A WINDOW TO HEAVEN

A gripping account of the 1913 ascent of Denali (formerly Mount McKinley), North America’s highest mountain.

Though Denali’s summit, 20,310 feet, is 9,000 feet lower than Everest’s, “the topography, and its position so far north (Everest, by contrast, is on the same latitude as Miami), produce some of the rawest, coldest, windiest conditions on Earth.” Environmental journalist and outdoorsman Dean combines a grueling mountain-climbing chronicle with a revealing life of the co-leader of the first successful Denali expedition, Hudson Stuck (1863-1920), an impressive figure who deserves to be better known. Born in England and fascinated by the outdoors, Stuck moved to Texas in 1885, working as a ranch hand and teacher before entering the ministry. Within a few years, he was dean of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Dallas, the largest church in Texas. A liberal churchman, he supported progressive causes such as ending child labor; however, in Texas, reforms came slowly. Growing restless, he accepted an appointment as “Archdeacon of the Yukon and the Arctic, with responsibility for 250,000 square miles in the interior of Alaska.” Arriving in 1904, he maintained a fierce pace, traveling by river or dogsled to establish missions, hospitals, schools, and libraries while writing on Alaskan life and lobbying against exploitation of the Indigenous population. Still in love with the wilderness, he yearned to climb Denali. Assembling a team that included a veteran adventurer, a mission volunteer, and a young Alaskan Native, they set off on the three-week trek by dogsled to the mountain. All four kept journals, enabling Dean to deliver a detailed account of the two months of torment that followed. Unable to pull his weight the 50-year-old Stuck often seemed on the verge of collapse, but he persisted. Those not captivated by climbing will puzzle over the misery these adventurers embraced, but they will keep reading. The event made Stuck a national celebrity; he traveled, lectured, and wrote popular books but also continued his good works in Alaska and died with many honors.

Mountaineering and biography in expert hands.