This 1960s TV episode of “True Adventure” hosted and produced by Bill Burrud follows 65-year-old explorer and retired businessman John “Jack” D. Graham as he climbs various high mountain peaks, including Mt. McKinley in Alaska. Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali, is the highest mountain in North America. The episode opens with Burrud narrating in front of a compass, then cuts to scenes of Graham snowshoeing his way up a mountain ridge (1:05). Scenes flash by of mountainside tents and explorers in parkas climbing with pickaxes (1:13). Horses climbing near Mt. Whitney in California’s High Sierras (1:52), which was the tallest mountain in the United States until 1959. Burrud explains that for most high altitude climbing, Americans went abroad to the Alps, and the camera shows Graham and another climber on the Matterhorn (3:30). Graham climbs the Matterhorn in a red jacket and harness (3:51); he climbed the mountain twice in 2 days at age 61. Graham and another climber summit the Matterhorn (4:56), which was first summited by 7 men on July 15, 1865. The camera cuts to show 63-year-old Graham climbing the Rwenzori, Africa’s so-called “Mountains of the Moon” comprised of 10 peaks that pass through Uganda and the Congo (5:32). Graham was the first man to climb all 10 peaks. Graham then climbs Mawenzie and Kibo, the 2 peaks that make up Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (6:11) Graham was the first man to climb every African peak over 16,000 feet. An Alaska Railroad train pulls into Anchorage (6:44), marking the beginning of Graham’s McKinley expedition, which started from the village of Talkeetna on April 22. Graham climbs into a red and yellow Super Cub plane to fly to the Kahiltna Glacier on McKinley’s slopes (7:00). The plane’s pilot is Don Sheldon. Graham inspects his supplies, including boots, crampons, matches, ice axes, and snowshoes in a tent during a 5-day blizzard on the glacier (9:02). Graham makes oatmeal from a Quaker Oats box on a camp stove (9:48). Once the blizzard clears, Sheldon flies the other expedition members in, and they build a base camp near the glacier head (10:47). The four men eat and drink at the campsite: Graham, Dick Stenmark, a McKinley National Park ranger; Felix Julen, a Swiss Army captain, and Adolf Riest, an experienced climber (11:05). The men climb from base camp on snowshoes with supply packs, tethered to each other by a rope (12:22) to establish the next camp at Windy Corner. The men put up and break down tents moving between sites. McKinley was only known as “McKinley” since 1896; its indigenous name is Denali, “Home of the Sun;” other names include Doleika, Traleika, or Bolshaya Gora (Russian), meaning “the great one.” The men pack up camp, including red trail markers (15:23). Unlike other mountains, McKinley starts below sea level and then ascends, Burrud explains, making it especially difficult to climb. The men pitch tents at the 5th camp (17:43) and use pickaxes and screw pitons to cut a stairway up the West Buttress Ice Slope (17:58). A view from the top of an ice slope (20:01). The men set up the last camp; their first summit attempt fails due to weather. On May 11, the men reach McKinley’s summit, slowly making their way to the top hitched by a guide rope (20:43). Graham unfurls a Chicago Adventurer’s Club flag and American flag (21:39). The show ends with Burrud interviewing Graham about his McKinley climb. Credits: Producer Michael Carr, Production Coordinator Barney Sarecky, Associate Producer Gerald Pearce, Travel Arranged by Bill Burrud Travel Agency.

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