Shiprock
Encyclopedia
Shiprock is a rock formation
rising nearly 1583 feet (482.5 m) above the high-desert plain on the Navajo Nation
in San Juan County
, New Mexico
, USA. It has a peak elevation of 7177 feet (2,187.5 m) above the sea level
. It lies about 12 by southwest of the town of Shiprock
, which is named for the peak. Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religion, mythology and tradition. It is located in the center of the Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Puebloan civilization, a prehistoric Native American culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi. Shiprock is a point of interest for rock climbers and photographers and has been featured in several film productions and novels. It is the most prominent landmark in northwestern New Mexico.
ship. However Anglo
s first called the peak "The Needle," a name given to the topmost pinnacle by Captain J.F. McComb in 1860. United States Geological Survey
maps indicate that the name "Ship Rock" dates from the 1870s.
. It is mentioned in many Navajo myths and legends. Foremost is the peak's role as the agent that brought the Navajo to the southwest. According to one legend, after being transported from another place, the Navajos lived on the monolith, "coming down only to plant their fields and get water." One day, the peak was struck by lightning, obliterating the trail and leaving only a sheer cliff, and stranding the women and children on top to starve. The presence of people on the peak is forbidden "for fear they might stir up the (ghosts), or rob their corpses."
In a legend that puts the peak in a larger geographic context, Shiprock is said to be either a medicine pouch or a bow carried by the "Goods of Value Mountain", a large mythic male figure comprising several mountain features throughout the region. The Chuska Mountains
comprise the body, Chuska Peak is the head, the Carrizo Mountains
are the legs, and Beautiful Mountain
is the feet.
One legend has it that Bird Monsters () nested on the peak and fed on human flesh. In one version, after Monster Slayer destroyed at Red Mesa, he killed two adult Bird Monsters at Shiprock and changed two young ones into an eagle and an owl. (In another version, the Warrior Twins were summoned to rid the Navajo of the Bird Monsters.)
The peak is mentioned in stories from the Enemy Side Ceremony and the Navajo Mountain Chant. It is associated with the Bead Chant and the Naayee'ee Ceremony.
breccia
and black dike
s of igneous rock called "minette". It is the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano, and the volcanic breccia formed in a diatreme
. The exposed rock probably was originally formed 2,500–3000 feet (750-1,000 meters) below the Earth's surface, but it was exposed after millions of years of erosion. Wall-like sheets of minette, known as dike
s, radiate away from the central formation. Radiometric age
determinations of the minette establish that these volcanic rocks solidified about 27 million years ago. Shiprock is in the northeastern part of the Navajo Volcanic Field; the field includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks that formed about 25 million years ago. Agathla, also called El Capitan, is another prominent volcanic neck of this field.
party including David Brower
, Raffi Bedayn, Bestor Robinson
and John Dyer. This was the first climb in the United States to use expansion bolts
for protection. Piton
s were used for direct aid.
Since then at least seven routes have been climbed on the peak, all of them of great technical difficulty. A modification of the original route is recorded as the easiest, and it is rated as Grade IV
, YDS 5.9, A1
.
It was considered a great unsolved problem by the climbing community in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time there was a widespread rumor of a $1000 prize for climbing the peak, which inspired "dozens of attempts by the experienced and inexperienced alike."
The first ascent
route is featured in the book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
; however, the idea of climbing Shiprock is repugnant to many Navajo people. Climbing has been illegal since 1970. In spite of this, rock climbers continue to see Shiprock as an interesting place to climb. According to reports from the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department, which administers recreational activities on Navajo land, there have been false claims that the department allows rock climbing and cooperates with rock climbing organizations. A 2006 press release addressing Monument Valley
, another area of monoliths within the Navajo Nation, states:
Permits are issued by the department to camp and hike in some areas, but not for sacred monuments such as Shiprock.
Rock formations in the United States
The following is a partial list of rock formations in the United States, by state:-Arizona:*Canyon de Chelly National Monument**Spider Rock*Chiricahua National Monument**Duck on a Rock**Organ Pipe**Mushroom Rock**Sea Captain*Monument Valley...
rising nearly 1583 feet (482.5 m) above the high-desert plain on the Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
in San Juan County
San Juan County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*51.6% White*0.6% Black*36.6% Native American*0.4% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.5% Two or more races*7.2% Other races*19.1% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, USA. It has a peak elevation of 7177 feet (2,187.5 m) above the sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. It lies about 12 by southwest of the town of Shiprock
Shiprock, New Mexico
Shiprock is a census-designated place in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States, on the Navajo reservation. The population was 8,156 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Farmington Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, which is named for the peak. Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religion, mythology and tradition. It is located in the center of the Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Puebloan civilization, a prehistoric Native American culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi. Shiprock is a point of interest for rock climbers and photographers and has been featured in several film productions and novels. It is the most prominent landmark in northwestern New Mexico.
Name
The Navajo name , "rock with wings" or "winged rock", for the peak refers to the legend of the great bird that brought them from the north to their present lands. The name "Shiprock" or Shiprock Peak or Ship Rock derives from the peak's resemblance to an enormous 19th-century clipperClipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
ship. However Anglo
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
s first called the peak "The Needle," a name given to the topmost pinnacle by Captain J.F. McComb in 1860. United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
maps indicate that the name "Ship Rock" dates from the 1870s.
Religious and cultural significance
The peak and surrounding land are of great religious and historical significance to the Navajo peopleNavajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
. It is mentioned in many Navajo myths and legends. Foremost is the peak's role as the agent that brought the Navajo to the southwest. According to one legend, after being transported from another place, the Navajos lived on the monolith, "coming down only to plant their fields and get water." One day, the peak was struck by lightning, obliterating the trail and leaving only a sheer cliff, and stranding the women and children on top to starve. The presence of people on the peak is forbidden "for fear they might stir up the (ghosts), or rob their corpses."
In a legend that puts the peak in a larger geographic context, Shiprock is said to be either a medicine pouch or a bow carried by the "Goods of Value Mountain", a large mythic male figure comprising several mountain features throughout the region. The Chuska Mountains
Chuska mountains
The Chuska Mountains are an elongate range on the Colorado Plateau and within the Navajo Nation. The range is about 80 by 15 km , and it trends north-northwest and is crossed by the state line between Arizona and New Mexico. The highlands are a dissected plateau, with an average elevation of...
comprise the body, Chuska Peak is the head, the Carrizo Mountains
Carrizo Mountains
The Carrizo Mountains are a small range 15 to 20 km in diameter located on the Colorado Plateau in northeastern Arizona. The range is about southwest of the Four Corners. The highest summit, Pastora Peak, is in elevation, whereas elevations on the surrounding plateau are near . The mountains...
are the legs, and Beautiful Mountain
Beautiful Mountain
Beautiful Mountain is the highest mountain in San Juan County and the highest of the New Mexico Chuska Mountains at 9,388 feet above sea level...
is the feet.
One legend has it that Bird Monsters () nested on the peak and fed on human flesh. In one version, after Monster Slayer destroyed at Red Mesa, he killed two adult Bird Monsters at Shiprock and changed two young ones into an eagle and an owl. (In another version, the Warrior Twins were summoned to rid the Navajo of the Bird Monsters.)
The peak is mentioned in stories from the Enemy Side Ceremony and the Navajo Mountain Chant. It is associated with the Bead Chant and the Naayee'ee Ceremony.
Geology
Shiprock is composed of fractured volcanicVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
breccia
Breccia
Breccia is a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together by a fine-grained matrix, that can be either similar to or different from the composition of the fragments....
and black dike
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke in geology is a type of sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts discordantly across* planar wall rock structures, such as bedding or foliation...
s of igneous rock called "minette". It is the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano, and the volcanic breccia formed in a diatreme
Diatreme
A diatreme is a breccia-filled volcanic pipe that was formed by a gaseous explosion. Diatremes often breach the surface and produce a tuff cone, a filled relatively shallow crater known as a maar, or other volcanic pipes.- Word origin :...
. The exposed rock probably was originally formed 2,500–3000 feet (750-1,000 meters) below the Earth's surface, but it was exposed after millions of years of erosion. Wall-like sheets of minette, known as dike
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke in geology is a type of sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts discordantly across* planar wall rock structures, such as bedding or foliation...
s, radiate away from the central formation. Radiometric age
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
determinations of the minette establish that these volcanic rocks solidified about 27 million years ago. Shiprock is in the northeastern part of the Navajo Volcanic Field; the field includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks that formed about 25 million years ago. Agathla, also called El Capitan, is another prominent volcanic neck of this field.
Climbing history and legal status
The first ascent was in 1939, by a Sierra ClubSierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
party including David Brower
David R. Brower
David Ross Brower was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club Foundation, the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth , the League of Conservation Voters, Earth Island Institute , North Cascades...
, Raffi Bedayn, Bestor Robinson
Bestor Robinson
Bestor Robinson was a California mountaineer, environmentalist, attorney and inventor. He was a law partner of Earl Warren, later governor of California and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Robinson was a long time leader of the Sierra Club...
and John Dyer. This was the first climb in the United States to use expansion bolts
Bolt (climbing)
In rock climbing, a bolt is a permanent anchor fixed into a hole drilled in the rock as a form of protection. Most bolts are either self-anchoring expansion bolts or fixed in place with liquid resin....
for protection. Piton
Piton
In climbing, a piton is a metal spike that is driven into a crack or seam in the rock with a hammer, and which acts as an anchor to protect the climber against the consequences of a fall, or to assist progress in aid climbing...
s were used for direct aid.
Since then at least seven routes have been climbed on the peak, all of them of great technical difficulty. A modification of the original route is recorded as the easiest, and it is rated as Grade IV
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...
, YDS 5.9, A1
Yosemite Decimal System
The Yosemite Decimal System is a three-part system used for rating the difficulty of walks, hikes, and climbs. It is primarily used by mountaineers in the United States and Canada. The Class 5 portion of the Class scale is primarily a rock climbing classification system. Originally the system was...
.
It was considered a great unsolved problem by the climbing community in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time there was a widespread rumor of a $1000 prize for climbing the peak, which inspired "dozens of attempts by the experienced and inexperienced alike."
The first ascent
First ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...
route is featured in the book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
Fifty Classic Climbs Of North America is a climbing guidebook and history written by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. It is considered a definitive piece of climbing literature, known to many climbers as simply "The Book", and has served as an inspiration for more recent climbing books, such as Mark...
; however, the idea of climbing Shiprock is repugnant to many Navajo people. Climbing has been illegal since 1970. In spite of this, rock climbers continue to see Shiprock as an interesting place to climb. According to reports from the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department, which administers recreational activities on Navajo land, there have been false claims that the department allows rock climbing and cooperates with rock climbing organizations. A 2006 press release addressing Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
, another area of monoliths within the Navajo Nation, states:
Reports of the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department allowing rock climbing are false. Yet several websites have postings on how to evade Navajo Nation regulations and proceed with dangerous and illegal rock climbs in [Monument Valley]. Even more serious than the possible physical harm illegal climbs could pose is the religious damage done to the Navajo people by these non-Navajo visitors.
The Monuments are sacred to the Navajo people and any human interaction (by Navajo or non-Navajo) is strictly off limits. Please abide by the humble religious requests of the Navajo people and do not climb the Monuments. “Navajo law will be strictly enforced on this issue,” Parks Department Manager Ray Russell also added.
Permits are issued by the department to camp and hike in some areas, but not for sacred monuments such as Shiprock.