Looming 20,320 feet above sea level, the highest peak in North America casts its shadows upon Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve. Mount McKinley is also known by the Koyukon Athabaskan Indian name Denali, meaning "Great One." The mountain is located in the Alaska Range in south central Alaska. The Denali National Park and Preserve spreads over approximately six million acres, of which McKinley spans about one third.
European explorer George Vancouver first sighted the massive mountain in 1794 while on a surveying expedition. In 1897 American prospector William Dickey recounted that he had seen what had to be the highest peak in North America.
Because of its height and high latitude, as well as its enormity, McKinley is known to be the coldest mountain in the world outside of Antarctica. Because of its size, the mountain creates its on weather system. Vicious winds rip across the surface year-round. Temperatures in December have been recorded as low as minus 75 degrees Farenheit with a windchill factor of minus 118 degrees.
In 1913 the first man to reach the summit of Mount McKinley was Alaskan Walter Harper, accompanied by party leader Hudson Stuck, Harry Karsten, and Robert Tatum. Climbers continue to tackle the adverse conditions of the mountain from mid-April to mid-July. More than 500 climbers have lost their lives in their attempts to reach the summit.
