Mt. McKinleyDenali National Park

Just give me the facts

6,198 Meters

20,335 Feet

20,320 Feet above sea level

Highest Mountain Peak In America

In Denali National Park

What’s A Mountain?Oxford English Dictionary: a mountain is defined

as "a natural elevation of the earth surface rising more or less abruptly from the surrounding level and attaining an altitude which, relatively to the adjacent elevation, is impressive or notable.”

How big is a mountain?Height over base of at least 8,202 ft

Height over base of 4,921 ft–8,202 ft with a slope greater than 2 degrees

Height over base of 3,281 ft–4,921 ft with a slope greater than 5 degrees

Who’s McKinley?

President of the USA

William McKinley, Jr.

1843-1901

More on McKinley25th President of the United States of America

President during Spanish-American Wars 1898

Las Civil War Veteran to be President

Assassinated

Shot on September 6, 1901

Died September 14, 1901

RockGranitic Pluton

intrusive igneous rock that crystallized from magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth

Sedimentary Rock Above and around

the mountainMostly eroded

away over time

Where?Denali National Park

Alaska

USA

Earth

Glaciers The Peters Glacier

The Muldrow Glacier

The Traleika Glacier

The Ruth Glacier

The Kahiltna Glacier

What’s a Glacier? A large body of ice

A glacier flows

Snow compacts and turns into ice

Glacial ice is the larges reservoir of fresh water on earth

Blue Ice – Created by snow that is packed on top and air bubbles get squeezed out

Who’s Bigger? Mt. Everest

Higher at 29,029 feet

Sits on Tibetan Plateau at 17,000 giving the mountain an actual vertical rise of 12,000 feet.

Mt. McKinley

Base is at 2,000 feet elevation

Giving the mountain an actual vertical rise of 18,000 feet.

How Cold? At 18,700 Feet

Low as -75.5 Fahrenheit Windchills low as -118.1

Fahrenheit

Sometime in the early 1900’s the temperature went below -100 at 15,000 feet.

Say That One More Time…McKinley or Denali?

The Koyukon Athabaskan people Dinale or Denali "the high one" or "the great one”.

In the late 1890s, a gold prospector named it "McKinley" as political support for then-president William McKinley.

"Denali" is correct according to the Alaska state Board, while "McKinley" is correct according to the national Board.

Who got to the top first?First Attempt – Judge James Wickersham

1903 via the Peters Glacier on the North Face

First Success or not – Dr. Frederick Cook1906

First Real Success – Four People – Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagal1910 but no one really believed them

First Ascent of Main Summit – Walter Harper1913