> > Uh, Mount McKinley. As in, people who don't
> >know any better call the highest mountain in N.
> >America / second highest mountain in the world
> >McKinley instead of Denali.
>
> It's the highest mountain in North America, but unless they've redone the measurements recently, it's not the second highest mountain in the world. K2, in the Himalayas, is second only to Everest. In fact, there was a recent debate as to whether K2 might actually be taller. They sent scientists up K2 and Everest with GPS systems to remeasure their heights, and confirmed that Everest was still the tallest in the world.
>
> But it all depends on how you are measuring. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world as measured from sea level. If you measure the height from the center of the Earth, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa is the tallest, because it is near the Equator (and the Earth naturally bulges at the equator). Measured from the ocean floor, Mauna Kea is tallest (it sticks all the way up from the bottom of the ocean, after all). Denali claims the title if you measure the height of the mountain from the floor of the valley below it.
>
> Since I can't put in two links in the "Link" box, here is another link for a listing of the highest mountains int he world:
>
> http://www.slip.net/~scaruffi/travel/tallest.html

And just to be silly about it, Mt Cook is not only the highest mountain in New Zealand, but the fastest shrinking. It had an avalanche a few years ago that knocked ten metres off its summit. I haven't ever climbed it, I'm going to wait for another few avalanches so it'll take less time.

Brunnen-"K2! I *knew* it wasn't Denali!"G