From Freepedia
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Coordinates:
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63°5′51.34″ N 151°0′19.86″ W
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Topo map:
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USGS Mt. McKinley A-3
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First ascent:
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1913 expedition led by
Hudson Stuck
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route:
<td style="border-top:1px solid #999966" width=220>West Buttress Route
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- "Denali" redirects here. For other meanings, see Denali (disambiguation).
Mount McKinley or
Denali in
Alaska is the
highest mountain peak in
North America, at a height of approximately 6,194
metres (20,320
feet). It is the centerpiece of
Denali National Park.
It is commonly known as
Denali, which means "the great one" in the
Dena'ina language, and which is also the official name currently recognized by the State of Alaska. In
1897 the Mountain was "officially" named Mount McKinley, after the popular
U.S. president William McKinley. As the decades progressed Indian-rights activists began increasingly to view this renaming as
colonial and disrespectful. Denali is also the name preferred by the
mountaineering community. There have been several campaigns to officially switch the name of the mountain back to "Denali" nationwide. However, at the first session of each Congress,
Ralph Regula, the congressman from President McKinley's district, introduces legislation "to provide for the retention of the name of Mount McKinley," which effectively blocks any effort at a name change.
A
1903 claim of a
first ascent by Dr.
Frederick Cook was later proven fraudulent, and the first real ascent came on
June 7,
1913 by a party led by
Hudson Stuck. In
1947,
Barbara Washburn became the first woman to reach the summit. The mountain is regularly climbed today, although it is still a dangerous undertaking, and there have been many fatalities.
Denali is much larger than
Mount Everest, even though Everest rises some 9,000 feet higher. The base of Everest is at about 17,000 feet, giving it a vertical rise of little more than 12,000 feet, while the base of Denali is at about 2,000 feet, giving it a rise of 18,000 feet. This makes Denali the largest mountain above sea level in the world.
Mauna Loa is the largest mountain in the world, with a height of 30,000 feet, 16,000 of which are below the surface of the sea.
References
- Dow Scoggins, Discovering Denali
- R. J. Secor, Denali Climbing Guide (Stackpole Books, 1998) ISBN 0811727173
- Bradford Washburn et al Mount McKinley: The Conquest of Denali (Harry N. Abrams, 1991) ISBN 0810936119
- Colby Coombs and Bradford Washburn, Denali's West Buttress: A Climber's Guide to Mount McKinley's Classic Route
- Jonathan Waterman, Surviving Denali: A Study of Accidents on Mount McKinley 1903-1990 (American Alpine Club, 1991)
- Jonathan Waterman, In the Shadow of Denali: Life and Death on Alaska's Mt. McKinley (1994)
- Art Davidson, Minus 148 Degrees: The First Winter Ascent of Mount McKinley, 3rd ed. (Mountaineers Books, 1999) ISBN 0898866871
- Hudson Stuck, D.D., Archdeacon of the Yukon, The Ascent of Denali, The 1913 Expedition that First Conquered Mt. McKinley, ((reprinted by) Wolfe Publishing Co., Inc., 6471 Airpark Drive, Prescott, Arizona, 86301, 1988) ISBN 0-935632-69-7
External links
