Quick Details
Come and take a flight to the Kahiltna Glacier Base Camp in Denali!
The focal point of our Denali Mountaineer Adventure is a close-up look at Mount Hunter, the Kahiltna Glacier (Denali’s biggest), and the Kahiltna “Base Camp” where the majority of Denali’s mountaineers begin their epic journey, at an elevation of 7,200 feet.
This route also includes amazing views of Denali, North America’s highest peak, and all of the highlights of the Southside Sheldon Adventure.
We strive to have all of our flights not only provide you with the majestic scenery of our dramatic Alaskan landscape, but also an engaging and interactive experience for all! To this end our passengers are provided noise cancelling headsets that allow you to seamlessly converse with your mountain pilot as well as fellow group members while in flight. A favorite for young and old alike!
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You’ll depart from Talkeetna and experience the vast rivers and forest lands on the flight to the Kahiltna Glacier in the Alaska Range.
The river and forest lands are home to Alaska’s wild game such as black bear and moose. In addition the occasional lodge can be sighted along the lake shores, often only accessible by float plane.
On the way, this route gives you outstanding views of Little Switzerland, a popular destination for both technical climbing expeditions and fun day trips. This particular subset of the Alaska Range is characterized by steep rocky peaks similar to the European alps. Accordingly, many experienced climb teams come to this location for the pure technical climbing challenge.
Next you climb over the Kahiltna Glacier, easily the largest glacier in the Alaska Range, as it winds toward Denali.
Nearly at the head of the glacier is a small branch off to the east that contains the landing area Don Sheldon pioneered as the arrival point for climbing expeditions. This is where the climbers begin and conclude their journey up Denali — “Base Camp”.
In the course of the May-June Denali climbing season, Sheldon pilots pick up and drop off mountaineering teams to Base Camp in varying weather. As the video at the top of the page shows, even if it is overcast in Talkeetna, outstanding scenery can still be observed once in flight over the range.
Your route continues and leads to the Don Sheldon Amphitheater at the top of the Ruth Glacier. If you wish, you can ask to add a glacier landing to this flight, and we can land on the Ruth. A landing lets you really soak in the flight and put it all into perspective. It provides you and your group with a special moment to appreciate the scale of the surroundings in flight.
You will see the Mooses Tooth, Bear Tooth and Broken Tooth peaks, popular climbing destinations on the far side of the Amphitheater.
To top off your Alaska flightseeing adventure you will experience the majestic Ruth Gorge on the last leg of the flight through the range. The Great Gorge, as it is also called, is a mile deep in some places. The floor is the rugged Ruth Glacier. Make sure to watch for the brilliant bright blue pools of glacier melt water atop the glacier!
On the way back, the Tokositna River area at the base of the Alaska Range offers another opportunity to view moose and bears in their natural habitat.