Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America [Hardcover]

Fred Beckey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

Since its discovery in the late 1700s, Alaska's Mount McKinley has captivated legions. Native Americans were the first to feel Denali's spiritual power. Mountaineers have striven for its summit. Modern "wilderness tourists" are drawn to its awesome, rugged beauty. In this selective "biography" of Mount McKinley, renowned climber and mountain historian Fred Beckey pays tribute to one of the world's great mountains. Beckey begins by exploring Nature's effects on the surrounding region: the relatively recent geologic development of McKinley within the Alaska Range; the extreme northern climate and latitude; and the influence of the Pleistocene Ice Age, of which there are glacial remnants today. A look at another shaping force - the indigenous peoples - includes the migration of early man across the Bering Land Bridge, and the influx of Russian fur traders and the first American prospectors. An exploration of McKinley's mountaineering history follows, beginning with the gold seekers and the surveyors who were among the first to map and comprehend the region. Beckey then examines the efforts of those who first challenged McKinley, including the preposterous hoax of Dr. Frederick A. Cook, the novice but inspiring Sourdough expedition, the frustrations of Belmore Browne, and the first complete ascent by Hudson Stuck. The chronology continues with the ground-breaking work of Bradford Washburn and profiles of other notable summit achievements, including those of the author himself. For those desiring a deeper understanding of the great arctic mountain, this book features chapters on serious mountaineering accidents, and the challenges and logistics of climbing McKinley. Information on planning,travel, regulations, suggested routes and equipment, and what to expect are covered. With personal anecdotes and previously unpublished photographs, Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America is a valuable reference for adventure readers, historians, and climbers everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book's introductory chapters offer a prehistory and history of all Alaska up to its purchase. Succeeding chapters report six explorations of Mt. McKinley before 1914, emphasizing the ascents of Dr. F.O. Cook, the Sourdoughs, Belmore Brown, and Hudson Stuck. Eight selected climbs, made between 1951 and the mid-1980s, are also related in detail. Major climbing routes are described, with closing chapters covering accidents on the mountain, logistics, and other information valuable to potential climbers. The lack of a strong focus and infelicities of style make this account unnecessary for collections owning copies of Bradford Washburn and David Roberts's Mt. McKinley: The Conquest of Denali (Abrams, 1991) and Jonathan Waterman's Surviving Denali: A Study of Accidents on Mt. McKinley, 1903-90 (American Alpine Club, 1992. 2d ed.).
- Paula M. Strain, MLS, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

If you plan to climb [Mount McKinley]...this book is a must-have. -- Idaho Falls Post-Register --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898863627
• ISBN-13: 978-0898863628
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,210,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential climbing book by a legendary climber, January 24, 2000

By 

Thomas Breit (Shoreline, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America (Hardcover)

Commenting on a Fred Beckey climbing book is a little like critiquing a Mozart opera: who among us, really, has any standing to question him? It's remarkable that the man combines such complete mastery of two crafts, both climbing and writing. Compared to Reinhold Messner, another heroic climber and author, Beckey's writing is much better, more insightful, and ultimately far more useful. The book begins with a forward by Heinrich Harrer, famous for the first climb of the north face of the Eiger, as well as his books "The White Spider" and "Seven Years in Tibet." Much of the book is a history, detailing the early explorations and attempts, including Cook, the sourdough expedition, and the Reverend Stuck's successful climb, on through the pioneering climbs of other routes on the mountain. This is one more book that demonstrates that, in his areas of experience, Fred Beckey is unsurpassed. He is a climber's climber (not least because of his legendary guidebooks) and this is a climber's book on Denali. It's extensively footnoted and makes good use of historical photos, which is a nice professional touch, but the real value of the book is Beckey's total knowledge of climbing and of the mountain. One of the chapters details his participation on the first climb of the NW buttress (the first ascent of the Wickersham Wall) as well as his subsequent first ascent, with Harrer, of nearby Mt. Hunter. It's hard to imagine undertaking a climb of Denali without reading this book first; the last section includes complete route descriptions of the four most-climbed routes on the mountain, an extensive record of accidents and disasters, including analysis of what went wrong, and a chapter on logistics and equipment. Some things have changed; Talkitna is already more built-up than it was in '93 when the book was published (with a soberingly well-used cemetary) and the standard routes are more crowded than ever, but the same accidents happen for the same reasons. If everyone who attempted the mountain read this book, it would be a safer place.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, September 6, 2006

By 

Fernando Fernández Aransay (Venturada, Madrid Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America (Paperback)

The book is very good. The history of the mountain makes it simple to write something interesting, but certainly Mr. Beckey has done an excellent and very comprehensive work, and he deserves the credit. The reading is fine too. I only missed some more detailed sketches of the routes, and at times I got a bit lost in the succession of climbing expeditions (though it is true that the book has a chronology at the end).

Also some of the final chapters perhaps do not belong in this book, but all in all I certainly recommend it.