The Denali Basecamp Talk offers a glimpse into Lisa Roderick’s life living on a glacier during the ten week Denali climbing season, the myriad of interesting characters and mountain climbers she has encountered, and her duties working with and providing weather observations for the Talkeetna glacier pilots who bring more than one thousand climbers along with hundreds of scenic flight passengers to the basecamp at 7,200 feet elevation on the Kahiltna Glacier each season.
~ Lisa Roderick
A Place among Giants: 22 seasons at Denali Basecamp
Twenty two years of love, triumph, and tragedy on North America’s tallest mountain.
Lisa Roderick had already forged an unlikely path, from growing up on a farm in Connecticut to driving the Alaska Highway to start a new life in the 49th state. What happened next—a series of events leading her to spend more time in the Alaska Range than possibly any living human—is even more remarkable. In Alaska, she fell in love with the land, the mountains, and a mountain climber, and soon became swept up in a series of climbing adventures that culminated in her managing the basecamp on Denali, North America’s tallest mountain.
A tragic plane crash would galvanize Lisa’s commitment to protecting Denali’s aviators, and she would spend the next 22 seasons living on a massive Alaskan glacier in one of the world’s harshest mountain climates. Lisa faithfully executed her duties, providing weather observations for pilots, coordinating flights, and keeping order in the camp, while facing constant worries for the safety of her glacier pilot brother, Paul, and her mountain climber husband, Mark, as they each navigated the myriad hazards of the Alaska Range.
Lisa’s story is not just about mountains, flying, or climbing. It is a portrait of more than two decades on Denali and the climbers, pilots, and park service rescuers with whom she shared her adventures during her historic and remarkable tenure.
Release Date: November 5th, 2024
Available for pre-order now!
At 20,320 feet, Denali is North America’s tallest mountain. It attracts over 1,200 climbers annually from all over the world to its challenging slopes, as well as thousands of tourists who experience the mountain by scenic flight tours. Kahiltna Basecamp, located at 7,200 feet on the Kahiltna Glacier, is a remote, seasonal installation located 65 miles from the small tourist town of Talkeetna and is only reachable by ski-wheel equipped aircraft.
Between April and July each season, the vast majority of Denali climbers pass through basecamp, but the camp is also a destination for climbers attempting difficult routes on impressive mountains including 17,400 foot Mount Foraker (AKA “Sultana”), and 14,573 foot Mount Hunter (AKA “Begguya”).
In addition, many of the Talkeetna-based scenic flight tourists add on a glacier landing to their flight tour, which often brings them to Kahiltna Basecamp. The camp is an energetic, dynamic hub of activity for three months each year, filled with world-class athletes, adventurers, and wanderers who are bound together and brought here by the beauty of the Alaska Range landscape.

A Place Among Giants
Contact us
Denali Mountain Talks
Lisa Roderick
Talkeetna, Alaska
+1 907-841-8424
alaskasunflower@gmail.com