Free field guide
A guiding company charges 9,800 to 19,000. We did it for 3,394. Here is every line we paid, and the three things you must never save on.
Self organised
$3,394
Per person, team of seven, May 2025. Includes hotel nights, shuttle, car and every meal off the mountain.
Guided, 2026 prices
$9,800+
Up to 19,000, and that is before the permit, the shuttle, lodging and your lunch food.
It is not an argument for doing this on the cheap. Some of the money buys safety, and that part is not where you save. The guide is explicit about which lines those are.
It is also not an argument for skipping ahead. Do the smaller trips first. The mountain is unforgiving, and if it goes wrong the people who come to get you are risking themselves for a decision you made. Helicopter rescue on Denali is rare, weather-dependent and never something a team can plan on.
The point of preparing properly is not caution. It is that being prepared is what makes the big thing possible at all.
Because the numbers are not the hard part. Deciding whether to go is. Most people never find out what an expedition really costs, so they assume it is out of reach and stop there. That assumption is usually wrong, and it is expensive in a different way.
Preparation is the deciding factor. Not talent, not luck.
Koen