navigate_next navigate_next navigate_before Denali's Summit At 20,301' (6,190 meters) above sea level, the summit of Denali towers above everything in the dramatic landscape that is the Alaska Range. Iconic peaks that loomed above you on the lower glacier are almost hard to pick out from more than a mile above their lofty summits.

It's a place of exceptional beauty on a clear day, impossibly high above dozens of impressive mountains. On a cold, windy day, it's an unforgiving place that might have allowed you to visit, but reminds you that your position up this high, at such a high latitude, is tenuous. Savor the minutes up here, for you worked incredibly hard to earn them. navigate_next navigate_before How High? The official summit marker, set by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1989, has been worn down over the decades, and the elevation it proclaims is no longer legible. It reads 20,320' above sea level, an elevation arrived at in 1952.

In 2015, a team of mountaineers and surveyors using GPS determined the height of the mountain is actually 20,310'. No, it hadn't shrunk—improved technology has just enabled us to determine the summit elevation more precisely. navigate_next navigate_before The Summit IS Halfway It's a familiar adage among climbers: "The summit is only halfway, because you need to get all the way back down."

The altitude, latitude, and exposure of the summit of Denali make this especially true. Negotiating the summit ridge when the wind is blowing your climbing rope far out to your side, tugging you off your feet at times, is not somewhere you want to be. The ridge is navigable in a whiteout (it's a ridge!), but the thin line between success and mere survival is exceptionally thin up here. If the wind is picking up, don't dally—head back down. navigate_before Photo Tips Of course you'll need to take some selfies! If you have a decent telephoto lens, shoot some shots looking down the summit ridge, compressing Mount Foraker in the background.

The actual summit is a somewhat nondescript bump, just above a relatively flat area. Kneeling by the summit marker and having a friend shoot down towards you can really capture how much higher you are than the rest of the Alaska Range. There will probably be other teams on top, so work together to help each climber best enjoy his or her time on top of North America!