This summer, Alaska will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first successful climb of Mount McKinley, North America's tallest peak.
Events and offers around the state will pay tribute to the moment when climbers reached the summit, including a "Centennial Climb" in June with the descendants of Harry Karstens and Hudson Stuck, members of the 1913 expedition.
For those who want to commemorate the historic ascent but aren't quite ready to participate in re-enacting it, there are many ways to do so from both near and far.
Staying in the park
Visitors to Denali National Park and Preserve can enjoy interpretive exhibits at the Eielson Visitor Center, along with a summer speaker series at the Denali Visitor Center, based on the 1913 expedition. See www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm.
Denali Park Resorts offers accommodations in the park at the McKinley Chalet Resort and McKinley Village Lodge (both at the entrance of the park).
Guests at the McKinley Chalet this summer will experience a display of climbing artifacts, historical images, clippings and items from the first ascent to McKinley's peak in honor of the 100-year anniversary.
The Resorts will also offer a new six-hour tour, Windows Into Wilderness Tour, an expansion of its Denali National History Tour, that enables guests to travel to mile 30 of the park road (the Teklanika River Rest Area), stopping for a 90-minute guided hike under the leadership of a science educator from the Murie Science and Learning Center as well as meet an Athabascan cultural interpreter. See www.denaliparkresorts.com.
Camp Denali and North Face Lodge offers accommodations 90 miles inside the park and boasts of being the only lodge in the park to offer views of McKinley. In addition, the lodge has Historic Operator Status, meaning its guides are the only ones with access to federally designated wilderness within Denali.
The lodge has expanded its 2013 Special Emphasis Series, and throughout the summer, specialists are invited to share their expertise on a wide variety of topics with guests during evening programs. The lodge pay 10% commission on bookings to travel agents. Visit CampDenali.com.
On the rails
Visitors from Fairbanks or Anchorage can travel directly to the park entrance on the Alaska Railroad. The railroad offers several vacation packages that include the park:
- Denali & Spencer Glacier Tour: This five-day trip includes an overnight at Denali Backcountry Lodge and a chance to float among icebergs near Spencer Glacier.
- Alaska's National Parks by Rail Tour: Guests spend two full days in Denali, staying overnight and traveling the entire restricted road through the park. The six-day trip takes guests to two of Alaska's national parks: Kenai Fjords National Park and Denali National Park and Preserve.
The Alaska Railroad pays travel agents 10% commission. Visit www.alaskarailroad.com/traveltrade.
Denali by air
Rust's Flying Service and K2 Aviation is also celebrating an anniversary this year, its 50th operating in Alaska.
The operator has long offered trips inside Denali. New this year for Rust's is its "Pilot for a Day" program. Up to four people get a pilot and plane for six hours to do whatever they want, such as taking a day trip from Anchorage to Denali. The flight will pass Alaska range volcanos as it works north through the mountains toward Mount McKinley, where it will fly six miles from the summit, possibly in view of climbers en route to the top. Trips can be tailored to land on a lake or glacier or to see more wildlife.
Rust's also offers everyday tours to Denali, including the Denali Day Hiking tour, where a maximum of six guests fly to the park from Talkeetna and hike the Alaska Range.
The Denali Flightseeing Tour is the company's most popular tour, a three-hour experience from Anchorage that enables guests pressed for time to take in views of Mount McKinley, Ruth Glacier and many other sights of the Alaska Range.
Rust's provides 10% commission to travel agents on all tours. See www.flyrusts.com.
From afar
You don't have to make it all the way to the park this summer to take part in the celebration.
The University of Alaska's Museum of the North in Fairbanks will open "Denali Legacy: 100 Years on the Mountain," on May 11.
The exhibit will contain artifacts from the 1913 expedition, including the camp stove and the climbers' diaries as well as showcase advances in technology, display routes and a history of climbers since the original ascent. The sounds of feet crunching on snow and the wind from Denali will be played in the exhibition room.
The exhibit runs through the fall. Visit www.uaf.edu/museum.