Information About

Denali

Denali

Quick Facts
Region:
  • Denali
Nearest City:
Parent:
Also Known As:
  • Mount McKinley, Mt McKinley
Elevation:
  • 20310 ft (6190.49 m)
Uses:
  • Mountaineering
Fatalities:
  • 32
Ridges:
About

At an elevation of 20,310 ft, Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley) is the highest point in North America.

Climbing Denali is not a light undertaking. Only about half of attempts end in a successful summit and about .3% (3 in 1,000) died while attempting int. Generally it takes 2.5-3 weeks to summit Denali and return to basecamp, but it is possible to summit in under two weeks for those who are prepared and the weather is in their favor. Over 90% of summits are performed along the West Buttress route leaving from Denali Base Camp.


Getting To Denali

By far the easiest way to reach Mt. McKinley (Denali) is hopping a flight. Most of the air taxi's that land on the Kahiltna Glacier, base camp for Mt. McKinley, operate out of Talkeetna. Tourist are usually not permitted to land at the Kahiltna Glacier base camp, as to preserve the tranquility for the climbers and to preserve the runway, so that climbing may operate longer into the season, before the crevasses open in the runway.

A flight from Talkeetna takes around 50 minutes to reach the mountain. On hot summer days flights crossing the valley can be even hotter inside the plane, so be sure to have water handy for the flight.

History of Denali

Originally called Denali by the Tanana natives, it was also called "Doleika" or "Traleika" by the Tanaina natives. All meaning "the big one" or "the high one."

In 1896 it was named Mount McKinley by William A. Dickey, prospector, "after William McKinley of Ohio, who had been nominated for the Presidency and that was the first news we received on our way out of that wonderful wilderness." McKinley, 1854-1901, was the 25th President of the United States.

The first mention of the massif was by Captain George Vancouver, who when seeing it from Cook Inlet in 1794, referred to the "stupendous snow mountains." The Russians descriptively called it "Bolshaya (Bulshaia) Gora" or "big mountain." Alfred Mayo and Arthur Harper, pioneer Alaska traders, after a trip up the Tanana River in 1878, reported, "a great ice mountain to the south," but did not name it. A prospector, Frank Densmore, spoke so enthusiastically after seeing the mountain from Lake Minchumina in 1889, that it was known for years among prospectors as "Densmores Peak."

In the GSPP 567 it reports that "North Peak was first reached on April 3, 1910, by two prospectors, Peter Anderson and William Taylor. South Peak, the higher was first 'conqured' on June 7, 1913, by Archdeacon Hudson Stuck, Walter Harper, Robert Tatum, and Harry Karstens (later park superintendent)"

Current government record states; The north summit was first reached on April 3, 1913, by Archdeacon Hudson Stuck, Walter Harper, Robert Tatum, and Harry Karstens (later park superintendent).

The Stuck, Harper, Tatum and Karstens party ascended via the Muldrow Glacier route.

Fatalities
May 16, 20241 person died mountaineering Read More
June 3, 20221 person died mountaineering Read More
May 17, 20221 person died mountaineering Read More
May 1, 20221 person died mountaineering Read More
June 14, 20161 person died mountaineering Read More
June 10, 20111 person died mountaineering Read More
May 25, 20112 people died mountaineering Read More
May 16, 20111 person died mountaineering Read More
May 19, 20091 person died mountaineering, skiing Read More
May 22, 20082 people died mountaineering Read More
June 27, 20041 person died mountaineering Read More
May 24, 19981 person died mountaineering Read More
May 31, 19924 people died mountaineering Read More
May 21, 19921 person died mountaineering Read More
May 21, 19923 people died mountaineering Read More
February 13, 19841 person died mountaineering Read More
June 19, 19691 person died mountaineering Read More
July 18, 19677 people died mountaineering Read More
May 15, 19541 person died mountaineering Read More

Denali Gallery

Pictures of, from, or near Denali.

Related Places
South Buttress,