Mount McKinley

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Mount McKinley

Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) from Denali National Park
Elevation 20,320 ft (6,194 m)[1]
Location Alaska, USA
Range Alaska Range
Prominence 20,138 ft (6,138 m) Ranked 3rd
Coordinates 63°4′10″N, 151°0′26″WCoordinates: 63°4′10″N, 151°0′26″W
Topo map USGS Mt. McKinley A-3
First ascent June 7, 1913 by Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, Robert Tatum
Easiest route West Buttress Route (glacier/snow climb)
"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 20,320 feet (6,194 m)[1]. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park. The mountain was also known as Bolshaya Gora (Большая Гора), meaning Big Mountain, in Russian.

[edit] Location

Denali is located in the central portion of the Alaska Range, which spans much of south central Alaska. It is approximately 130 miles (209 km) north-northwest of Anchorage and 155 miles (249 km) southwest of Fairbanks. The summit is approximately 35 miles (56 km) from the nearest major road, the George Parks Highway.

[edit] Notable features

Mount McKinley has a larger bulk and rise than Mount Everest. Even though the summit of Everest is about 9,000 feet (2,700 m) higher as measured from sea level, its base sits on the Tibetan Plateau at about 17,000 feet (5,200 m), giving it a real vertical rise of little more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). The base of Mount McKinley is roughly a 2,000 foot plateau, giving it an actual rise of 18,000 feet (5,500 m).

The mountain is also characterized by an unusually severe risk of altitude illness and extremely cold weather due to its high latitude and its proximity to the jet stream.[2] At the equator, a mountain as high as Mount McKinley would have 47% as much oxygen available on its summit as there is at sea level,[3] but because of its very high latitude, the pressure on the summit is much lower. [4]

[edit] Layout of the mountain

Mount McKinley has two significant summits: the South Summit is the higher one, while the North Summit has an elevation of 19,470 feet (5,934 m) and a prominence of approximately 1,320 feet (402 m). The North Summit is sometimes counted as a separate peak (see e.g., the List of United States fourteeners) and sometimes not; it is rarely climbed, except by those doing routes on the north side of the massif.

Five large glaciers flow off the slopes of the mountain. The Peters Glacier lies on the northwest side of the massif, while the Muldrow Glacier falls from its northeast slopes. Just to the east of the Muldrow, and abutting the eastern side of the massif, is the Traleika Glacier. The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast of the mountain, and the Kahiltna Glacier leads up to the southwest side of the mountain.

[edit] Name controversy

Denali from the north
Denali from the north

Mount McKinley is also 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 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.[citation needed]

When Denali National Park and Preserve was established by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, December 2, 1980, the Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to "Denali." However, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names maintains "McKinley". Alaskans tend to use "Denali" and rely on context to distinguish between the park and the mountain. There have been several campaigns to officially switch the federally recognized name of the mountain back to "Denali". However, the name "McKinley" is well-known and has support as well. The name "McKinley" also allows visitors to differentiate between the mountain and Denali National Park, in which the mountain is located. In particular, at the first session of each Congress, Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), 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.

[edit] Climbing history

The first attempt to climb Mount McKinley was by Judge James Wickersham in 1903, via the Peters Glacier and the North Face, now known as the Wickersham Wall. This route has tremendous avalanche danger and was not successfully climbed until 1963.

Mt. McKinley on a clear day, from the northeast
Mt. McKinley on a clear day, from the northeast

Famed explorer Dr. Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent of the mountain in 1906. His claim was regarded with some suspicion from the start, but was also widely believed. It was later proved fraudulent, with some crucial evidence provided by Bradford Washburn when he was sketched on a lower peak.

In 1910, four locals (Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagall), known as the Sourdough expedition, attempted McKinley, despite a complete lack of climbing experience. They spent approximately three months on the mountain. However, their purported summit day was impressive: carrying a bag of doughnuts, a thermos of cocoa each and a 14 foot spruce pole, two of them reached the North Summit, lower of the two, and erected the pole near the top. According to them, they took a total of 18 hours — a record that has yet to be breached (as of 2006). No one believed their success (partly due to false claims that they had climbed both summits) until the true first ascent, in 1913.

In 1912, the Parker-Browne expedition nearly reached the summit, but had to turn back due to harsh weather. In fact, that probably saved their lives, as a powerful earthquake shattered the glacier they ascended hours after they safely left it.

High camp (17,200 ft) of the West Buttress Route pioneered by Bradford Washburn, photographed in 2001
High camp (17,200 ft) of the West Buttress Route pioneered by Bradford Washburn, photographed in 2001

The first ascent of the main summit of McKinley came on June 7, 1913 by a party led by Hudson Stuck. The first man to reach the summit was Walter Harper, an Alaska Native. Harry Karstens and Robert Tatum also made the summit. Tatum later commented, "The view from the top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!"[5] They ascended the Muldrow Glacier route pioneered by the earlier expeditions, which is still a popular route today. Stuck confirmed, via binoculars, the presence of a large pole near the North Summit; this report confirmed the Sourdough ascent, and today it is widely believed that the Sourdoughs did succeed on the North Summit. However the pole was never seen before or since, so there is still some doubt. Stuck also discovered that the Parker-Browne party were only about 200 feet of elevation short of the true summit when they had to turn back.

The peak from the north during sunset
The peak from the north during sunset

See the timeline below for more important events in Mount McKinley's climbing history.

The mountain is regularly climbed today, with just over 50% of the expeditions successful, although it is still a dangerous undertaking. By 2003, the mountain had claimed the lives of nearly 100 mountaineers.[6] The vast majority of climbers use the West Buttress Route, pioneered in 1951 by Bradford Washburn, after an extensive aerial photographic analysis of the mountain. Climbs typically take two to three weeks.

[edit] Timeline

  • 1896-1902 Surveys by Robert Muldrow, George Eldridge, Alfred Brooks.
  • 1903. First attempt, by Judge James Wickersham.
  • 1906. Frederick Cook falsely claims the first ascent of McKinley.
  • 1910. The Sourdoughs ascend the North Summit.
  • 1912. The Parker-Browne attempt almost reaches the South Summit.
  • 1913. First ascent by Hudson Stuck, Walter Harper, Harry Karstens, Robert Tatum.
  • 1932. Second ascent, by Alfred Linley, Harry Liek, Grant Pearson, Erling Strom. (Both peaks were climbed.)
  • 1947. Barbara Washburn becomes the first woman to reach the summit as her husband Bradford Washburn becomes the first to summit twice.
  • 1951. First ascent of the West Buttress Route, led by Bradford Washburn.
  • 1954. First ascent of the very long South Buttress Route.
  • 1959. First ascent of the West Rib, now a popular, mildly technical route to the summit.
  • 1961. First ascent of the Cassin Ridge, the best-known technical route on the mountain. This was a major landmark in Alaskan climbing.
  • 1963. Two teams make first ascents of two different routes on the Wickersham Wall.
  • 1967. First winter ascent, via the West Buttress, by Dave Johnston, Art Davidson, and Ray Genet.
  • 1967. Seven members of Joe Wilcox's twelve-man expedition perish in a storm near the summit. Up to this time, this was the third worst disaster in mountaineering history in terms of lives lost.
  • 1970. First solo ascent by Naomi Uemura.
  • 1984. Uemura returns to make the first winter solo ascent, but dies after summitting. Tono Križo, František Korl and Blažej Adam from the Slovak Mountaineering Association climb the a very direct route to the summit, now known as the Slovak Route, on the south face of the mountain, to the right of the Cassin Ridge.[7]
  • 1988. First solo winter ascent with safe return, by Vern Tejas.
  • 1990. Alaskan Norma Jean Saunders became the first woman to officially document a solo ascent of Mount McKinley. She climbed the West Buttress.

[edit] Subpeaks and nearby mountains

Mount McKinley, here shrouded in clouds, is large enough to create its own localized weather.
Mount McKinley, here shrouded in clouds, is large enough to create its own localized weather.

Besides the North Summit mentioned above, other less significant features on the massif which are sometimes included as separate peaks are:

  • South Buttress, 15,885 feet (4,842 m); mean prominence = 335 feet (102 m)
  • East Buttress high point, 14,730 feet (4,490 m); mean prominence = 380 feet (116 m)
  • East Buttress, most topographically prominent point, 14,650 feet (4,465 m); mean prominence = 600 feet (183 m)
  • Browne Tower, 14,530 feet (4,429 m); mean prominence = 75 feet (23 m)

None of these peaks is usually regarded as worthwhile objectives in their own right; however they often appear on lists of the highest peaks of the United States. (Only one appears on the List of United States Fourteeners on Wikipedia.)

Nearby important peaks include:

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  • Jonathan Waterman, High Alaska, AAC Press, 1988.
  • Dow Scoggins, Discovering Denali
  • R. J. Secor, Denali Climbing Guide (Stackpole Books, 1998) ISBN 0-8117-2717-3
  • Bradford Washburn et al, Mount McKinley: The Conquest of Denali (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991) ISBN 0-8109-3611-9
  • 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)++
  • Kaye, G. D., Using GIS to estimate the total volume of Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii, 98th Annual Meeting, Geological Society of America, (2002).
  • Art Davidson, Minus 148°: First Winter Ascent of Mt. McKinley, 7th ed. (Mountaineers Books, 2004) ISBN 0-89886-687-1
  • 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., 1988) ISBN 0-935632-69-7

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Elevations and Distances in the United States. U.S Geological Survey (29 April 2005). Retrieved on November 9, 2006.
  2. ^ Denali information at the 7summits website
  3. ^ An interactive high altitude pressure model
  4. ^ Ward, Milledge and West, High altitude medicine and physiology, 2002
  5. ^ Coombs 1997
  6. ^ Glickman, Joe, Man Against the Great One, New York Times, 24 August 2003
  7. ^ American Alpine Journal, 1985, p. 174.

[edit] External links


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Seven Summits
Asia: Everest  •  South America: Aconcagua  •  North America: Mount McKinley  •  Africa: Kilimanjaro  •  Europe: Elbrus / Mont Blanc  •  Antarctica: Vinson Massif  •  Oceania: Puncak Jaya / Kosciuszko
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