Mount Marcus Baker (
Ahtna
The Ahtna (also Ahtena, Atna, Ahtna-kohtaene, or Copper River) are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. The people's homeland called Atna Nenn', is located in the Copper River area of southern ...
: ''Ts'itonhna Dghilaaye’'';
Dena'ina: ''Ch'atanhtnu Dghelaya'') is the highest peak of the
Chugach Mountains
The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnag ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
.
It is located approximately east of Anchorage. This peak is very prominent because of its proximity to tidewater and is only 12 miles (19 km) north of the
calving face of
Harvard Glacier.
Mount Marcus Baker is ranked 67th in the world when measured by
topographic prominence
In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...
.
History
Mount Marcus Baker was originally called "Mount Saint Agnes"; according to
Bradford Washburn,
James W. Bagley of the
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...
named it after his wife Agnes, adding the "Saint" in hopes of making the name stick. The name was later changed to honor a cartographer and geologist named
Marcus Baker
Marcus Baker (September 23, 1849 – December 12, 1903) was an American naturalist, explorer of Alaska, journalist, and newspaper editor.
Early life and education
Baker was born September 23, 1849, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and graduated fr ...
.
[Michael Wood and Colby Coombs, ''Alaska: A Climbing Guide'', The Mountaineers, 2001.]
The peak was first climbed on June 19, 1938 by a party led by famed explorer
Bradford Washburn; the climb took almost two months owing to weather delays. Today's standard route is the North Ridge. Despite being much lower in elevation than
Denali
Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...
, Marcus Baker is a similarly serious ascent, due to the remoteness of the peak and resulting length of the approach and climb.
A number of noted climbers have perished or sustained permanent injury in attempting to summit the peak as climbing conditions can change rapidly as storms arise. In early 1988, a State of Alaska Fish and Game biologist, 28-year-old Sylvia Jean Lane, succumbed to hypothermia as a two-day storm separated her from the two others in the climbing party attempting to dash to the top in a winter ascent.
Gallery
File:Mount Marcus Baker and College Fiord.jpg, Mount Marcus Baker is the highest point in the distance left of center
See also
*
List of mountain peaks of North America
**
List of mountain peaks of the United States
This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of the United States of America.
The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three main ways:
#The topographic elevation of a summit measures the height of the tip o ...
***
List of mountain peaks of Alaska
*
List of Ultras of the United States
References
External links
Alaskan peaks with prominence > 1500mMount Marcus Baker on bivouac.com
{{Authority control
Marcus
Four-thousanders of the United States