Mount Crillon

Two mountain peaks with snow and clouds
Mt. Bertha and Mt. Crillon

NPS Photo

Elevation: 12,728 ft.


Named by La Perouse (1797, v. 2, p. 219) about July 2, 1786, for Gen. Louis des Balbes de Berton, Duke of Crillon, 1543-1615, "who distinguished himself at Lepanto and fought for Henri III and Henri IV" (Farquhar, 1959, p. 215).

"For the ascent of the mountain was by no means the sole objective. Richard Goldthwait, a young geologist, took ice-depth soundings on South Crillon Glacier, above the expedition’s base camp, determining that the glacier was 840 feet think. It was the first time anyone has successfully measured the ice thickness of an Alaskan glacier. Members of the expedition also measured the speed of the glacier, discovering that it was moving at a rate of up to two inches per hour--and that movement was significantly faster on clear days than on rainy days.”
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Exploring the Unknown, Historic Diaries of Bradford Washburn’s Alaska/Yukon Expeditions. Bradford Washburn March 2001.


Date Route Climbers
7/19/1934 South Face Harvard-Dartmouth Mount Crillon Expedition- Bradford Washburn, Adams Carter (Waldo Holcombe, Howard Kellogg, Edward Streeter, Henry Woods were support but did not summit)
6/9/1972 West Ridge Loren and Marsha Adkins, Richard Benedict, Jerry Buckley, and Bruce Tickell
7/20/1978 West Ridge Terry Cline, Dave Dahl, Bruce Tickell, and Walter Vennum
Date Route Climbers Reason for turnaround
1933 Unknown Bradford Washburn Weather
1988 East Ridge via Brady Glacier Loren Adkins and Paul Barnes Unknown
1993 North Ridge Dave Williamson, Jayson Faulkner and Kevin and Jim Haberl Unknown
5/1996 Beach via La Perouse Glacier Six climbers Traversed La Perouse Glacier between May 17–29, did not attempt summit
5/1997 La Perouse Glacier Bill Pilling and Carl Diedrich
Extreme weather conditions between May 4–25
4/1998 North Ridge Bill Pilling and Carl Diedrich Made three attempts between April 29–May 15
2010 North Ridge Bill Pilling, Carl Diedrich, Zach Hoyt, Kale Semar Unknown

Last updated: December 19, 2018

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