Incredible video footage captures British explorer Oli France conquering the highest point in North America and Alaska’s deadliest mountain – Mount Denali.
Footage shows him and his team skiing through the foothills of Denali National Park, crossing snow bridges, freezing rivers and deep glacial crevasses on their way to Denali Base Camp.
From there, they’re shown making their way to the top of the 6,190-metre (20,310ft) mountain, battling near-vertical climbs and tiptoeing along narrow ridges, all while lugging heavy equipment on their backs.
Eventually, they reveal a beautiful view from the summit, with the mountain’s white peaks blending into the clouds below.
The video shows the final part of Oli’s 64-day journey, which began at North America’s lowest point.
Incredible video footage captures British explorer Oli France’s journey to the summit of Mount Denali – the highest point in North America and Alaska ‘s deadliest mountain. Oli is pictured at the 6,190-metre (20,310ft) summit
This still from Oli’s video footage shows the stunning view from the summit
This still shows Oli tackling a 50-degree climb to Denali High Camp at 5,250m (17,224ft)
Summit special: Walking a steep ridge on the approach to Denali High Camp
Here Oli is carefully negotiating the narrow summit ridge. The temperature? A brisk -30C
The 33-year-old father of two from Wigan completed the first leg alone, cycling from Death Valley in California to Canada and then to the foothills of Denali National Park, where he met a four-man mountaineer team who joined him to climb Denali via the West Buttress Route.
Oli, who has become the first Brit to complete the journey in 20 years, told MailOnline Travel: ‘I set out believing it would be the hardest physical, mental and logistical challenge I have ever taken on. I wasn’t wrong.’
It took him 41 days to cycle to Denali National Park. He then covered 122km (75 miles) on skis to reach Denali Base Camp, where most climbers start their ascent.
Oli described Denali, also known as Mount McKinley, as ‘brutal’. During the 12-day climb, he ‘faced mountain storms, temperatures down to -30 degrees Celsius, bear encounters, nearby avalanches, snow storms, and all kinds of bodily pain’.
Here the team lug their 35kg packs to the 4,350-metre (14,271ft) camp
Traversing crevasses on the lower Kahiltna Glacier during the approach to base camp
Here the team approaches base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier
Oli revealed the team lugged over 300 kilograms of equipment, food and fuel up the mountain on heavy sledges and slept in the snow every night in a tent. And it wasn’t easy to relax.
Oli said: ‘One night, I heard wolves in the mountains from my tent. Another night, on the mountain, we found a moose carcass that had been savaged by a bear alongside huge grizzly prints just 20 metres from our tent. Each footprint was the size of a dinner plate.’
The days had their challenges, too. Sharing one particularly frighting experience, Oli said: ‘After climbing a steep section of ice up onto a 5,000-metre [16,404ft] ridge, we saw the body of a climber being helicoptered off the mountain after he had died in a fall.
‘It was a reminder of the fine margins that exist here and that we could not afford complacency.’
A rest day at the 4,350-metre (14,271ft) camp, with the team enjoying some sun after a six-day storm
After completing the journey, Oli said he felt ‘relief at making it through unscathed’ and an ‘incredible feeling of empowerment and satisfaction to have fulfilled a decade-long dream’.
The expedition is the second stage of Oli’s ‘Ultimate Seven’ project. The adventurer hopes to set a world record by journeying from the lowest point to the highest point on each continent.
After completing the African leg last year and the North American leg this year, Oli intends to take on the challenge in Asia, where he’ll travel 4,500 miles on foot, bike, skis and kayak from the Dead Sea to Everest through nine countries.
To see more from Oli, visit his website, www.wildedge.co/pages/oli-france. Or follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/oli_france/?hl=en, or on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@oli_france.
