Last updated: October 26, 2021
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Betty Ivanoff Menard's Historic Summit
Photo: DENA 102122, 35mm slide, Denali NPP Museum Collection
In 1971, Betty Ivanoff Menard had a fateful encounter with three German climbers at an Eberhard's sporting goods store in Anchorage. She was only 21 years old and had recently quit her job and had gone on several adventures, including a bike ride from Fairbanks to Valdez, a rafting trip down the Tanana, and an unsuccessful attempt at Mount Drum's summit.1
Betty was born to an Inupiaq family in Unalakleet, Alaska, where she was the sixth of eight siblings. Her maternal grandfather was the village chief and her dad worked for the Civil Aeronautics Administration, which later became the Federal Aviation Administration. After high school, Betty went to the Lower 48 but returned to work in Anchorage. In 1970, she joined the Mountaineering Club of Alaska and started climbing peaks in the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains.
The chance encounter with the German climbing team happened in late July 1971. While shopping for some camping gear, Betty overheard some foreigners needing directions to Talkeetna.2 She stepped in to help and, on a whim, became the fourth member of their expedition. Gerhard Ahlbrecht, Tilman Spohr, Hartmut Spohr, and Betty flew to base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier and spent the next 17 days climbing towards the summit.
On August 13, 1971, Betty Ivanoff Menard became the first Alaska Native woman to ascend Denali.3 She achieved the historic feat despite falling into a crevasse and being a month pregnant. She faced other challenges like not speaking the same language as the rest of her party, but she also demonstrated that Indigenous women are capable of thriving in a male-dominated sport.
While camping at 14,000 feet on her way to Denali's summit, Betty described the glory that some observe along the journey to the top:
"This night the sky was clear and on the ridge to the east of us we watched the wind whirl the snow up, up and up where the sun caught the spray making an impression of the northern lights exploding and slowly dissipating. And then there's Denali! – beckoning in all its glorious splendor. Oh! What a life! To be here amongst the great peaks – Denali, Foraker, Hunter. To be nestled in here at Windy Corner with the stars twinkling in crisp minus 10 degree temp. A thin wispy film of clouds move in at 30,000' and then like a ghost a cloud creeps round about us and disappears in a breath. To bed, to bed you full-bellied sleepyhead. I awaken a little later to an eerie brightness. A peek out the tent reveals a full moon. Ah-h-h life!"
Following her ascent, Betty married George Menard in November 1971 and they built a home at Ermine Lake near Trapper Creek. Their daughter, Shanti Maya, was born the following year. Betty continued to be a member of the Mountaineering Club of Alaska for years, and she served in the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group.
This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Betty Ivanoff Menard's historic achievement.
[1] Betty gave an interview to KTNA in 2013, which provides more details about the expedition. Much of that segment was supported by a written narrative Betty submitted to Brad Washburn that is in the Denali National Park Museum Collection. Listen to the short KTNA interview
[2] Climbers who want to summit Denali often take a flight from the town of Talkeetna to a basecamp at 7,000 feet.
[3] In 1913, Walter Harper became the first Alaska Native and first person to summit Denali. In 1947, Barbara Washburn became the first woman to make the ascent.