DENALI 6194m, Alaska: Ilina Arsova & Filip Vasileski

DENALI 6194m, Alaska
Ilina Arsova & Filip Vasileski
First Macedonian woman & 5/7 Summits
The North American giant, Mt Mckinley or Denali 6194m, was finally scaled by first Macedonian woman, Ilina Arsova, and Filip Vasilevski, first time Ohrid mountaineer.
This experience was definitely among the most challenging ones so far,for both of us. As unguided  self sufficient expedition, we had to manage all expedition needs, from transporting over 60kg load each,to forecast related decision making.
We stood at the highest point of the North American continent, on the 24 th of May at around 15h, in very strong winds and extremely cold temperatures, after 17 days on the mountain.We choose a small weather window splitting the way with one overnight at high camp(17 000ft). The sudden arrival of another snowstorm resulted with splitting of our team, and 3 more days at high camp for Filip, together with Turkish, American and Australian team.
With the 5th out of the 7 summit project, and small frostbites to remember,our team meets again on the 29th of May,safely back at the BC and Talkeethna town.
For myself the challenge was even stronger,accessing most parts of the mountain on telemark skiis, which was a big dream for a while.This was my second attempt on Denali after 2012, when with my colleagues Ilija Ristovski and Nadir Murseli we reached the maximum height of 5100m (below 17 000ft high camp). This magnificent mountain pulls very strong emotions through my personal story.


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