Join MountainZone.com and Alpine Ascents International for another season-long chronicle of the action on Denali's (Mt. McKinley) popular West Buttress route.

Denali is the highest, coldest peak commonly climbed by guided parties, the members of which often have no comparable experience in the mountains. It is one of the great adventures available to climbers or aspiring climbers who lack big-mountain resumes but who wish to have the big-mountain experience.

As the highest peak in North America, it is our Everest, beckoning climbers to stand atop the continent and peer across the intense wilderness of the Alaska Range. For mountaineers, Denali is a mountain of great aesthetic beauty and the many routes lay well in the canon of America's great climbs.

This season, MountainZone.com and Alpine Ascents will closely follow the climbing exploits of a guiding season on Denali. Alpine Ascents will be launching 10 expeditions between May 12th and June 18th; on every climb, the Alpine Ascents guides will make frequent dispatches to MountainZone.com to describe not only how their own climbing teams are doing but to report on weather, climbing conditions and all the busy action that takes place on North America's highest peak.

Join us for real-time coverage of a season's worth of climbing on one of the world's most exciting "climbers' mountain."

This season, as we did in 1999 and 2000, MountainZone.com and Alpine Ascents will closely follow the climbing exploits of a guiding season on Denali. Alpine Ascents' experienced guides include Vernon Tejas, Eric Larsen, Dave Bangert, Dave Morton, Mike Strong, Brennan Brunner, Eric Remza, Eric Barnes,Conan Bliss, Matt Szundy, Jesse Williams, and Matt Walker.

The action began on May 12 when guides Forrest McCarthy and Eric Remza began to lead the first of four guided ascents. Stay tuned for climbing reports as the guides call in to MountainZone.com by both satellite and cell telephones.

— Peter Potterfield, MountainZone.com Staff