Fake Peak

Fake Peak is a small mountain outcrop on a ridge beside the Ruth Glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve, about 19 miles southeast of Denali’s summit. Rising to 5,338 feet, it stands nearly 15,000 feet below Denali’s top. Though modest in size, it became important in one of Alaska mountaineering’s best-known controversies. Robert M. Bryce demonstrated that the “summit photograph” Frederick Cook offered as proof of his claimed first ascent of Denali was actually taken on Fake Peak, making the outcrop a crucial piece of evidence in the long dispute over Cook’s claim.

Chase, Alaska · United States