Mount Deborah is a mountain in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 one of the major peaks of the eastern

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 ...

. Despite its low absolute elevation (compared to other major peaks in North America), it is a particularly large and steep peak in terms of its quick rise over local terrain. For example, the Northeast Face rises 7000 feet (2135m) in approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km). This steepness, combined with difficult access, harsh weather, and classic Alaskan ice and snow features, make this a challenging peak to climb. Mount Deborah was named in 1907 by

James Wickersham James Wickersham (August 24, 1857 – October 24, 1939) was a district judge for Alaska, appointed by U.S. President William McKinley to the Third Judicial District in 1900. He resigned his post in 1908 and was subsequently elected as Alaska ...

for his first wife, Deborah Susan (Bell) Wickersham.

First ascent

Mount Deborah was first climbed in 1954 by

Fred Beckey Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey (14 January 1923 – 30 October 2017), known as Fred Beckey, was an American rock climber, mountaineer and book author, who in seven decades of climbing achieved hundreds of first ascents of the tallest peaks and best ro ...

, Henry Meybohm,

Heinrich Harrer Heinrich Harrer (; 6 July 1912 – 7 January 2006) was an Austrian mountaineer, sportsman, geographer, ''Oberscharführer'' in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS), and author. He was a member of the four-man climbing team that made the first ascent of th ...

, via the South Ridge.

Notable attempts and ascents

* 1953 ''South Ridge'' (attempt) by Al Paige, Howard Bowman, Brooke Marston, Doctor McFarland. * 1964 ''East Ridge'' (attempt) by David Roberts and Don Jensen. * 1975 ''West Buttress and South Ridge'' FA of route, 2nd of summit by Pat Condran, Mark Hottman, Brian Okonek, Dave Pettigrew, Pat Stuart and Toby Wheeler. Summit reached May 8 after 36 days of effort. * 1976 Northwest Ridge FA of route, 3rd of summit by Rick Nolting, Barry Nash, John Cady, and Ray Watts, summit reached July 26. * 1977 ''North Face'' FA of route by Dakers Gowans and Charles Macquarrie, summit reached May 8. Today's standard route is the West Face; the Northwest Ridge is also a recommended route. Mount Deborah is the subject of one of the classics of mountaineering literature, ''Deborah: A Wilderness Narrative'', by David Roberts, which describes a failed attempt on the peak in 1964. Deborah Avenue in

College, Alaska College ( Lower Tanana: Trothyeddha') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,332, ...

is named for the mountain. Parallel to the street in the same subdivision is Hayes Avenue.

References

* Michael Wood and Colby Coombs, ''Alaska: A Climbing Guide'', The Mountaineers, 2001.

External links

Alaskan peaks with prominence > 1500m
{{Authority control

Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many scholars ...

Deborah, Mount

First ascent

Notable attempts and ascents

See also

References

Further reading

External links