Denali facts for kids

This page is about the mountain. For other uses, see Denali (disambiguation).

Quick facts for kids Denali
Mount McKinley
From the north, with Wonder Lake in the foreground
Highest point
Elevation	20,310 ft (6,190 m) top of snow NAVD88
Prominence	20,194 ft (6,155 m)
Isolation	4,621.1 mi (7,436.9 km)
Parent peak	Aconcagua
Listing	World's most prominent peaks 3rd World's most isolated peaks 3rd Seven Summits 3rd Country high points 14th North America highest peaks 1st US highest major peaks 1st Alaska highest major peaks 1st U.S. state high points 1st
Geography
Denali Location in Alaska
Location	Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, U.S.
Parent range	Alaska Range
Topo map	USGS Mt. McKinley A-3
Climbing
First ascent	June 7, 1913 by Hudson Stuck Harry Karstens Walter Harper Robert Tatum
Easiest route	West Buttress Route (glacier/snow climb)

Denali, also known as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America. Its top reaches 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level. It's also known as the tallest mountain in the world from its base to its peak on land, measuring 18,000 ft (5,500 m). Denali is the third most prominent and third-most isolated peak on Earth. Only Mount Everest and Aconcagua are higher or more isolated. This amazing mountain is found in the Alaska Range in the middle of Alaska. It is the main feature of Denali National Park and Preserve.

The Koyukon people, who have lived around the mountain for centuries, have always called it "Denali." This name means 'the high one' or 'the tall one'. In 1896, a gold prospector named it "Mount McKinley" to support William McKinley, who later became the 25th U.S. president. This name was officially used by the U.S. government from 1917 until 2015. In August 2015, the U.S. government, under President Barack Obama, changed the official name back to Denali. However, in January 2025, the Donald Trump administration changed the mountain's official federal name back to Mount McKinley.

The first recorded attempt to climb Denali was in 1903 by James Wickersham, but it wasn't successful. In 1906, Frederick Cook claimed to be the first to reach the top, but his claim was never proven. The first confirmed climb to Denali's summit happened on June 7, 1913. The climbers were Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum. In 1951, Bradford Washburn found the West Buttress route, which is now considered the safest and most popular way to climb the mountain.

On September 2, 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey measured the mountain's height at 20,310 feet (6,190 m). This was 10 feet lower than the 20,320 feet (6,194 m) measured in 1952.

What is Denali Made Of?
- How Tall is Denali?
- Parts of the Mountain
Naming the Mountain
History of Denali
- Climbing Denali's History
- Timeline of Climbs
Weather on Denali
- Historical Cold Records
Other Peaks Near Denali
Images for kids
See also

What is Denali Made Of?

Denali is mostly made of a type of rock called granitic pluton, which is a pink rock called quartz monzonite. This rock was pushed up by huge forces from the Earth's tectonic plates. This happened when the Pacific Plate slid under the North American Plate. At the same time, the softer rock around the mountain was worn away by erosion. The same forces that lifted Denali also cause many deep earthquakes in Alaska.

How Tall is Denali?

Denali's summit is 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level. This makes it the highest peak in North America. It is also the northernmost mountain in the world that is over 19,685 feet (6,000 m) tall. When measured from its base to its peak, Denali is about 18,000 ft (5,500 m) tall. This makes it one of the largest mountains that is completely above sea level. Denali rises from a flat area that is between 1,000 to 3,000 ft (300 to 910 m) high. So, its base-to-peak height is between 17,000 to 19,000 ft (5,000 to 6,000 m).

For comparison, Mount Everest starts from the Tibetan Plateau, which is already very high. Everest's base is between 13,800 ft (4,200 m) and 17,100 ft (5,200 m). This means Everest's base-to-peak height is between 12,000 to 15,300 ft (3,700 to 4,700 m). So, Denali's base-to-peak height is actually more than Everest's! However, it's still less than half the height of the volcano Mauna Kea, which is 33,500 ft (10,200 m) tall, but most of it is underwater.

Parts of the Mountain

Denali has two main tops: the South Summit, which is the highest, and the North Summit, which is 19,470 ft (5,934 m) tall. The North Summit is sometimes seen as a separate peak. It is not climbed very often.

Five large glaciers flow down the sides of the mountain. The Peters Glacier is on the northwest side. The Muldrow Glacier flows from the northeast. Next to the Muldrow is the Traleika Glacier. The Ruth Glacier is to the southeast, and the Kahiltna Glacier is on the southwest side. The Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range, stretching 44 mi (71 km).

Naming the Mountain

The Koyukon Athabaskans have lived around the mountain for centuries. They have always called it Denali, which means 'high' or 'tall' in their language. When Russia owned Alaska, the mountain was called Bolshaya Gora, which means 'Big Mountain' in Russian. For a short time in the late 1800s, it was called Densmore's Mountain after a gold prospector.

In 1896, a gold prospector named it McKinley to support William McKinley, who was running for president. The U.S. government officially recognized the name Mount McKinley in 1917. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson named the mountain's two peaks the "Churchill Peaks" after British leader Winston Churchill. Alaska officially changed the mountain's name to Denali in 1975. However, a request to change the federal name was blocked by an Ohio congressman for many years.

On August 30, 2015, the Barack Obama administration announced that the name Denali would be restored. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell made the change official on August 28, 2015. She said the change had been "a long time coming." This decision was praised by Alaskan politicians but criticized by some politicians from Ohio, President McKinley's home state.

In December 2024, Donald Trump, who was about to become president again, said he planned to change the mountain's official federal name back to Mount McKinley. He did this shortly after his inauguration on January 20, 2025. This change was also met with different opinions, with Alaskan senators preferring Denali. The Associated Press announced it would use Mount McKinley, saying the president has the power to change federal geographic names. The name of Denali National Park itself did not change.

Many businesses in Alaska are named after Denali. There are six times more businesses named Denali than McKinley.

Different Athabascan languages have their own names for Denali. Some names mean 'big mountain', while others mean 'the high one' or 'the tall one'. Will Mayo, who used to lead an organization of Athabascan tribes, said that while there are different beliefs about the mountain, everyone agrees that recognizing the name Denali is important to the people of Alaska.

History of Denali

Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens were leaders of the first successful climb to Denali's summit in 1913. The other climbers were Robert G. Tatum and Walter Harper.

The Koyukon Athabaskans were the first people to live near the mountain. A British explorer named George Vancouver was the first European to see Denali in 1794. He described "distant stupendous mountains." Later, a Russian explorer named Lavrenty Zagoskin likely saw the mountain from another side in 1843-1844.

In 1897, William Dickey, a gold miner, wrote an article saying he believed the peak was the highest in North America, over 20,000 feet (6,100 m) tall. This was a big deal because people thought Mount Logan in Canada was the highest. His estimate was confirmed in 1898 by a surveyor named Robert Muldrow, who measured it at 20,300 feet (6,200 m).

On November 5, 2012, the United States Mint released a twenty-five cent coin showing Denali National Park. It shows a Dall sheep with Denali in the background.

Climbing Denali's History

In 1902, scientist Alfred Hulse Brooks explored the mountain's sides. He tried to reach a shoulder at 10,000 feet (3,048 m) but was blocked by ice. He later wrote a plan for climbing Denali, suggesting a northern approach.

In 1903, Judge James Wickersham led the first recorded attempt to climb Denali. His group tried to go straight up the northwest side of the north peak. But they found a huge cliff, now called the Wickersham Wall, which rises 15,000 feet (4,572 m) straight up. This wall was not successfully climbed until 1963.

Later in 1903, Dr. Frederick Cook led another team. They couldn't reach the summit but were the first to go all the way around the mountain. In 1906, Cook tried again with Herschel Parker. Cook and one team member, Robert Barrill, claimed to have reached the summit. But other climbers, like Parker, were suspicious. A photo Cook published, supposedly of Barrill on the summit, was later shown to be from a much lower spot. This made many people doubt Cook's claim.

High camp (17,200 ft or 5,200 m) on the West Buttress Route, photographed in 2001.

Because Cook's claim was doubted, people still wanted to be the first to truly summit. In 1909, four Alaskans – Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagall – set out from Fairbanks. They found a pass, now called McGonagall Pass, that helped them get higher up the mountain. On April 3, 1910, Billy Taylor and Peter Anderson claimed to have reached the north peak of Denali, which is 19,470 feet (5,934 m) high. They put a 14-foot-long (4.3 m) spruce pole near the top so people could see it. After their trip, there were conflicting stories, and some people still doubt if they made it. However, another climbing group later said they saw the pole, which supported the claim for the North Summit.

In 1912, the Parker-Browne expedition almost reached the summit but had to turn back because of bad weather. The next day, a big earthquake hit, shattering the glacier they had climbed.

The first confirmed climb of Denali's main summit (the South Peak) happened on June 7, 1913. The team included Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum. They climbed from the north. The earthquake from the year before had made their route much harder. It took them three weeks to cover ground that used to take three days. On June 7, they made their final push to the summit. It was very cold, and everyone felt sick from the altitude. Walter Harper was the first to reach the top, followed by Tatum and Karstens. Stuck arrived last, passing out at the summit.

Tatum later said, "The view from the top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!" During their climb, Stuck saw the spruce pole near the North Summit through binoculars. This helped confirm that the Sourdough climbers likely reached the North Summit. Stuck also realized that the Parker-Browne party had been very close to the true summit when they turned back.

Today, many people climb Denali. In 2003, about 58% of climbers reached the top. But the mountain has also taken the lives of nearly 100 climbers. Most climbers use the West Buttress Route, which was first used in 1951 by Bradford Washburn. Climbers usually take two to four weeks to reach the summit. Denali is one of the Seven Summits, a challenge for mountaineers to climb the highest peak on each continent.

Timeline of Climbs

Denali's West Buttress, August 2010

A three-dimensional representation of the mountain created with topographic data

1913: First confirmed ascent by Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum.
1932: Second ascent, both peaks climbed.
1947: Barbara Washburn becomes the first woman to reach the summit. Her husband, Bradford Washburn, becomes the first person to summit twice.
1951: First climb of the West Buttress Route, led by Bradford Washburn.
1959: First climb of the West Rib, now a popular route.
1961: First climb of the Cassin Ridge, a famous technical route.
1967: First winter ascent.
1970: First solo ascent by Naomi Uemura.
1970: First ascent by an all-female team, the "Denali Damsels."
1972: First descent on skis down the steep southwest face.
1979: First ascent by a dog team.
1984: Uemura tries the first winter solo ascent but dies after reaching the summit.
1988: First successful winter solo ascent by Vern Tejas.
1990: Anatoli Boukreev sets a speed record for ascent (10 hours, 30 minutes).
1995: First ski descent down the Wickersham Wall.
2015: A survey team measures the summit elevation at 20,310 ft (6,190 metres).
2019: Karl Egloff sets new speed records for ascent (7h 40m) and round-trip (11h 44m).

Weather on Denali

The east side viewed from Denali National Park and Preserve, which surrounds the mountain

The Japanese Alpine Club put a weather station near Denali's summit at 18,733 feet (5,710 m) in 1990. In 2002, another weather station was placed at 19,000-foot (5,800 m). This station sends real-time weather data to climbers and scientists. It is the third-highest weather station in the world.

On December 1, 2003, the weather station recorded a temperature of −75.5 °F (−59.7 °C). The day before, on November 30, 2003, a temperature of −74.4 °F (−59.1 °C) with winds of 18.4 miles per hour (29.6 km/h) created a record windchill of −118.1 °F (−83.4 °C). Even in July, this weather station has recorded temperatures as low as −22.9 °F (−30.5 °C).

Historical Cold Records

In 1932, a thermometer left on Denali in 1913 was found. It was designed to measure temperatures down to −95 °F (−71 °C), and the lowest temperature it recorded was even colder than that, about −100 °F (−73 °C). Another thermometer placed there from 1950 to 1969 also recorded a low of −100 °F (−73 °C).

Other Peaks Near Denali

Denali, here shrouded in clouds, is large enough to create its own localized weather

Besides the North Summit, other important points on the mountain are:

South Buttress, 15,885 feet (4,842 m)
East Buttress high point, 14,730 feet (4,490 m)
Browne Tower, 14,530 feet (4,430 m)

Nearby mountains include:

Images for kids

South view from 27,000 feet (8,200 m)
Ice sheets on Denali