Mount Cleveland (Montana)

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Mount Cleveland

Mount Cleveland
Elevation 10,466 ft (3,190 m)
Location Montana, USA
Range Lewis Range
Prominence 5,226 ft (1,593 m)
Coordinates 48°55′29″N, 113°50′53″W
Topo map USGS Mount Cleveland
First ascent 1924 (First recorded ascent)
Easiest route West Face: Scramble Class3/4
For other mountains by this name, see Mount Cleveland.

Mount Cleveland is the highest mountain in Glacier National Park, located in Montana, United States. It is also the highest point in the Lewis Range, which spans part of the northern portion of the Park and extends into Canada. It is located approximately 3 mi (5 km) southeast of the southern end of Waterton Lake, and approximately 5 mi (8 km) south of the US/Canada border.

While not of great absolute elevation, Mount Cleveland is notable for its large, steep rise above local terrain. For example, its west flank rises over 5,500 ft (1,720 m) in less than 2 miles (3.2 km); the northwest face, steepest on the mountain, rises 4,000 ft in less than 0.4 miles (2100 ft/0.64 km). The other faces show almost as much vertical relief. This scale and steepness of relief is quite rare in the contiguous United States. Mount Cleveland is also 50th on the list of the peaks in the contiguous US with the most topographic prominence.

The first recorded ascent of Mount Cleveland was in 1924, by members of the Sierra Club. The easiest route on the peak is the West Face route, starting from the Waterton Valley; it is a scramble (Class 3) with the possibility of some short exposed sections (Class 4). (Edwards, 1995) Given the nontechnical nature of the route, and the attested presence of Native Americans on other high summits in the area, this summit was probably attained much earlier than 1924.

Other routes include the Stoney Indian Route, from Stoney Indian Pass to the south of the peak, first descended by noted Sierra mountaineer Norman Clyde and party in 1937; various routes on the Southeast Face; and the more difficult North (or Northwest) Face, climbed partially in 1971 and completely in 1976. (Edwards, 1995)

Frank B Wynn climbed Mt. Cleveland in 1920 with Harry R Horn and John F. Haber. This predates the 1924 climb of Cleveland by the Sierra Club listed above. This new information can be verified by david.walters@horizon.ab.ca who found a very old register near the summit of Cleveland in 2001, placed by the Nature Study Club of Indiana in 1920, Frank B. Wynn is the first signature. Walters is writing a biography of Frank Wynn for a doctoral dissertation. Digital copies of the 1920 register are available on request.(Walters 2008)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • J. Gordon Edwards, A Climber's Guide to Glacier National Park, Falcon Press, 1995.
  • David C. Walters, Leadership lessons from the life and times of Frank B. Wynn 1860-1922, incomplete dissertation, University of Montana, 2008.

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