Denali Reflections from CTSS Guide Dallas Glass
As our Denali team heads home after spending nearly 3 weeks on North America’s tallest peak, we had a chance to touch base with CTSS Guide Dallas Glass about his experience on the mountain. This year’s weather brought the team strong winds, heavy snowfall, and elevated avalanche conditions that hampered any available summit windows. We know this feeling, and it’s undoubtedly a hard position to be in. However, instead of turning their situation into frustrations, this team grew together as friends, and their admiration for The Great One also flourished.
Below are Dallas’ thoughts, plus a few photos of the team.
“It is impossible to head into the Alaska Range and come away unchanged. Every expedition has a lesson; a way for you to grow, learn, and develop. Not just as a mountaineer but as a person.
We spent twenty-one days in this land of rock and ice. Fourteen of those were at one camp (14,000ft). Yet, despite unending patience and every last effort to capitalize on a brief period of good weather, the summit wasn’t to be.
Even still, this felt like one of my most successful expeditions in my career. Daily, my team showed me the true nature of climbing, being present in the moment.
Despite the monotony of waking up in the same camp day after day, each of them managed to stay present. They found little ways to celebrate where they were and who they were with. They made snow angels in the fresh powder, constructed tent platforms for arriving teams, strolled endlessly up and down the center path in camp, and stared mesmerized at the surrounding mountains. Never once did they wish the time away. Never once did they utter discontent. Never once did they misplace their focus on the summit.
When the weather finally broke and we had our chance to climb up high, too much snow had fallen. The risk of avalanches was simply too high. Even still, they didn’t gripe. Instead, they laughed, played, and took photos, marveling in the beauty of Denali.
If every expedition has a lesson, this one surely taught me the value of reveling in where I am rather than wasting my time worrying about where I am not.
A huge thank you to my Denali 2025 team for loving every second of our trip despite the extended stay at 14 camp.”
– Dallas Glass, CTSS Mountain Guide
