of climbing one of the Seven Summits, Denali is a good mountain to climb. The West Buttress is a fairly non-technical climb. Of course, just because it’s an easier climb than other mountains doesn’t mean you don’t need to prepare for it. Winds are high and temperatures are cold, but if you get some training, the climb itself is a nice one. Until then, enjoy reading about my experience on Denali.