Mount Blackburn

The mountain's massif is covered almost entirely by icefields and glaciers and is the principal source of ice for the Kennicott Glacier, which flows southeast over {{convert|20|mi|km|0}} to just above the town of McCarthy. The mountain also contributes a large volume of ice to the north-flowing Nabesna Glacier and the Kuskulana Glacier system.

Mount Blackburn is a large, dramatic peak, with great local relief and independence from higher peaks. Its west face drops over {{convert|11000|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}} to the Kuskulana Glacier in less than {{convert|4|mi|km|adj=pre|horizontal}}. Its other faces drop {{convert|8000|-|10000|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}}, all in less than {{convert|8|mi|km}}. The toe of the Kuskulana Glacier, less than {{convert|12|mi|km}} from the summit, lies at an elevation of {{convert|2400|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}}, giving a rise of {{convert|14000|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}}. While these figures speak to the peak's relief, one measure of its independence is that it is the 50th-most topographically prominent peak in the world.

The western of Blackburn's two summits is the mountain's highest point, a fact that was not understood until the 1960s when new USGS maps were published. The first ascent of the west peak, and hence Mount Blackburn, was done on May 30, 1958, by Bruce Gilbert, Dick Wahlstrom, Hans Gmoser, Adolf Bitterlich, and Leon Blumer via the North (also called the Northwest) Ridge. This team made the first ascent of Blackburn but did not even know it at the time due to the incorrect identification of the highest point. Blumer's article in the 1959 American Alpine Journal is titled "Mount Blackburn – Second Ascent."{{cite aaj | article_id=12195923700|title=Mount Blackburn—Second Ascent|author=Blumer, Leon H.|year=1959|volume=11|issue=2|access-date=2025-01-03}}

Kennedy Peak, or East Blackburn, {{convert|16286|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}, is the eastern summit and was originally thought to be the highest point. The first ascent of this summit was made in 1912 by Dora Keen and George Handy via the Kennicott Glacier (on the south side of the mountain) and East Face. This heady exploit was ahead of its time. Dora Keen, driven by a deep desire for the climb, solicited miners from the nearby Kennecott Copper Mines, and forged a route up the heavily crevassed East Face to the East Peak, but did not traverse over to the West Peak. Keen went on to write a famous article for the Saturday Evening Post titled, "First up Mount Blackburn." In 1912, Keen and Handy thought they were on Blackburn's highest point. Keen's summit is recognized as the first summit of an Alaskan peak by a woman.{{Cite aaj |title=A Woman's Place is On Top |article_id=12200511300 |year=2005|volume=47|issue=55|page=113|links=off|access-date=2025-03-20}}

Mount Blackburn represents the heavily eroded core of a shield volcano. Because it is shrouded in permanent ice, its internal structure cannot be determined. It is believed to have a summit caldera, greatly modified by glaciation. The oldest rocks in the area are granites, about 4.2 million years old, representing an intrusive mass. The majority of the mountain is 3.4 million year old granite, intruding between andesite flows. From this it is inferred that a caldera collapse took place between 4.2 and 3.4 million years ago, after which activity ceased.{{cite journal |last1=Richter |first1=Donald H. |last2=Rosenkrans |first2=Danny S. |last3=Steigerwald |first3=Margaret J. |title=Guide to the Volcanoes of the Western Wrangell Mountains, Alaska |journal= U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2072 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/2072/report.pdf |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|year=1995|doi=10.3133/b2072}}

Today's standard route on the peak is the 1958 ascent route, the North (or Northwest) Ridge, which is approached from the Nabesna Glacier, on the north side of the mountain, opposite from Keen and Hardy's route. The route starts from an airstrip on the glacier at an altitude of {{convert|7200|ft|m}}. It is a moderate climb by Alaskan standards (Alaska Grade 2).

MtBlackburn-AtnaPeaks-ParkaPeak.jpg|The Nabesna Glacier, with Mount Blackburn and its two summits at right; Atna Peaks is the twin summit left of center

MtBlackburn-WillowLake.jpg|Mount Blackburn from the west, looking across Willow Lake

File:Mt Blackburn Sunset Winter.jpg|Mount Blackburn and Willow Lake at sunset

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• List of mountain peaks of North America
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{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite web | title = 50 Most Prominent Peaks on Earth | publisher = peaklist.org

| url= http://www.peaklist.org/WWlists/WorldTop50.html | access-date =March 9, 2007 }}

}}

• {{cite book | last = Wood | first = Michael |author2=Coombs, Colby | title = Alaska: A Climbing Guide

| publisher=Mountaineers Books | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-89886-724-X }}

• {{cite book | last = Winkler | first = Gary R.

| title = A Geologic Guide to Wrangell—Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Tectonic Collage of Northbound Terranes

| publisher=USGS Professional Paper 1616 | year = 2000 | isbn = 0-607-92676-7 | url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1616/ }}

• {{cite book | last = Richter | first = Donald H. |author2=Preller, Cindi C. |author3=Labay, Keith A. |author4=Shew, Nora B.

| title = Geologic Map of the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska

| publisher=USGS Scientific Investigations Map 2877 | year = 2006 | url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2006/2877/ }}

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Category:Wrangell Mountains

Category:Four-thousanders of the United States

Category:Landforms of Copper River Census Area, Alaska

Category:Mountains of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

Category:Shield volcanoes of the United States

Category:Subduction volcanoes

Category:Volcanoes of Alaska

Category:Volcanoes of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

Category:Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve