Welcome to Matt, Mike and Dan's Denali climb!

Thanks for joining us as we follow five climbers from as they attempt to climb to the summit of Denali, the highest peak in North America.

Denali, also known as Mount McKinley, rises to an elevation of 20,230 feet (6194m) above sea level and dominates the impressive skyline of the Alaska Range, in central Alaska. Roughly 1,300 climbers a year attempt this mountain, as it is the mountaineering objective of a lifetime for many climbers and is one of the famed Seven Summits, the highest points on each of the seven continents.

What makes this team unique is that one of the climbers is 12 year old Matt Moniz, an inspirational young climber from Boulder, Colorado. Along with his father, Mike, and family friend, Dan Busse, Matt will be joined by two seasoned Denali guides from Ophir, CO based Mountain Trip, Jacob Schmitz and Seam McManamy.

Matt is an avid rock climber, mountaineer and skier, who decided to apply his passion to help a friend of his with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare lung disease that can cause heart failure. The symptoms of this disease produce a feeling very much like how climbers feel in the rarefied air high on big mountains.

Matt has climbed Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro and hiked up Kala Patthar in Nepal. His love for the mountains and desire to help his friend led him to climb 14 "14ers" in Colorado last summer as a benefit. This effort was recognized by the US Congress and Speaker Pelosi gave him a Congressional Award on the floor of the House of Representatives last winter.

"The Fine Print"

Please keep in mind that it can be very challenging to communicate from steep, mountainous regions, even in this day and age of high-tech satellite communications. Many factors can and undoubtedly will conspire to prevent daily calls from the team. We will update this blog as frequently as possible, but keep in mind the old adage that, "No News Is Good News." For whatever reason, sub-optimal news always seems to get out, but we don't always hear that the team is enjoying a pleasant evening eating hamburgers and taking in the alpenglow.

We will do our best to pass messages along to the climbers and we encourage everyone to post comments. It isn't always possible for us to pass them along to the team, but we have heard time and time again, that the climbers really appreciate reading of your thoughts and good wishes after they get back from their climb.

Enjoy the posts as Matt, Mike and Dan embark on their attempt of Denali!