Next up: summiting Denali — not once, but twice. According to the National Park Service, 50% of climbers who attempted Denali in 2024 summited. The 2024 Denali season saw multiple fatalities.

This Denali climb was not only a historic first. It became an improbable tale of survival. And yet the feat escaped widespread notice and disappeared from our collective consciousness.

Most parties climbing the West Buttress route on Denali plan for a three-week trip. Jaramillo and Crisafi-Lurtsema’s planning for extra time turned out to be essential.

Read More: Imposter Syndrome Isn’t a Personal Flaw. It’s a Systemic Issue But that fact, much like the historic Denali climb, has gone largely unsung.

Blum and Clark, still living in 2025, cooperated with the author to tell the story. Randall sets the stage with a chapter about a fateful Denali climb in 1967.

But he stressed that Denali felt like it was always the appropriate title within the climbing community. “I never felt that McKinley was wrong—it honored a president that was assassinated ...

Had the Denali climb unfolded even a year after it did, in the fevered days of a new feminist wave, perhaps it would have received the honor it was due at the time.