McKinley to Denali: In Alaska, Obama to rename tallest U.S. peak | CNN Politics

After a 45-minute flight on a small ski plane, climbers land at Kahiltna Base Camp, sometimes called Kahiltna International Airport because climbers from all over the world fly in to attempt to climb Alaska's Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley. At <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/us/mount-mckinley-shrinks/">20,237 feet</a> it's the highest peak in North America.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Climbing Denali: Base camp —

After a 45-minute flight on a small ski plane, climbers land at Kahiltna Base Camp, sometimes called Kahiltna International Airport because climbers from all over the world fly in to attempt to climb Alaska's Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley. At 20,237 feet it's the highest peak in North America.

The longest section of the West Buttress route on Denali follows the Kahiltna Glacier and winds through ridges of rock and ice and crevasse fields as it gains elevation.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Lower mountain —

The longest section of the West Buttress route on Denali follows the Kahiltna Glacier and winds through ridges of rock and ice and crevasse fields as it gains elevation.

There's no such thing as "light and fast" on Denali. With the food, fuel and cold-weather clothing required for a three-week expedition, packs can weigh 60-80 pounds. Until much of the food and fuel is spent on lower elevations, climbers use sleds to haul gear up the mountain.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Sleds and packs —

There's no such thing as "light and fast" on Denali. With the food, fuel and cold-weather clothing required for a three-week expedition, packs can weigh 60-80 pounds. Until much of the food and fuel is spent on lower elevations, climbers use sleds to haul gear up the mountain.

Ben Adkison/CNN

At 14,200 feet —

While only halfway up to the peak, from base camp, the established camp at 14,200 feet is thought of as the advanced base camp and launching point for high camp and the summit. Elaborate camps are set up with snow walls and kitchen tents dug into the snow.

After leaving the advanced base camp, climbers clip themselves into a section of ropes attached to the snow and ice. These ropes, called fixed lines, allow climbers to safely ascend the steep and icy slope between 15,000 and 16,000 feet.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Fixed lines —

After leaving the advanced base camp, climbers clip themselves into a section of ropes attached to the snow and ice. These ropes, called fixed lines, allow climbers to safely ascend the steep and icy slope between 15,000 and 16,000 feet.

Denali rises 3,000 feet above Mount Foraker, the second tallest mountain in the Alaska Range, and nearly 10,000 feet above many of the other surrounding peaks. Climbers can look down on much of the climbing route as if they're in an airplane flying over the mountains.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Above it all —

Denali rises 3,000 feet above Mount Foraker, the second tallest mountain in the Alaska Range, and nearly 10,000 feet above many of the other surrounding peaks. Climbers can look down on much of the climbing route as if they're in an airplane flying over the mountains.

The ridge that traverses from the top of the fixed lines to high camp is one of the most technically challenging parts of the West Buttress route. It requires steep snow climbing and crossing narrow, knife-edge sections all while wearing a heavy pack.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Treacherous section —

The ridge that traverses from the top of the fixed lines to high camp is one of the most technically challenging parts of the West Buttress route. It requires steep snow climbing and crossing narrow, knife-edge sections all while wearing a heavy pack.

Ben Adkison/CNN

High camp —

Situated on a small plateau at 17,200 feet, high camp is the last stop before a summit push. Due to the thin air at this high elevation, climbers ideally stay here only a night or two to keep their strength up for the 3,000-foot summit push.

Starting mid-morning, to avoid the bitter cold of night and early morning, a summit bid can range from 8 to 18 hours. Calm winds and clear weather are essential for a safe summit day because frostbite and high-altitude illness are real dangers high on the mountain.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Summit day —

Starting mid-morning, to avoid the bitter cold of night and early morning, a summit bid can range from 8 to 18 hours. Calm winds and clear weather are essential for a safe summit day because frostbite and high-altitude illness are real dangers high on the mountain.

Ben Adkison/CNN

Summit —

Each year only about half of the 1,000 or so climbers who attempt Denali make it to the summit. Unless you're an experienced mountaineer with cold weather experience it's best to join the roughly 50% of climbers who go on guided expeditions. There are five guide companies, including Mountain Trip, licensed to guide on Denali. The gallery's photographer and author, Ben Adkison, is in the rear left of the photo.

Story highlights

President Barack Obama is traveling to Alaska to discuss climate change for the week

He will be renaming the country's tallest mountain from Mt. McKinley to Denali

Anchorage, Alaska CNN —

To hear the White House describe Alaska, the state has become the canary in the climate change coal mine, complete with raging wildfires, accelerating ice melt in the arctic, vanishing glaciers and whole villages forced to relocate away from rising seas.

President Barack Obama will carry that urgent message to Alaska this week in the hopes his long journey away from his busy agenda in Washington will begin to change the national conversation on global warming.

His first step while he’s there: officially renaming the country’s tallest mountain from Mt. McKinley to Denali, an historic nod to the region’s native population, which the White House says is under threat from the already-present threat of climate change.

“This is all real. This is happening to our fellow Americans right now,” Obama said in his weekly address Saturday.

All week long, Obama will try to call attention to Alaska as a kind of climate change ground zero. Whether it’s a hike on a melting glacier near the town of Seward or his visit with a fisherman in the remote coastal village of Dillingham, the President wants a distracted public to see the jarring effects of global warming through his own eyes.

To maximize the impact of the historic trip, which will make Obama the first sitting U.S. president to visit the arctic, the White House plans to devote all of the resources of its potent social media operation.

It’s also using the trip to formalize the Denali name change, which native Alaskans have sought for decades. Named McKinley in 1896, shortly after President William McKinley was nominated as a candidate for office, the 20,320-foot peak has long been known locally as Denali, its name in the indigenous Athabascan language.

The national park that surrounds the mountain was named Denali in 1980, but the peak itself is still listed in official federal documents as McKinley. Past attempts to make the change were blocked by lawmakers from McKinley’s home state of Ohio.

Political leaders across Alaska, including both U.S. senators and the governor, backed the name change.

Obama is set to meet Monday with members of the native population to discuss ways the federal government can help them prepare for the effects of a changing climate, which the White House says include interrupted winter hunting seasons, newly hostile conditions for fish and wildlife and seawater encroaching on long-settled territory.

“The issue of climate change is not an issue of the future tense in Alaska, it is affecting people’s lives and their livelihoods in real ways,” White House senior adviser Brian Deese said in a preview of the three-day trip.

During a conference call with reporters, Deese laid out the administration’s latest data on the climate challenges facing Alaskans.

The arctic has warmed almost twice as fast as the rest of the world and portions of northern Alaska have lost a “football field’s worth of land a day to coast erosions and sea-level rise,” Deese said.