Summit Murder Mystery Series

After decades of controversy, the name of Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, has been changed back to its original native Alaskan, Denali. The 20,237ft (6,168m) peak was named by a gold prospector in 1896 after he heard that William McKinley had been nominated to become the US president. US President Barack Obama announced the change ahead of a three-day visit to Alaska to highlight climate change. But Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner has denounced the move. The new name Denali translates as High One or Great One and is used widely by locals. "With our own sense of reverence for this place, we are officially renaming the mountain Denali in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska," US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement announcing the change. The statement went on to note that McKinley had never set foot in Alaska. Image caption The mountain was named in hono...

Mount McKinley towers about Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, USA. It is the highest mountain peak in North America and in the United States. Its summit reaches the elevation of 20,320 above sea level. Currently, the name of Mt McKinley is under dispute. The Koyukon Athabaskan people, who inhabit the area around the mountain, refer to the peak as Dinale or Denali, meaning "The High One". In the 1890s, a gold prospector named it "McKinley" as political support for the then presidential candidate William McKinley of Ohio. According to the Alaska Board of Geographic Names, the name is Denali, but the United States Board of Geographic Names has it listed as McKinley. The first successful summit of Mt. McKinley was in 1913 and was led by Hudson Stuck. The first recorded attempt took place in 1903 by James Wickersham. The route he attempted was Perters Glacier and the North Face, which is now known as the Wickersham Wall. The route has tremendous avalanc...

Photo: Nic McPhee Pictured above is Mt. McKinley also known as Denali. The 20,320 ft mountain is the centerpiece of Denali National Park in Alaska. It's also the location of the Summit Murder Mystery novel " Murder on Mt. McKinley " scheduled to be released the Winter of 2011. For several years, there have been efforts to rename Mt. McKinley to Denali which means "The Great One". The mountain was named Mt. McKinely after 25th U.S. President William McKinley, Jr. in 1897. The Alaska Board of Geographic Names officially changed the name of mountain to Denali in 1975, even though the U.S. Board of Geographic Names still maintains " McKinley ".