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Peak in Yukon, Canada
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."
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It was at the time, the highest peak in
North America
that had not yet been
climbed
.
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American mountaineer
Bradford Washburn
who had aided the Canadian government in selecting the peak said that "the Canadians sought a mountain that had not previously been named, that towered lofty and magnificent, and that lay as close as possible to the international boundary, where it would endure as a symbol of the unique friendship that exists between our two great nations."
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First ascent
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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
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)
See also
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References
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External links
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