A Window to Heaven by Patrick Dean

Author:Patrick Dean [Dean, Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The mountain itself, alpinist and author Jon Krakauer wrote, “is so big that it beggars the imagination.”14 Its size—occupying 120 square miles of the earth’s surface—and position as the Earth’s northernmost peak of more than 6,000 meters elevation make it one of the world’s deadliest mountains. Although its height from base to top is greater than Everest’s, it is weather, not altitude, that have caused most deaths—over a hundred since 1903. Krakauer described “conditions more severe than the North Pole, with temperatures of forty below zero and winds that [howl] at 80 to 100 miles per hour for days at a stretch.”15

By comparison, sixty-four climbers have died on the north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps since 1935, and Everest has lost close to three hundred since 1922. About half of those who attempt to reach Denali’s summit, even in the twenty-first century, are turned back short of the top due to extreme weather which in a sense acts as a buffer, saving climbers from mortal peril closer to the top. “To all but the deluded or psychotic, the climbing season in the Alaska Range is roughly restricted to the last week or so of April, all of May and June, and—if it has been an inordinately cold spring—the first few days of July,” according to a 2001 account. On average, 1,200 men and women will attempt to summit Denali during that period. “As a rule, half will succeed, 100 will need medical attention, and 12 will require major rescues.”16

Permanent snow and ice cover over 75 percent of the mountain, and enormous glaciers, up to 45 miles long and 3,700 feet thick, spider out from its base in every direction. It is home to some of the world’s coldest and most violent weather, where winds of over 150 miles per hour and temperatures of -93°F have been recorded. The self-registering thermometer that Hudson Stuck would leave at 15,000 feet on Denali was found nineteen years later. The minimum temperature reading of -95° apparently was surpassed, as the indicator was forced back into the bulb of the device.17

Weather on Denali can quickly change from sunny and clear to blizzard conditions with fierce winds, intense cold, and heavy snowfall. Climbers must understand and pay close attention to warning signs of changing weather, and use their observations to plan when to climb, when to retreat, and when to dig in.18

“The air on Denali is considered to be thinner than any mountain of similar height that is located closer to the equator. Due to its close proximity to the Arctic Circle, the barometric pressure is lower, leading to a much higher “real feel” at any given elevation. The effects of AMS—acute mountain sickness—can range from a mere loss of appetite to death.”19

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.