Equipment

Equipment

Denali requires specialized gear for traversing glaciers and high altitude climbing in subzero temperatures. Clothing basically consists of four layers. The first layer is the base layer which is a material that wicks perspiration away and dries quickly. The second layer is a thermal layer of long underwear made from wool or capilene. It too has the same qualities of the base layer, but with added warmth. Protecting us from wind and other elements is the shell layer made of a Gor-Tex material. This is the work horse of all the layers and worn much of the time. A final layer that is worn on extremely cold days or nights, and especially for summit day is the puffy down layer. We will be wearing a chest and waist harness, either tethered onto each other or attached to fixed rope higher on the mountain. Each of us will have various climbing hardware such as carabiners, tiblocs, and Petzl ascenders to assist our climb. On the lower part of the mountain we will use snowshoes and poles for glacier travel, and crampons with an ice axe when it becomes steeper.