ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – North America’s tallest mountain doesn’t just have a new name. It also has a new elevation.
Denali, the Alaska mountain formerly known Mount McKinley, is now officially 10 feet shorter, measuring 20,310 feet at its highest point, the U.S. Geological Survey announced Wednesday.
The previous measurement of 20,320 feet stemmed from a 1953 survey that used the technology of the time, officials said. The new elevation is the result of data collected from the mountain by climbers in June using technology that didn’t exist in the earlier survey, such as GPS instruments.
The climb to gather the data began June 15 and involved one climber from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and three climbers from the private survey company CompassData Inc., USGA spokesman Mark Newell said. During their 14 days on the mountain, the climbers pulled equipment and supplies on sleds.
The change comes just days after the Obama administration announced its decision to bestow the traditional Alaska Native name to the mountain on the eve of president’s visit to Alaska this week. The change to Denali – an Athabascan word meaning “the high one” – replaces the name that honored the 25th president, William McKinley, who never set foot in Alaska.