Mount Barrille is a mountain summit located in the

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoar ...

, in

Denali National Park and Preserve Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve ...

, in the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. It is situated 2,650 feet above the

Ruth Glacier Ruth Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its upper reaches are approximately 3 vertical miles below the summit of Denali. The glacier's "Great Gorge" is one mile wide, and drops almost 2,000 feet o ...

at the gateway to the Don Sheldon Amphitheater, or The Great Gorge, depending on direction of travel. Barrille is set southeast of

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the th ...

, west of The Mooses Tooth, east of The Rooster Comb, and north of

Mount Dickey Mount Dickey is a peak on the west side of the Ruth Gorge in the Central Alaska Range of mountains, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Denali and 4 miles (6 km) southwest of The Moose's Tooth. Despite its relatively low elevation, it is not ...

which is its nearest higher peak. The mountain was named by famed explorer Dr.

Frederick Cook Frederick Albert Cook (June 10, 1865 – August 5, 1940) was an American explorer, physician, and ethnographer who claimed to have reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. That was nearly a year before Robert Peary, who similarly clai ...

for Edward Barrill (1861-1946), a horse packer from Darby, Montana, who was his sole companion during his 1906 claim to be the first to climb

Mount McKinley Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

. The claim was later disproved, and in 1909 Barrill signed an affidavit stating that they had not reached the summit. Cook referred to his companion as ''Barrille'' in his accounts of the expedition, and Barrille remains as the official spelling used by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

Climbing

Despite its relatively low elevation, Mt. Barrille is notable for its imposing east face with nearly 2,600 feet of vertical sheer granite. It is one of the more frequently climbed peaks in the Ruth Gorge owing in part to its proximity to the air taxi landing area and the

Sheldon Sheldon may refer to: * Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia * Sheldon, Queensland *Sheldon Forest, New South Wales United Kingdom *Sheldon, Derbyshire, England *Sheldon, Devon, England * ...

Chalet immediately west of the peak. There are several climbing routes with different ranges of technical difficulty. The ''Japanese

Couloir A ''couloir'' (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. . Geology A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissu ...

'' is a moderate, Alaska grade III route featuring steep 55-70 degree angle snow and ice. The first ascent of this route was made in 1976 by Teruaki Segawa, Kensei Suga, Masayuki Suemasa, and Eiji Tsai. Another popular route to the summit is the ''Cobra Pillar'', a direct line up the central pillar of the east face. Named for its resemblance to a cobra from certain angles, this route is rated YDS 5.11. The first ascent of this route was made by

Jim Donini Jim Donini (born July 23, 1943) is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for a long history of cutting-edge climbs in Alaska and Patagonia. He was president of the American Alpine Club from 2006 to 2009, and a 1999 recipient of the AAC's Ro ...

and Jack Tackle over six days in June 1991. The first one-day speed ascent of the route was made in June 2004 by Joe Puryear and Chris McNamara. The ''Baked Alaskan'' route is on the east face and is rated 5.10+. The first ascent was made by Brian Teale and Scott Thelen in July 2001.Mount Barrill
climbandmore.com The west aspect of the mountain is covered by glacial ice and gentle enough to be descended by skiing.

Gallery

File:Dickey and Barrille.jpg, Mt. Barrille (front) with Mt. Dickey behind, as seen from the north at Don Sheldon Amphitheater (formerly Ruth Amphitheater) File:Mount Dickey and Ruth Glacier.jpg, Ruth Glacier, Mt. Dickey, and Mt. Barrille (bottom) File:Mount Barrille.jpg File:Mount Barrille circa 1908.jpg, Mount Barrille as it appears in Frederick Cook's book "To the Top of the Continent" (1908) File:Edward Barrill.jpg, Edward Barrill circa 1908 File:Fakepeak.jpg, Cook's hoax photo of Ed Barrill atop a peak claimed to be Mt. McKinley

Climbing

See also

Gallery

References

External links