Omaha daily bee., 1906-05-20
CLIMBING MOUNT MkINLEY
Expedition to Explore the highest
Mountain Peak In North
America.

DR.. Frederick A. Cook, who was surgeon
OF the Peary Arctic expedition Of 1Sgi-s2
and surgeon OF the Belgian Antarctic ex-
petition Of 1S97-s9. and Prof. Herschel G.
Parker of the department OF physics Of
Columbia university left New York City
May to climb Mckinley, Alaska GO, is4
feeO, the highest mountain In North amer
lea. In difhculty the enterprise transcends
the ascent OF Aconcagua C22,s6O feet). in
South America, which NJ. Zurbriggen, the
Swiss guide, and Stewart Vines OF MIR.
Edward A. F1tzgerald's party, accom-
plished in 1897; that is to say, the attempt
on Mckinley, though 1t may fail, is likely
to involve the intrepid climbers in greater
hardships than were encountered by che
victors Of Aconcagua, Fitzgerald made "A
campaign of several months against Aeon
cagua, camping higher and higher in the
SHOWS before a dash could be ventured for
the summit; every member of his party
suffered severely from exposure. and at an
elevation Of 1900 feet Fitzgerald succum-
bed to mountain sickness
Aconcagua breaks the clouds i'm lati-
tude 80 degrees. 80 minutes 20 seconds, S,
slmose due west of it is Valparaiso; the
base Of the mountain, therefore, is in the
temperate cline. Mckinley, in latitude
50 degrees minutes N, Is very near the
Arctic circle. The snow line on the Alas
kan mountain comes down much lower
than on AconcaGua, Professor Parker es-
Inmates, We. believe, that that there Is 1000
more feet of snow on Mckinley than on
Everest So IL follows that II traversable
glacier can be found on any slope Of Nc
Kinley there will be more ice cutting for
the climbers than on any other mountain in
the world In all probability. Moreover. the
cold on the heights will be more intense;
and DR.. Cook and Professor Parker will
have a season OF only weeks, instead OF
months, to lay siege to the giant Of the
Alaskan wilderness
Extreme cold DIR. Cook has expert
enced in his invasions of the Arctic and
Antarctic, while Professor Parker has
taken his degree as n mountaineer. hav-
ing made first. ascents of Goodsir. Daw-
son, Biddle, Deltaform. Hungabee and
Lefoy in the Canadian Rockies, where the
axe and the rope are indispensable. It
should therefore be a happy combination
for the assault on Mckinley. Both have
penetrated Alaska before, and DR.. Cook
made an attempt to scale the mountain
from the west in 1903. when he found him
SER confronted at an altitude Of
II, 400 feet by a granite wall pitching down
sheer 5000 feet. On his return DR.. Cook
said: Arctic conditions begin almost at
the base Unlike Mount ST. Elias. the
glactation is not extensive enough to
offer an all ice route. The condueror Of
this immense uplift must pick his path
over broken stones. icy barriers. sharp
cliffs and an average slope Of IS degrees
for at least 1900 feet 1t il an under
taking which for difficulty aud disap-
pointments lie comparable to the task OF
reaching the North Pole"
The presumption is that the campaisn
against Mckinley viii be made from the
east this time, by the way Of the shushitna
river, which rises in the foothills and flows
into Cook inlet. with the use of a launch
or small steamer the party may begin their
march to the base by the middle Of June
at the latest, which would give them two
months or more to find q practicable route
II there is one, and gain the highest ele-
walton. II IT is humanity possible There
should be time enough to experiment with
the northwestern ridge and try the Null
drow glacier, n access from the eastern
side 10 impracticable.
IL would be. the grandest triumph in
mountaineering to stand on the supreme
ledge Of Mckinley, although the altitude
Is almost 5000 feet less than that Of
Everest. In view Of the prodigious OBJ
stacies that DR.. Cook and Professor Parker
must encounter. II is too much 10 expect
that success will be achieved by them; but
they can and do deserve It, and their cou
rageous enterprise kindles the enthusiasm
Of the votaries of mountain elimbinE.-New
York Sun