‘You can’t climb again if you’re dead’: Two UAA students attempt Mt. McKinley during winter solstice

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - On Dec. 16, 2025, Dalton Borton and Lane Christenson left in an attempt to summit the tallest peak in North America in the dead of winter.

“To be honest, our goal was just to come back with all 10 fingers and toes,” Borton said. “We wanted to make sure that we did everything possible to play super conservatively... and I think we did a good job. We were very humbled.”

Borton, a nursing student at UAA, and Christenson, studying aviation at UAA, spent their winter breaks differently than other students.

The idea stemmed from Lane, who presented the idea to Borton in May, 2025.

Borton and Christenson had both summited Mt. McKinley twice before embarking on the recent trip, while past successes were in the summer.

The winter trip started off wonderful.

“Not a lot of people ever get to see that range in the winter that close,” Borton said. “And just to see like the crisp cold and the hanging glaciers and some of the granite up there is pretty cool.”

With just the two of them, Borton and Christenson created a balance.

“The person both leading and following on the rope team have to be pretty attentive to what’s going on,” Borton explained. “It’s a balance for sure between peeking up at the mountains and paying attention to your climber.”

But an unexpected visit from nature came fast.

“It was kind of a freak system that moved in and a freak year for sure,” Borton said.

A storm with 60 miles-per-hour winds and gusts up to 90 miles-per-hour swept in abruptly.

The duo responded to the situation fast, building a snow-shelter with their sleds and other gear, hoping to stay safe in the snow.

Without the shelter, Borton said “I think that we probably could have died. And I think we definitely would have been very hypothermic.”

Their decision shows the power of acting fast.

While Borton and Christenson were safe, the storm hit their gear hard.

Borton said the next morning they discovered wet gear.

“We got our weather report that we had about a 12-hour window to make it back to base camp. So, we quickly packed our stuff up.”

Borton said on the mountain, you take it one day at a time, “because if you look too far in the future, you just kind of get wrapped up in the entire climb and it gets frightening.”

The climbers look to the future knowing safety is always the priority.

“The mountain will always be there, and you can come back and try and climb it again,” Borton said. “But you can’t climb again if you’re dead.”

Borton said he “really appreciates all the support and encouragement from family, friends, and everyone who was gracious enough to donate gear for our expedition.” He added that without them “I couldn’t have made this trip possible.”

Christenson is ambitious to attempt the summit again. Borton would like to give it another shot but will see what the future holds.

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