Climbed June/July 2011 (reached
17,500' stopped by hurricane winds on summit)
North America: Denali (20,320'/6194m)
Denali
is the native American name for the mountain but it was changed to Mt. McKinley in
honor of President McKinley and then officially changed back to Denali by the National
park Service in 1980. It is in central Alaska - 300 miles South of the Arctic Circle
and 200 miles East of the Bearing Sea. Denali offers some the the largest vertical
gain of any mountain on Earth. With base camp at 7,200' and the summit at 20,320',
this 13,120' of gain over twelve miles is larger than Cho Oyu (8,407) or even Everest
(10,535). The biggest threat on Denali is the weather. It is well known for socking
you in for days with high winds and snow. An estimated 32,000 climbers have attempted
Denali with about a 40% success rate. Almost 100 have died including 11 in 1992.
The second highest mountain in North America is Mt. Logan in Canada's Yukon at
19,551'/5959m and is 385 miles southeast of Denali. Similar to Denali it is a huge
massif but with eleven peaks. Logan is believed to have the largest base circumference
of any mountain. The normal route is consider straightforward but weather is a huge
problem for Logan like it is for Denali in addition to being so remote.
Denali Resources
I have climb on Denali three times. You can read about my climbs thru these links:
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