Did the Borah Peak 1983 Earthquake Raise the Mountain Height 7 Feet?
Borah was rocked at 8:06 a.m., Friday, Oct. 28, 1983 by 7.0 quake. While there has been debate about exactly powerful or important quake was (initial reports had always called it a 7.3 quake), the single most dramatic event associated with it was that Borah when surveyed afterwards increased in height by 7 feet — however even that claim may turn out to be an urban legend. Richard Carey’s amazing peakbagging.com site has the official National Geodetic Survey history of the Borah Peak benchmark . It’s an amazing tale complete with helicopter visits to the summit (easy to land/difficult to camp). The benchmark dubbed “Beauty” was placed in 1915 reported at 12,655 feet. Mountainclimb.com sent us this photo of the Borah summit benchmark (stamped 12,655). The benchmark history reports visits since including up to 1967 to check it. Although not mentioned in the article the benchmark was supposedly destroyed in a 1999 lightning strike. The benchmark history has a reference to a 1986 adjustment
