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North America’s tallest peak shorter in new measurement

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — North America’s tallest mountain just got a shorter name. Now it has a shorter elevation. Denali, the Alaska mountain formerly known as Mount McKinley, now measures 20,310 at its highest point in a new official elevation the U.S. Geological Survey announced Wednesday. That’s 10 feet less than the old measurement of…

Destiny Williams

FILE - This Aug. 27, 2014 file photo, clearer skies provided this view of one of the faces of North America's tallest peak, Mount McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. North America's tallest mountain will again be known by its Alaska Native name. President Barack Obama announced Sunday his administration will change the name of Mount McKinley to Denali to honor Athabascans, central Alaska Indians whose territory stretches 500 miles, from the Brooks Range south to Cook Inlet. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer,File)
FILE – This Aug. 27, 2014 file photo, clearer skies provided this view of one of the faces of North America’s tallest peak, Mount McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. North America’s tallest mountain will again be known by its Alaska Native name. President Barack Obama announced Sunday his administration will change the name of Mount McKinley to Denali to honor Athabascans, central Alaska Indians whose territory stretches 500 miles, from the Brooks Range south to Cook Inlet. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer,File)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — North America’s tallest mountain just got a shorter name. Now it has a shorter elevation.

Denali, the Alaska mountain formerly known as Mount McKinley, now measures 20,310 at its highest point in a new official elevation the U.S. Geological Survey announced Wednesday. That’s 10 feet less than the old measurement of 20,320 feet.

The change comes just days after the Obama administration announced its decision to bestow the mountain’s traditional Alaska Native name on the eve of president’s visit to Alaska this week.

USGS spokesman Mark Newell says the old measurement stems from a 1953 survey that used technology of the time.

The new elevation is the result of data collected from the mountain by climbers in June with the help of GPS instruments.

 

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