{"id":37316,"date":"2013-10-08T14:21:31","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T11:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountainguides.pro\/?p=37316"},"modified":"2026-09-10T16:09:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:09:54","slug":"history-of-climbing-mckinley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainguides.pro\/zh\/2013\/10\/08\/history-of-climbing-mckinley\/","title":{"rendered":"The history of climbing McKinley"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Denali is the highest summit in North America. Its name has changed several times in United States federal nomenclature: in 2015 Denali became the official form, and in 2025 the federal name was changed back to Mount McKinley. The national park around the mountain is still called Denali National Park and Preserve. Among climbers and in Alaska, the name Denali remains in wide use.<\/p>\n

Indigenous names<\/h2>\n

Athabaskan peoples had their own names for the mountain long before European cartographers arrived. The best known is Denali, usually rendered as \u201cthe High One\u201d or \u201cthe Great One\u201d. The history of the name matters as much as the history of the ascents: it reflects the different linguistic and political traditions of Alaska.<\/p>\n

Where the name McKinley came from<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the late nineteenth century the prospector William Dickey proposed naming the peak after William McKinley, who later became President of the United States. The name took hold on federal maps, even though McKinley himself had no connection with Alaska and never visited the mountain.<\/p>\n

Early attempts<\/h2>\n

In the early twentieth century several expeditions tried to reach the summit, and claims of success provoked argument. Historians separate documented ascents from accounts that are not supported by route data and photographs.<\/p>\n

The first confirmed ascent<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first generally recognised ascent of the main summit took place in 1913. The expedition followed a difficult line from the north-east. Its members faced a long period of self-sufficiency, severe cold and the consequences of a fire in camp. That success became a landmark in the history of North American mountaineering.<\/p>\n

The West Buttress route<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the middle of the twentieth century the route along the western buttress \u2014 the West Buttress \u2014 was climbed. Today it is the main line for commercial expeditions, but the word “standard” does not mean easy. Team members carry loads between camps, live on the glacier and depend on the weather for weeks.<\/p>\n

Why the mountain is so hard<\/h2>\n