Mount McKinley, highest peak in North America, not as tall as thought

FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, is a few feet shorter than mapmakers previously thought, Alaska state officials and federal agencies say.

New digital elevation map data show the peak, also known by its indigenous Alaskan name Denali, is 20,237 feet -- rather than the previously believed 20,320 feet -- Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell told a group of map collectors gathered in Fairbanks this week.

"That's 83 feet shorter than we thought," Treadwell said. "The good news is: Denali is still the tallest peak in North America."

Denali's elevation was originally measured as 20,320 feet in 1952. A 1989 field survey recorded an elevation of 20,306 feet, 14 feet shorter.

The revised figure of 20,327 feet was recorded with radar technology deployed as a result of Alaska's Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative, a release from Treadwell's office said.

The state of Alaska and the federal government have joined in funding the project to create a digital elevation model for all of Alaska.

"Alaska's maps are nearly 50 years old and have never met National Map Accuracy Standards," Treadwell told the gathering of cartographers. "The combined effort of multiple federal partners and the state of Alaska to get Alaska mapped is making great progress."