Mount Hunter (Alaska)

Mount Hunter
Begguya
Mount Hunter from the northwest (Kahilta Base Camp)
Highest point
Elevation14,573 ft (4,442 m)
NAVD88
Prominence4,653 ft (1,418 m)
Isolation6.88 mi (11.07 km)
Listing
Coordinates62°57′03″N 151°05′22″W / 62.95083°N 151.08944°W / 62.95083; -151.08944
Geography
Mount Hunter is located in Alaska
Mount Hunter
Mount Hunter
Location within Alaska
Interactive map of Mount Hunter
LocationMatanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, U.S.
Parent rangeAlaska Range
Topo mapUSGS Talkeetna D-3
Climbing
First ascent1954 by Fred Beckey, Heinrich Harrer, Henry Meybohm
Easiest routeserious snow/ice/rock climb (Alaska Grade 4, 5.8, AI 3)

Mount Hunter or Begguya is a mountain in Denali National Park in Alaska. It is approximately eight miles (13 km) south of Denali, the highest peak in North America. "Begguya" means child (of Denali) in the Dena'ina language. Mount Hunter is the third-highest major peak in the Alaska Range.

Mount Hunter has a complex structure: it is topped by a large, low-angled glacier plateau, connecting the North (Main) Summit and the South Summit (13,965 feet or 4,257 m). Long, corniced ridges extend in various directions; between them are exceptionally steep faces.

Naming of the mountain

The native name for the mountain is Begguya, meaning "Denali's Child". Early prospectors referred to the mountain as Mount Roosevelt. In 1903, Robert Dunn, a reporter for the New York Commercial Advertiser, visited the area as part of Frederick Cook's attempt to climb Denali. He bestowed the name of his aunt Anna Falconnet Hunter (1885–1941), who financed his trip, on a high nearby mountain, prominent from the northwest. This was, in fact, a different peak, now known as Kahiltna Dome. The name Hunter was mistakenly applied to the present-day Mount Hunter by a government surveyor in 1906.

In October 2010, the South Summit was named Mount Stevens, after Ted Stevens (1923–2010), a former senator of Alaska.

Climbing history

Despite being much lower in elevation than Mount McKinley (formerly Denali), Mount Hunter is a more difficult climb, due to its steep faces and corniced ridges; it also sees far less traffic than its larger neighbor.

Fred Beckey, Heinrich Harrer, and Henry Meybohm completed the first ascent in 1954, via the long West Ridge; this was a great accomplishment for the time and used techniques such as extensive front-pointing which were unusual in the climbing world.

Beginning in 1977, with Michael Kennedy and George Lowe's climb of a route on the northwest face of Mount Hunter, this steep rock and ice face has been the scene of many landmark hard climbs.

Notable ascents

Mount Hunter, nestled between Mount Foraker and Denali

See also

Notes

  1. ^ This is excluding the North Peak and other sub-summits of Denali.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mount Hunter, Alaska". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Mount Hunter". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Beckey, Fred (1955). "Mt. Deborah and Mt. Hunter: First Ascents". American Alpine Journal. 9 (2). American Alpine Club. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  4. ↑ Jonathan Waterman, High Alaska, AAC Press, 1988.
  5. ↑ "Hello, Mount Stevens!". Alaska Beat. Alaska Dispatch Publishing. October 19, 2010. Archived from the original on October 23, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  6. ↑ Selters 2004, p. 170
  7. ↑ Selters 2004, p. 263
  8. ↑ Krakauer, Jon (January 1993). "Death of an Innocent: How Christopher McCandless lost his way in the wilds". The Independent. Outside Magazine. Retrieved June 28, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. 1 2 Westman, Mark (May 25, 2007). "Hunter: Grand repeat and epic near-ascent". Alpinist Newswire. Alpinist Magazine. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  10. ↑ Anker, Conrad (1990). "Hunter's Northwest Face". American Alpine Journal. 42 (64). NYC, NY, USA: American Alpine Club: 36–38. ISBN 0-930410-43-2. Retrieved November 22, 2020.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  11. ↑ Twight, Mark Francis (1995). ""Deprivation" on Mount Hunter". American Alpine Journal. 37 (69). Golden, CO, USA: American Alpine Club: 11–14. ISBN 0-930410-61-0. Retrieved May 5, 2025.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  12. ↑ Kennedy, Michael (1995). "Shadows of Doubt, Mount Hunter". American Alpine Journal. 37 (69). Golden, CO, USA: American Alpine Club: 1–10. ISBN 0-930410-61-0. Retrieved November 22, 2020.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
Sources