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Common name: McKinley

Original name: Denali (Athabascan for ‘the high one’)

Location: Denali National Park, Alaska, Unites States of America

Altitude: 6,196 meters (20,327 feet)

First (western) ascent: Hudson Stuck, 1913

Description: This giant made from granitic crystallized magma has been uplifted by tectonic pressure and is the coldest mountain on Earth.

According to 7summits.com, this is where Mrs Fahrenheit and Mr Celsius meet secretly at night: -40 degrees. A weather station at 5,800 meters recorded temperatures as low as -59.7 °C on December, 2003 and in the same month recorded a North American record wind chill of -83.4 °C. Even in July, temperatures as low as -30 °C and wind chills as low as -50 °C have been recorded by this weather station.

There are many different routes up Denali, some extremely technical. Approximately 80% of Denali's climbs are following the West Buttress route.

Best months to climb Denali are May through July. In these months, there is a trade-off between colder minimum temperatures (May) and difficult climbing due to melting snow bridges over crevasses (July). The highest success rates occur in June.