Towering over the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Mount McKinley rises 20,320 feet above sea level, and is the tallest mountain in the United States (and North America). Mount McKinley is in the Alaska Mountain Range, which stretches from east to west across the southern portion of the state. Along the slopes of McKinley lie five large glacier flows: Peters Glacier, Muldrow Glacier, Traleika Glacier, Ruth Glacier, and Kahiltna Glacier.
Mount McKinley, like Mount Elbrus, has two significant summits. The South Summit is the higher, 20,320 feet, and is the peak included in the list of the Seven Summits. The North Summit rises 19,470 feet, and is much less climbed, than its sister summit. On average, 1,000 climbers attempt the South Summit each season; but only half reach the top and, on average, three perish on the mountain each year.
The weather on Mount McKinley can change rapidly and is notably unforgiving of mistakes. Because it is close to Aleutian Low, a semi-permanent low pressure center, the weather on McKinley is unlike that of any other mountain. Extreme cold is its trademark. Temperature routinely falls to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, with high winds also common along its incline.
Long periods of clear skies on the mountain are traditionally accompanied by high winds. During these windy periods, much of the mountain is swept clean of snow, leaving behind solid ice. The slippery slopes are exceptionally dangerous for climbers, and the Denali Pass and the upper part of the West Rib are notorious locations for accidents. Winds in excess of 100 miles per hour are common year-round. Eye witness reports confirm that climbers have been picked up off the mountain by the wind and flung down the slopes. These violent wind storms occur without warning, and experienced climbers routinely take cover at first suggestion of increased wind speed. Many of the climbing accidents in 1992, one of the deadliest years for McKinley, were caused by high-velocity winds.
North America’s crown jewel mountain is also known for low pressure cyclonic systems, which originate from the Gulf of Alaska, sweeping in from the southwest. The strongest have been described as snow hurricanes. Generally, climbers will have at least twelve hours warning before the storm reaches the mountain. But the weather service messages do not always get through. This atypical weather was responsible for a climbing accident on the Karstens Ridge route in 1967 that claimed the lives of seven climbers. It is thought that the expedition either did not get the weather message—or disregarded it.
In comparison to Mount Everest, Mount McKinley has a higher rise of 18,000 feet. The rise of Everest is 12,000 feet. Because Mount Everest reaches a higher elevation, at 29,029 feet above sea level, it is considered the tallest mountain. Due to the rise and extreme weather found on McKinley, the mountain is often used as a training ground for climbers desirous of conquering Everest.
Currently, the name of Mount McKinley is under dispute. The Koyukon Athabaskan people, the American Indian tribes which inhabit the area around the mountain, refer to the peak as Dinale or Denali. From the native language, Denali translates to ‘The High One’. The first English name on record applied to Mount McKinley was Densmore’s Mountain or Densmore’s Peak, named for a gold prospector, Frank Densmore. In 1889, Densmore praised the mountain for its beauty and “majesty.” In 1897, gold prospector William Dickey renamed it “Mount McKinley” as political support for the then presidential candidate, William McKinley of Ohio. An account of Dickey’s experiences on the mountain was published in the New York Sun, which added support of the name “McKinley.” The current name dispute is being argued between the state of Alaska and the United States federal government. According to the Alaska Board of Geographic Names, the name is Denali, but the United States Board of Geographic Names has it listed as McKinley.
McKinley History Makers
The historic first European sighting of Mt. McKinley took place on May 6, 1794. George Vancouver was surveying the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet and saw a “distant, stupendous mountain.” Vancouver referenced Denali in a British journal.
The first recorded attempt to climb the giant mountain was undertaken by James Wickersham in 1903. He chose an approach that used Peters Glacier and the North Face, which is now known as the Wickersham Wall. This difficult route was not successfully climbed until 1963; it is highly prone to avalanche. In order to finance his expedition, Wickersham wrote and published a single issue of a newspaper called The Fairbanks Miner, dated May, 1903. Unfortunately, Wickersham had to abandon his climb at approximately 8,000 feet above the base. Judge Wickersham also chronicled his expedition in his book, Old Yukon: Tails, Trails, Trial.
The summit of Mount McKinley has been subject to several climbing scandals since the early 1900s. In 1906, famed explorer Dr. Frederick Cook claimed the first completed ascent of the mountain. His announcement was regarded with suspicion from the beginning. Cook claimed to have reached the summit with one companion, Ed Barrill. He provided pictures of himself atop a mountain as ‘proof’ of his summit, but; these pictures were later shown to be a lower peak 19 miles from Mount McKinley. Subsequently, in 1909, his summit claim was publically challenged by Robert Peary. Barrill then signed an affidavit agreeing that the two had not reached the summit of Mount McKinley. It has been reported that Barrill was paid to do so by Peary supporters. Barrill also produced a map of the fake summit, and since then, Cook’s claims have conclusively been proven false through photographs and actual descriptions of Mount McKinley’s summit.
The 1910 expedition of four local Alaskans has come to be known as the Sourdough expedition. Despite having no climbing experience or training, Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor and Charles McGonagall claimed to have spent three months on McKinley, which culminated on the North Summit of the mountain. During their time on the mountain, the Sourdoughs worked to set up camps along the route. The New York Times ran an article regarding the equipment used on the Sourdough Expedition, emphasizing that the climbers had used home-made crampons, (which they called “creepers”), snowshoes, and long poles fitted with a steel hook at one end and a spike on the other. The Sourdough Expedition did not use any rope and were never secured to the mountain, as are climbers today. At the summit, the Sourdough climbers reported driving a 14-foot spruce pole into the ice and snow of the North Summit. After the Sourdough summit, much of the climbing community doubted the accomplishment claimed by the Alaskans. Their inexperience, lack of training, and rudimentary climbing materials did not inspire belief in the summit.
It was not until 1913 that their claim was verified when the South Summit was reached by a party led by Hudson Stuck, from which the 1913 climbers saw the Sourdough flagpole on the North Summit, which proved the validity of Sourdough claims. The expedition that reached the South Summit included Stuck, Walter Harper, Harry Karstens and Robert Tatum. The Stuck expedition approached and conquered McKinley using the Muldrow Glacier route.
According to Robert Tatum, “The view from the top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!”
While on the summit the Stuck expedition took measurements to measure accurately the elevation of the mountain. Using various types of barometers and thermometers, the climbers were able to proclaim that McKinley was 20,384 feet above sea level. They were very close. Today’s sophisticated, satellite-based tools show a small difference of only 20,320 being the accurate altitude. While atop the summit, the 1910 expedition members used a tent support as a flagpole and raised a small American flag to fly in the McKinley wind. The flag was constructed while on the climb, hand-made from two silk handkerchiefs and the cover of a sewing bag.