From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Mount Kennedy

Peak in Yukon, Canada

Field	Value
name	Mount Kennedy
photo	Mt. Kennedy from air to north..jpg
photo_caption	Mount Kennedy (left) from the air to the north, with the summits of Mts. Hubbard and Alverstone showing.
elevation	4,250-4,300 metres (~14,000 feet)
prominence_m	390
prominence_ref
range	Saint Elias Mountains
listing	Mountains of Yukon
country	Canada	region_type = Territory	region = Yukon
map	Canada Yukon
map_caption	Location in Yukon
map_size	250
label_position	right
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	8
mapframe-caption	Interactive map of Mount Kennedy
coordinates
topo	NTS
first_ascent	1965
easiest_route	glacier/snow/ice climb
fetchwikidata	ALL

| mapframe-zoom = 8 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map of Mount Kennedy

Mount Kennedy is a peak in the Saint Elias Mountains within Kluane National Park, in Yukon, Canada. Its 4250-m to 4300-m (14000-foot) summit lies within 10 km of the Alaska Panhandle. Dusty Glacier lies against it to the north.

The Canadian government named the peak in honour of U.S. President John F. Kennedy nearly a year following his assassination. In announcing the decision to the House of Commons on November 20, 1964, prime minister Lester B. Pearson said "I believe it is appropriate that Canada's memorial to him should be a mountain. A mountain is solid and enduring. Mount Kennedy is a graceful, towering, unencumbered peak ... a symbol of aspiration and upward reach." It was at the time, the highest peak in North America that had not yet been climbed.

First ascent

Its first ascent was in 1965 by Robert F. Kennedy, with a party of experienced mountaineers sponsored by the National Geographic Society and led by Jim Whittaker. Upon reaching the peak of the summit, Kennedy left some of his brother's PT-boat tie clips, a copy of his brother's 1961 [[Kennedy inaugural speech|inaugural address]], and a John F. Kennedy medallion. This route from the Cathedral Glacier to the south is now considered a routine climb for experienced glacier travelers, having little technical difficulties other than navigation of extensive crevasse fields and avoidance of avalanches. Since then, other routes have been completed, including the highly technical North Buttress, first climbed in 1968 using siege tactics (placing fixed ropes and returning to a base camp), and finally in 2001 in purely alpine style (continuous ascent from bottom to summit with no fixed ropes).

Climbers in the first ascent party included:

Jim Whittaker (1929–)
Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968)
George R. Senner (1922–2003)
Dee Molenaar (1918–2020)
Bill Prater (1926–2010)
Barry Prather (1940–1987)
James Adam Craig (1924–2011) (only Canadian on the trip)
William Allard, National Geographic Photographer

Gallery

File:Mt. Kennedy from Lowell Glacier to north.jpg|Mount Kennedy from the Lowell Glacier to the north File:Mt. Kennedy from south.jpg|Mount Kennedy from the south

References

{{cite bivouac
(November 20, 1964). "House of Commons Debates, 26th Parliament, 2nd Session". Parliament of Canada.
"Mountain Tribute to JFK Evoked by Kennedy Trip to Yukon". National Geographic.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

four-thousanders-of-yukon saint-elias-mountains

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Mount Kennedy — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report