SPECIAL UPDATE FOR 2022 SEASON AND POSSIBLY BEYOND:

Winter 2020-2021 saw the Muldrow Glacier, an integral part of the northern Karstens Ridge Route surge. This has left a large part of glacier travel impassable. Our company will not be offering any mountaineering gear hauling for the 2022 climbing season, and will reassess the situation later.

Denali Dog Sled Expeditions exclusively offers gear haul services in keeping with a long tradition of using sled dogs in the Denali National Park Wilderness to support mountaineering groups climbing Denali from the north side. The approach to the north side of Denali, the original route going up Karsten’s Ridge, is a 25 mile hike with various challenges. By contracting with us, groups eliminate the multiple trips needed to ferry their gear from Wonder Lake To McGonagall Pass and the Muldrow Glacier. While some groups believe that hiking the approach multiple times with heavy packs is not an undue burden, few believe that true when in the moment. The McKinley River crossing is dangerous enough in early summer to do just once with a heavy load!

Private climbing groups interested in our services are encouraged to plan far in advance. Our preference is to receive the climbing gear by September 1. This allows us to drive the gear to our storage container at Wonder Lake. If the gear is not received by early September, it must be flown in to Wonder Lake in early March, when the gear haul by dog teams begins. This will significantly add to the gear haul cost for the climbing group, so please plan on getting the gear to us before the snow comes.

We have strict guidelines for how the gear is packaged. Plywood boxes made to specific dimensions are needed to fit efficiently in the sleds. These guidelines are outlined in our contract.

DDSE sends two guides with dog teams to Wonder Lake for the gear haul, usually starting early March. The gear is transported to McGonagall Pass above the Muldrow Glacier in a series of caches, all ending up at that main cache site within sight of Denali. All in all, the gear haul usually takes is 3-4 weeks to complete, and we usually are transporting 1500 pounds of gear for various groups. Once the gear is at the final cache site, a photograph and GPS coordinates are provided to the climbing group.

Climbing groups are required to sign a contract with DDSE prior to any gear movement. At the moment we only haul gear to the McGonagall Pass cache site.

Rates: Under 1000 pounds—$11.50/pound
Over 1000 pounds—$11.50/pound