In the far north lies one of the most magnificent ranges of mountains in the world. The Alaska Range stretches 400 miles across southcentral Alaska. It is a wild place, covered in glaciers and punctuated by rugged peaks. The crown of the range is Denali, at 20,320 feet (6194 m), the highest peak in North America. Located so close to the Arctic circle, Denali can present some of the most challenging and rugged conditions of any mountain on earth.
Each year a relatively few climbers from around the world migrate to test themselves on the slopes of Denali. Mountain Trip has been assisting these climbers achieve their Denali dreams since 1976. We love what we do and are happy to help provide you a taste of what these climbers are experiencing by updating their progress in this blog. Following the expedition, we will post numerous photos from the expedition, so please keep checking in.
On April 26, 2009, a small team of climbers will arrive in Anchorage. They will be accompanied by two Mountain Trip guides:
Heidi Kloos from Ridgway, CO, USA
Zach Johnson from Anchorage, AK, USA
The three climbers on this team are:
Mike Clapis from the USA
Ryan MacLean from Scotland
David Rehm from the USA
This expedition is extra special because David is climbing the daughter of a friend who was born with a difficult condition called mitochondrial disease.
Riley is a beautiful little girl who is learning to live with this challenge. David is climbing to raise awareness and hopefully funds to help support the Joseph Sams School. This school, founded in 1984, is a private, non-profit, fully-accredited school that provides educational and therapeutic services to children with mild to severe intellectual, physical and developmental challenges, ages 18 months through 15 years.
We encourage you to follow the team's progess and please visit David's website to learn more about this special girl. If you have a little extra, please make a donation on his page titled "The Chalenge." www.climbforriley.org
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Hi Ryan - your dad told us about the expedition and we have dropped in for a look at your progress. Good luck on this worthwhile cause - great to see you again albeit via photograph. Take care
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