Comments on: Denali

By: Sky

Sky — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:46:30 +0000

If the new camera was purchased for this trip, it was money very well spent Radley. Breathtaking picture!

By: Bot

Bot — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:49:28 +0000

Why stop there? Why not “Tutonka Grove?”

By: jorod

jorod — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:14:02 +0000

Why don’t we re-name the United State “Buffalo Grove”?

By: Whosonfirst

Whosonfirst — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:28:05 +0000

Denali is more aesthetically pleasing than McKinley? Sez you. The whole thing is a tempest in a teapot to begin with.

By: Joseph K

Joseph K — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:10:51 +0000

I like the name Denalis better for aesthetic reasons. I don’t have anything against Mt. McKinley, but it seems silly to go through all this effort to prevent a name change, which most local residents may in fact prefer.

And just out of curiosity, are there any other landmarks you can think of that deserve a name change from the dead white man its named after? I thought maybe Hoover Dam (which is also known as Boulder Dam, which I like better) or perhaps Roosevelt Island in New York, which was called Minnahononck by the natives and was formerly known as Blackwell’s Island, both of which names I prefer. Or Harding Lake in Georgia, also known as Bartlett’s Ferry Lake.

By: Bot

Bot — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:41:13 +0000

I don’t see what good would come of renaming it or why any indigenous peoples names are somehow more “authentic” than names bestowed or formally recognized by our government and culture. Would we all fell better about ourselves and become less “imperialistic” if we renamed Florida to Happy Seminole Land? If the Tanaina leaders had the sensibility to fork over $7.2MM to the Russians back in 1867 they could have named the rock whatever. But they didn’t and America did, and Americans like to name places after their Presidents. Thomas Jefferson never laid eyes on my High School but the building holds his name nonetheless. I like Mt. McKinley and I like the fact that a huge swath of land in the upper northwest is named after our first President. Long live American Imperialism.

By: Justthisguy

Justthisguy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:32:38 +0000

Well, at least we still have Squaw Valley.

By: Nancy Lebovitz

Nancy Lebovitz — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:50:50 +0000

Probably the biggest object of any kind I’ll ever see.

The sun is a good bit larger.

The Andromeda Galaxy is visible with the naked eye, but I’m not sure how wide the brightest part is. Call it 70,000 light years across or so.

However, Denali *looks* bigger.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:55:53 +0000

That’s an amazing photo, just beautiful.

I am surprised and pleased to see you ranting about this subject, as I am a firm advocate for calling it Denali, if for no other reason than is sounds so much cooler than fucking McKinley! Yes, Everest is named after a white guy, but at least his name was George Everest (sounds tall, imposing) and not George Jones. McKinley sounds like a stupid white guy, not that beautiful site.

I’m also for calling it Denali, because mountain climber folk call it that, and I like to feel in that know. Because I want to climb some mountains.

Anyway, nice put together of two subjects near and dear to my heart, mountains, and the idiocy of government. I knew I liked this blog.

By: Ben Teague

Ben Teague — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:34:57 +0000

Um, does this mean there’s a movement to rename Brazil’s Theodore Roosevelt River?

By: The Johnny Appleseed Of Crack

The Johnny Appleseed Of Crack — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:20:04 +0000

Hey Radley,
“Denali” ain’t ~~just~~ a river in Egypt.

By: tps

tps — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:12:11 +0000

I guess that some climbers rank Denali high up on the hardest mountains to climb. Not so much because steepness/difficult terrain, which it has, but because of the weather. You’re in sub-arctic climate already and you can get storms whipping up with little advance warning. The cold temps can decrease the air pressure so you might suddenly be ‘higher’ up.

I’ll stay on the ground and take pictures.

By: prisrob

prisrob — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:26:42 +0000

I worked with a physician, specializing in Otolaryngology- ears, nose, throat, who went to Denali on a yearly basis. He was an expert climber and several times saved the lives of climbers who either fell or who had cardiac arrests. He loved Denali, and some of his ashes are spread on the mountain. Ironically, this physician was found dead from an acute cardiac event. He was cross country skiing to meet up with his like-minded buddies. Extraordinary man.

By: The Bitch Girls » Blog Archive » The Denali-McKinley Feud of 2008

The Bitch Girls » Blog Archive » The Denali-McKinley Feud of 2008 — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:10:51 +0000

[...] strongly suggest you guys go read Radley’s version of the history of Mount Denali/McKinley. You’ll probably laugh and roll your eyes at the same time. Those of you cynics out there [...]