Denali's Advance Base Camp lies a few days' climb above the Kahiltna Glacier Basecamp where the small planes drop off climbers, marking the interface of lower and upper mountain at some 14,300 feet elevation. The lower portion of the West Buttress route features, with a few exceptions, relatively shallow terrain and sufficiently benign temperatures that one can often travel during spells of bad weather. The upper route, by contrast, is at-times steep and unforgivingly cold - even in June and early July. Traveling there demands caution and much planning so as not to be caught in the open with high winds and a seriously low wind chill factor. One can then freeze to death without a tent or sleeping bag.

However Advance Base Camp, known also as "ABC" and "Basin Camp", is a haven of relative safety. Multiday storms can rage all-about, but a well-entrenched tent with snow walls is generally OK there. It is here that expeditions plan several days of acclimatization prior to tackling the upper route.

Advance Base Camp is at-times sufficiently peopled to be termed a "village" - and the highest in North America. There is no governing authority apart from the nearby stationed park rangers. It is essentially a disorganized conglomeration of snow walls buttressing brightly colored tents and with perhaps a 100 to 200 yard extent depending on orientation.

As a sewage system is nonexistent one generally "does business" in a pit dug specifically for that purpose and trows the solid waste, bagged within a green CMC (clean mountain can) provided by the National Park Service (NPS), into a deep crevasse.

There is also the medical tent where NPS staff provide advice to climbers. However beware: if treated, even for a minor cut, your climb is finished. They send you down, aligned with the philosophy that all groups be maximally self-sufficient.
cohp.org/personal/McKinley/2013/Advance_Base_Camp.html

Waiting for a good weather window (bring a ham-radio/walkie-talkie to listen to the 2-day weather update at 5pm from Kahiltna base camp) can take a few days/weeks, so bring enough food (or collect food given away by parties returning who don't want to carry back all that extra weight) and something to read. Daily exercise climbs and building an igloo while waiting is highly recommended to stay in shape and protected from the elements.

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Elevation 4,310 m

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Tuesday 4 November

-22°C

-28°C

63 %

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Max wind speed: 22.0 km/h

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Location: Denali Borough, Alaska, United States

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