Chantel Astorga and Anne Gilbert Chase Complete Denali’s 9,000’ Slovak Direct

Denali National Park, Alaska—On day two of their four-day ascent of Denali’s Slovak Direct (5.9 X M6 WI6+, 9,000’), and after 18 hours on the move, Chantel Astorga and Anne Gilbert Chase needed to stop and rest. They aimed for a small perch—right before the route’s technical crux—where one, maybe two teams had previously spent the night. 

When they finally reached the bivy spot at 15,200 feet, they found it was merely a steep ramp that they had to hack out with their ice tools for hours; even then there was barely enough space for them to sit on the slanting bench. They spent the next four hours that night, under continual dusk so bright it blended out the stars, waiting for sunrise. They passed the time sitting upright and sharing a single sleeping bag with a tent wrapped over them as they looked out over the Alaska Range. “We had to stay clipped in as we were sliding downhill,” Chase said. 

That night winds increased above them on the mountain, swirling up clouds of spindrift. Finally, in the coldest, darkest hour before the sun came up, they started brewing fluids. “Though we didn’t sleep, we were able to warm up and wait for the winds to die down,” Astorga said.