Mount Moran () is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton ...

of western

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. The mountain is named for

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth too ...

, an American western frontier landscape artist. Mount Moran dominates the northern section of the

Teton Range The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park and ...

rising above Jackson Lake. Several active glaciers exist on the mountain with Skillet Glacier plainly visible on the monolithic east face. Like the

Middle Teton Middle Teton () is the third-highest peak in the Teton Range, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Located within Grand Teton National Park, the peak is immediately southwest of Grand Teton, from which it is separated by a broad high ridge at , known to ...

in the same range, Mount Moran's face is marked by a distinctive

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

intrusion In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

known as the Black Dike.

Climbing

Mount Moran is a massive and impressive mountain which would make it attractive to mountaineers. However, the comparative difficulty of the approach to the climbs makes it a much less popular climb than the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, in Northwest Wyoming, and a classic destination in American mountaineering. Geography Grand Teton, at , is the highest point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in ...

and other peaks to the south. No trails to Mount Moran have been maintained for over twenty years, and any approach overland requires a great deal of bushwhacking through vegetation, deadfalls, and bogs along the perimeter of

Leigh Lake Leigh Lake is located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U. S. state of Wyoming. The glacially formed lake is wide and long from north to south. Situated just southeast of Mount Moran, the lake is at the terminus of both Paintbrush and Leigh ...

. Instead, most climbers choose to canoe from

String Lake String Lake is located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U. S. state of Wyoming. The natural lake is located at the outflow of Leigh Lake. A small wetland area is on the northwest side of the lake and is prime moose habitat. A short half mile ...

, across

and then pick their way to their respective route; but even this may require some overland route finding. As a result, most climbs on Mount Moran tend to take several days even when the technical portion of the climb is comparatively brief.

The first ascent of Mount Moran was made on July 22, 1922 by LeGrand Hardy, Bennet McNulty, and Ben C. Rich of the Chicago Mountaineering Club, via the Skillet Glacier route. It still provides perhaps the easiest and most direct route to the summit, and is rated 5.4. As the name implies, most of the climb is on the steep snow and ice of Skillet Glacier, thus an ice axe and

crampons A crampon is a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and ice ...

are used during the ascent. The most popular route up Mount Moran is the CMC route, named for the Chicago Mountaineering Club. The CMC is rated 5.5, and ascends the east face just south of the Black Dike. The CMC climbs good rock and is essentially free of snow and ice. It also has the advantage of a good camp high on the flank of the mountain. The Direct South Buttress, a grade IV claim rated from 5.7 A3 to 5.9 C1, is a technical route suited for

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. ...

and

Alpine climbing {{unreferenced, date=March 2019 Alpine climbing (german: Alpinklettern) is a branch of climbing in which the primary aim is very often to reach the summit of a mountain. In order to do this high rock faces or pinnacles requiring several lengths ...

. It has a vertical gain of approximately , and features 11 pitches. This route is featured in the historic climbing text ''

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 classic piece of climbing literature, known to many climbers as simply "The Book", and has served as an inspir ...

'', and was first ascended by Richard Emerson, Don Decker, and Leigh Ortenburger, August 30–31, 1953.

History

On November 21, 1950, a

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

cargo plane owned by the

New Tribes Mission Ethnos360, formerly known as New Tribes Mission (NTM), is an international, theologically evangelical Christian mission organization based in Sanford, Florida, United States. Ethnos360 has approximately 2,300 missionaries in more than 20 natio ...

crashed on Mount Moran during a storm, killing all 21 on board. A rescue party organized by

Paul Petzoldt Paul Kiesow Petzoldt (January 16, 1908 – October 6, 1999) was an American mountaineer and wilderness educator known for establishing the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1965. Early life and education Petzoldt was born in Creston, ...

located the wreckage on November 25, but the extreme location of the crash made it impossible to recover the plane or the bodies. The wreckage remains on the mountain today, but the Park Service discourages climbs to the site.

References

External links

"Mount Moran"
at ''Mountain Project''
"Mount Moran"
at ''Summit Post'' *

at ''Summit Post''

- Great Fireball of August 10, 1972, over Mount Moran

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Mount Mountains of Grand Teton National Park Mountains of Wyoming Mountains of Teton County, Wyoming Grand Teton National Park

Climbing

History

See also

References

External links