King Peak (Yukon)
Encyclopedia
King Peak is the fourth highest mountain
in Canada
and the ninth highest peak in North America
. Situated just west of Mount Logan
(highest in Canada), it is considered a satellite peak of that massive mountain.
The second and third ascents were also completed in 1952 by an American team who had also just made the first ascent of Mount Augusta
. From the south side of King Peak, they made their way up to the east ridge occasionally traversing to the north side to avoid steep slopes. After two failed summit attempts on July 20 and 21, Pete Schoening
and Gibson Reynolds succeeded in negotiating the gendarme
that had rebuffed the failed attempts and reached the top on July 23. Schoening returned the next day with Dick McGowan and Bill Niendorff to complete the third ascent.
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the ninth highest peak in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Situated just west of Mount Logan
Mount Logan
Mount Logan is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America, after Mount McKinley . The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada . Mount Logan is located within Kluane National Park and...
(highest in Canada), it is considered a satellite peak of that massive mountain.
Climbing history
The first ascent of King Peak was made in 1952 by some students from the University of Alaska. Russell Alston Paige, Keith Hart, Elton Thayer and Bill Atwood walked to the Ogilvie Glacier at the foot of Quartz Ridge where the majority of their supplies have been air dropped. They reached Camp 2 on the west ridge on June 3. After waiting two days for a storm to subside, Hart and Thayer set out for the summit while Atwood remained in camp due to a knee injury. After struggling with rock towers and icy crests, they reached the top on June 6.The second and third ascents were also completed in 1952 by an American team who had also just made the first ascent of Mount Augusta
Mount Augusta
Mount Augusta, also designated Boundary Peak 183, is a high peak of the Saint Elias Mountains on the border between the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian territory of Yukon....
. From the south side of King Peak, they made their way up to the east ridge occasionally traversing to the north side to avoid steep slopes. After two failed summit attempts on July 20 and 21, Pete Schoening
Pete Schoening
Peter K. Schoening was an American mountaineer. Schoening was one of two Americans to first successfully climb the Pakistani peak Gasherbrum I in 1958, and was one of the first to summit Mount Vinson in Antarctica in 1966. He was born July 30, 1927, in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in...
and Gibson Reynolds succeeded in negotiating the gendarme
Gendarme (mountaineering)
A Gendarme is a pinnacle of rock on a mountain ridge. They are typical of Alpine areas. Gendarmes often form on the intersection of two ridges due to the lower erosion of glaciers here. The name originates from the French Alps, where they were seen as resembling the gendarmerie police....
that had rebuffed the failed attempts and reached the top on July 23. Schoening returned the next day with Dick McGowan and Bill Niendorff to complete the third ascent.
See also
- 4000 metre peaks of Canada
- 4000 metre peaks of North America
- Mountain peaks of CanadaMountain peaks of CanadaThis article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of Canada.Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a precise mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface. Topographic prominence is the elevation...
- Mountain peaks of North AmericaMountain peaks of North AmericaThis article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of greater North America.This article defines greater North America as the portion of the continental landmass of the Americas extending northward from Panama plus the islands surrounding that landmass...