Mount Moffit
Encyclopedia
Mount Moffit is a peak in the Alaska Range
in central Alaska
, United States
, about 10 miles (16 km) east-southeast of Mount Hayes
. It is notable for its steep faces and large relief above local terrain. For example, the north face drops 7,400 feet in approximately 1.2 miles (2 km) horizontal distance.
William Shand Jr., Benjamin Ferris Jr., and Sterling Hendricks made the first ascent of Mount Moffit on August 12, 1942. All three had been part of the first ascent team for Mount Hayes the year before. Unfortunately, Shand died shortly after the climb in an unrelated car accident. It was proposed that his name be attached to this peak; however the name was mistakenly attached to a slightly lower peak to the south of Mount Moffit.
Mount Moffit is not often climbed due to difficult access. The second ascent of the peak was 33 years after the first, in 1975, by M. Sallee and D. Buchanan. The standard route is the Northwest Ridge (or "Western North Ridge"); this is a serious route (Alaska Grade 4) with typical Alaskan features such as highly cornice
d ridgelines.
Alaska Range
The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 650-km-long mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest end to the White River in Canada's Yukon Territory in the southeast...
in central Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, about 10 miles (16 km) east-southeast of Mount Hayes
Mount Hayes
Mount Hayes is the highest mountain in the eastern Alaska Range. Despite not being a fourteener, it is one of the largest peaks in the United States in terms of rise above local terrain. For example, the Northeast Face rises 8,000 feet in approximately 2 miles...
. It is notable for its steep faces and large relief above local terrain. For example, the north face drops 7,400 feet in approximately 1.2 miles (2 km) horizontal distance.
William Shand Jr., Benjamin Ferris Jr., and Sterling Hendricks made the first ascent of Mount Moffit on August 12, 1942. All three had been part of the first ascent team for Mount Hayes the year before. Unfortunately, Shand died shortly after the climb in an unrelated car accident. It was proposed that his name be attached to this peak; however the name was mistakenly attached to a slightly lower peak to the south of Mount Moffit.
Mount Moffit is not often climbed due to difficult access. The second ascent of the peak was 33 years after the first, in 1975, by M. Sallee and D. Buchanan. The standard route is the Northwest Ridge (or "Western North Ridge"); this is a serious route (Alaska Grade 4) with typical Alaskan features such as highly cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
d ridgelines.