2021 has been a special year for lots of reasons. We all are humbled by the COVID rollercoaster we have been riding since spring 2020. So we are beyond pleased to report that AMS had exactly ZERO cases of COVID this spring and summer.
2021 has been extra special for AMS, this year marks 25 years of leadership with Caitlin Palmer and Colby Coombs. It's been a wonderful journey since starting AMS in a one-room dry cabin at the end of Main Street in Downtown Talkeetna in 1996.
Our history dates back to 1983 when Diane and Brian Okonek began Alaska-Denali Guiding, Inc. (ADG) to offer guided Denali Expeditions on the West Buttress route. As adventurers, climbers, and guides, they were lucky enough to create a small business and share their love of the Alaska Range.
In 1985, Colby Coombs climbed Denali with ADG and Brian Okonek and was hooked on the Alaska Range for life. In 1994 Caitlin Palmer moved to Talkeetna and climbed Denali with a small women's team to raise funds for an Anchorage hospital imaging center. The two met in Talkeetna in 1995 and started a lifetime of adventure. After years of outdoor pursuits for work and play, in 1996 Alaska Mountaineering School (AMS) was begun with expeditions in the Talkeetna Mountains, the Alaska Range's Mt. Hunter, and on South America's highest peak, Aconcagua.
In 2001, ADG was sold to Colby and Caitlin, and AMS began guiding Denali expeditions with smaller six-person teams on the mountain. AMS moved out of its one-room cabin and has been at the same location on Third Street in Talkeetna, Alaska for 20 years. We are honored to be going strong and take pride in improving in both big and small ways each year.
Here's to the next twenty!
