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[h=4]Denali, USA's tallest mountain, just got 10 feet smaller[/h]A new, official height for Denali has been measured at 20,310 feet, which is 10 feet less than the previous elevation of 20,320 feet that had been measured using 1950s-era technology.
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New measurements show Denali officially stands 10 feet shorter than the previously thought, the United States Geological Survey announced. USA TODAY
An Aug. 19, 2011, file photo shows Denali in Denali National Park, Alaska. The mountain's official height was reduced by 10 feet this week by the U.S. Geological Survey.(Photo: Becky Bohrer, AP)
A few days after Mount<span style="color: Red;">*</span>McKinley was officially renamed Denali comes the news that it's now 10 feet shorter than previously thought, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
A new, official height for Denali has been measured at 20,310 feet, which is 10 feet less than the previous elevation of 20,320 feet that had been measured using 1950s-era technology.
The mountain didn't actually shrink but rather new, more accurate technology was used to measure its height.
Denali is not only the USA's tallest mountain, it's also the tallest mountain in North America. Even with the "shrinkage," it's still more than 200<span style="color: Red;">*</span>feet above the continent's second-tallest mountain, Mount Saint Elias, located on the Alaska/Canada border.
“No place draws more public attention to its exact elevation than the highest peak of a continent," said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Suzette Kimball, the acting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>director of the USGS, in a statement.
"Knowing the height of Denali is precisely 20,310 feet has important value to earth scientists, geographers, airplane pilots, mountaineers and the general public," she said, adding that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"it is inspiring to think we can measure this magnificent peak with such accuracy."
Denali National Park, where the mountain is located, was established in 1917 and annually sees more than 500,000 visitors, the USGS<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said. About 1,200 mountaineers attempt to summit the mountain each year; typically about half are successful.
USA TODAY
Obama to rename nation's tallest mountain
The USGS<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and several other federal agencies and universities teamed up to use a precise GPS measurement of the peak's location. The measurement also included a two-week climb to the summit by scientists in June.
The change is part of an ongoing USGS program to update elevations in Alaska and elsewhere, the Associated Press reported.
The new height comes three days after the Obama administration renamed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mount McKinley as<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Denali, as it was originally known by Alaska natives before it was renamed to honor President William McKinley.
Blaine Horner of CompassData probes the snowpack at the highest point in North America along with setting up Global Position System equipment for precise summit elevation data.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Blaine Horner, CompassData))
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