As of last week, no one had managed to make it to the top of Denali during this climbing season. Mountaineers were stymied by bad weather and iffy conditions.
On Friday the 13th, however, at least three teams, a total of nine climbers, got lucky and reached the summit of North America's highest peak on a beautiful warm day.
Among them was the Wolverine Traverse Team, consisting of Parker Sorensen of Homer, Iris Neary of Juneau, Florence Nikles of Switzerland and Francesco Varoli of New York and British Columbia left Wonder Lake in late April and ascended the north side via Muldrow and Harper glaciers.
While going up, they heard the report that no one had made it all the way to the top of Denali so far this year and were energized by the thought that they might be the first, Neary said.
The group dealt with a lot of storms, wind and white-out conditions in the days just before making the summit, Neary said.
"We set our alarms for 5:30 a.m., not really believing the weather forecast that called for a break. Then we woke up to clouds rolling across the summit area, and we weren't sure what that meant. But once we climbed up to Denali Pass it was bluebird skies, calm and hot. It was amazing."
"It was a beautiful summit day," Sorensen said. "Clear and with a mist out 100 miles away."
They descended to the Kahiltna Base Camp via the West Buttress and arrived feeling fresh. "They're used to seeing people come down all haggard and wrecked, frostbitten and worn out," Sorensen said. "We came down healthy and well-fed and looking great."
They flew off the mountain on May 15 and celebrated with pizza in Talkeetna. On Tuesday they spoke to Alaska Dispatch News from Sorensen's Jeep en route to Hatcher Pass for -- what else? -- more climbing.
"We're heading there right now," Sorensen said, having pulled over to take the call. "We're looking do to a little light early season rock climbing for a couple of days before going back to work."
Denali National Park personnel confirmed the successful ascents and noted that other parties may have also reached the top but had yet to report back. The other two teams were Mustang, with Brendan Aiken of Montana, Nathan Hadley of Washington and Matthew Lloyd of Colorado, and Ashton Casey of Florida with Matt Davis of Texas, who dubbed their two-man team "The Worst Mountaineers Ever."
Park personnel were uncertain as to the order in which the three teams arrived at the summit.