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The Classic Story of the First Ascent of Denali

	The Ascent of Denali by Hudson Stuck Who must have this book: Anyone thinking about climbing McKinley. Who should have this book: Anyone interested in good adventure writing. ISBN: 097326831X

I am glad to see this book is continuing to get reprinted. It truly is a classic of Alaskan climbing and exploration, and the proof is the fact that you can find this book quoted everywhere.

When I finally tracked down a copy of Stuck’s account of the ascent, it was a first edition copy with imprinted etchings at the beginning and end of the book. Carefully turning the pages seemed to bring the climb and the era back to life for me. Stuck’s narrative is very readable and gripping and the numerous photographs in the book were very helpful in illustrating the climb.

Hudson Stuck keeps himself grounded in the history of his ascent. He constantly gives credit to everyone who came to the mountain before him and gives them the respect he can. In the end of the book, he puts a plea in to name various pieces of the mountain for members of the expedition and the Episcopal Church in Alaska. Several of the names have been adopted, such as Karsten’s Ridge. Also, he uses the book and expedition to campaign for Native Alaskans and their traditional name for the mountain – Denali.

This is a great book that is hard to put down. If you are interested in the mountain, pick this one up.

Overview

The first three quarters of the book is filled with the account of the climb as taken from Hudson’s journals from the climb. The story tells the day by day story of the climb from the accidental, smoking related destruction of their food supplies to crossing the earthquake shattered upper slopes.

The rest of the book is taken up by different several sections. First is a plea to change the mountain’s name from McKinley to Denali at the beginning of the book. Then at the end of the book there are two sections that may be omitted from future editions. One is an account of all the features Stuck requests to name and the other is a collection of readings from their instruments to attempt to get a reading on the height of the peak.

Author

Hudson Stuck was an Episcopal Missionary among the Gwich’in Athapascans of interior Alaska. He was a steadfast champion for native Alaskans and arranged the first successful ascent of Denali. He wrote extensively about his travels and adventures in Alaska. His books include Ascent of Denali, A Winter Circuit of Our Arctic Coast a Narrative of a Journey With Dog Sleds, Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled: A Narrative of Winter Travel in Interior Alaska, Voyages on the Yukon and its tributaries: A narrative of summer travel in the interior of Alaska, and The Alaskan missions of the Episcopal Church: A brief sketch, historical and descriptive. Many of his books are being reprinted.