Hundreds of climbers are expected to attempt North America’s tallest peak this season, and National Park Service rangers are ready to live on the mountain for the next three months to help with rescues.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports about 1,200 people try to reach Denali’s summit each year, and about half succeed.
Last season, that number was a low 36 percent due to bad weather. Data shows one climber died and 32 required medical attention.
National Park Service spokeswoman Maureen Gualtieri is stationed at Talkeetna, which is at the mountain’s base at Denali National Park. In her first daily blog posted April 24, she said the knee-deep snow was soft and thinned out at the mountain’s highest elevations to slightly less than normal.
