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If any route embodies the spirit of alpinism in the US, it could easily be the Cassin Ridge. Splitting the massive South Face of Denali in an elegant and stunning 8,000 foot line, "the Cassin" is perhaps the most sought after and quintessential line in the whole of the Alaska Range. Decades of elite alpinists have attempted the Cassin, and six time Everest climber and senior mountain Trip guide Scott Woolums calls it "the best alpine line (he's) ever done."

First climbed in 1961 by Riccardo Cassin and his team of "Lecco Spiders," the ridge climbs 8,000 feet straight to the summit of Denali. The route had been presented to the climbing world by the legendary Bradford Washburn in a high resolution photograph along with Bradford's endorsement that this stunning feature was the "last and probably the most difficult and dramatic of all potential new routes on Mount McKinley." The ascent and descent were truly epic, with all team members suffering from cold injuries and many narrowly missing injury or worse in falls and avalanches. All climbers made it back to the Kahiltna glacier and as a result, the "great central bulge" of Denali has henceforth been known as the Cassin Ridge.

The climbing, while not considered overly technical by today's standards, is nonetheless always challenging, and the route's location in the middle of the biggest face on one of the biggest mountains in the world makes it a frightening place in a storm.

Mountain Trip is one of two guide services to ever guide the Cassin, the other being the highly respected, but now defunct Fantasy Ridge. Climbs like this are only for highly trained and motivated teams, led by elite guides. We are thrilled to have two of our best leading this climb with two very strong and skilled climbers.

Guides:

Kevin Koprek of Ouray, CO
Clint Cook of Ouray, CO

Climbers:

Bob O'Rourke
Bill Kind

Support Staff:
Chris and Cory Jackson

We will update this blog as often as possible so as to both provide you, the reader, with an accurate description of what the team is up to each day, and also to provide future readers with an account of what it is like to climb Denali. Please keep in mind that communication from the Alaska Range is not always easy and that weather could easily conspire to prevent us from hearing from the team.

Comments posted to our reports will occasionally be passed along to the climbers on the mountain, but we cannot always guarantee that messages will always be relayed. Please know that all of your kind thoughts and best wishes will be read and deeply appreciated by the climbers when they get back to "the real world," so we encourage you to post them frequently. If you should ever need to contact one of the climbers, please call or email our Colorado office.