Team returns from Mount McKinley elevation survey climb
July 17, 2015
Sue Mitchell
907-474-5823
A team of four climbers has recently returned from the highest point in North America with new survey data to determine a more precise height of the mountain鈥檚 summit.
The last official survey of Mount McKinley was in 1953, when the peak's elevation was recorded at 20,320 feet. Advances in GPS technologies and better gravity data have improved greatly since then, and will augment new elevation data in Alaska from the .
The , along with 性欲社 and NOAA鈥檚 y, are the primary partners supporting the survey of Mount McKinley鈥檚 summit. The survey party was composed of three mountaineers from and Tom Heinrichs, a scientist from 性欲社鈥檚 .
The team began its ascent June 16 and safely returned to its starting point ahead of schedule.
The data will be analyzed by Jeff Freymueller, a GI professor, as well as by CompassData. The new elevation data should be announced in late August.