navigate_next navigate_next navigate_before Lower Glacier After an early morning (or late night) alarm, you’ll pack up camp for the first time and head up glacier. Your journey to the summit of Denali, ironically, begins with a long downhill—affectionately dubbed "Heartbreak Hill"—that you’ll unfortunately become reacquainted with in reverse after a long march back to Base Camp on your descent. If you are not first on your rope team, your job is to keep the sled off the heels of the climber ahead of you. This can be challenging, but it's crucial to maintaining friendships.

The Lower Glacier is absolutely a misnomer, as this section of the West Buttress route is a good 40 miles from the terminus of the Kahiltna Glacier. When we refer to the Lower Glacier, we mean the bit of the Southeast Fork from Base Camp to the main body of the Kahiltna and the segment of the Kahiltna from the Southeast Fork to the base of Ski Hill, at about 7,800’. navigate_next navigate_before Lower Glacier As you get to the bottom of Heartbreak Hill, you’re entering an area of high crevasse hazard. Cracks can be enormous and run at angles from parallel to perpendicular to the Kahiltna. Keep good rope tension and consider a night schedule (more on that in another slide).

If the trail heads northwest across the Kahiltna, you’ll hike out of the high hazard zone 20-30 minutes after having entered it. Some years, the route bears due north to northeast, along the base of the West Face of Mount Francis. This shortens the hike to 7,800' Camp a little, but there are some massive cracks en route. There are huge crevasses lurking in the small icefall before the East Fork, and big perpendicular ones between that stretch and the compression zone of 7,800' Camp. navigate_next navigate_before Personal Maintenance Sunny days on the Lower Glacier can be excruciatingly hot, quickly zapping energy and drenching your layers. Be wary of letting the sun get the best of you early in your trip. Keep applying sunscreen hourly (the white nose is a fashion statement up here; all the coolest cats are doing it!) and DRINK WATER.

Be sure to be proactive about your layering, and if you’re feeling hot approaching a break spot, take off that puffy before you’re ready to head out again. Some folks dress for a crevasse fall, but we'd rather dress for the conditions and keep extra warm layers at the top of our packs.

Lastly, stay attuned to your feet. Many a climber has developed monster blisters headed to 7,800' Camp. Tending to a hot spot on your heel is worth the time, because blisters can really fester in a mountain boot. navigate_before Night Schedule Many teams, especially those with trips beginning in mid-June and later, will pass through this area of the lower Kahiltna in the very early morning hours by the light of the midnight sun. Those following a "night schedule" on the lower glacier are not doing so just for these beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but to travel on the lower glacier when it's at its most frozen point. A frozen glacier makes for easier walking and stronger snow bridges.

The glacier is generally most frozen right before the sun hits it in the morning, so a night schedule doesn't necessarily mean you should start out at midnight.

Sunrises and sunsets in close proximity lead to hours of beautiful alpenglow to light the way, but make sure not to get too caught up in the views and keep good rope tension on the climber in front of you. Proper rope tension can keep a poke into a crack from becoming an epic rescue.