Mount Rutford is a sharp peak that rises to 4477 metres (14,688 ft) and marks the highest point on Craddock Massif

Craddock Massif

Craddock Massif is a mountain massif in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, in the Chilean claim of West Antarctica.-Location and highest point:...

 in the Sentinel Range

Sentinel Range

The Sentinel Range is a major mountain range situated northward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range trends NNW-SSE for about and is 24 to 48 km wide...

, Ellsworth Mountains

Ellsworth Mountains

The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf. They are bisected by Minnesota Glacier to form the northern Sentinel Range and the southern Heritage...

. The peak stands just north of Bugueño Pinnacle and 2.1 mi north of Mount Craddock

Mount Craddock

Mount Craddock is a large, bold mountain forming the south extremity of Craddock Massif in Sentinel Range, the highest mountain in Antarctica. It is linked by Karnare Col to Mount Strybing in the southern Sentinel Range...

, with which this naming is associated. Prior to 2006 the peak had no name, but was visually identified by Camilo Rada and Damien Gildea

Damien Gildea

Damien Gildea is an Australian mountaineer and Antarctic explorer who climbed extensively in Antarctica, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Bolivia, Alaska, New Zealand and elsewhere...

 as being higher than Mt Craddock, during their time on the summits of both Vinson (2004) and Craddock (2005). Thus they returned in 2006 and, as part of a larger GPS program, measured the height of this unnamed peak.

As a result of the new GPS data and a new 1:100,000 topographical map being produced by the Omega Foundation, the peak was then named in 2006 by US-ACAN

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...

 after Robert H. Rutford, member of J. Campbell Craddock’s University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

geological expedition to Ellsworth Mountains, 1962–63; leader, University of Minnesota expedition to Ellsworth Mountains, 1963–64; Director, Division of Polar Programs, NSF, 1975–77; President of SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research).