The Denali 2026 season is well underway, with a dated climber report as of June 1, 2026, of 513 climbers, mainly on the West Buttress route. 97 climbers have completed their trips, and 381 are left to check in and begin their climbs. One team that did summit was one from American Alpine Institute and Summit Coach client, John Bartolic
John, a Southwest Airlines pilot living in Dallas, Texas, is relatively new to mountaineering, with a Rainier summit last year and a Pico de Orizaba summit a few months ago. His next includes Kilimanjaro and Everest.
We discussed everything from motivation, training, gear, clothing and weather to logistics and had a special remembrance of Mayor Stubbs of Talkeetna, Alaska, who died in 2017. I met Stubbs in 2007 on a climb.
One team that did summit was one from American Alpine Institute and Summit Coach client, John Bartlic
The Podcast on alanarnette.com
You can listen to my podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, and more. Simply search for “Alan Arnette” on your preferred podcast platform.
Book Pre-Publishing Notification:
If you would like to be notified when my memoir, “Hard or Impossible? Summiting K2 for Ida is available – I’m still looking for an agent. Complete the form at the bottom of this introduction page:
2 thoughts on “Denali 2026 Coverage: Podcast with Summiteer – John Bartolic”
I get the Everest and K2 coverage from this guy. Alan Arnette. You can often track individual climbers like the guy that just a few weeks ago did the fastest climb.
Sent from my iPhone
Thanks!