Mount Formidable
{{Short description|Mountain in United States}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Mount Formidable
| photo = Mount Formidable.jpeg
| photo_alt = A large, rugged mountain rises above a snowy ridge
| photo_caption = Mount Formidable
| elevation = {{convert|8325|ft|m|0}}
| elevation_ref = {{cite book | work=Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing and High Routes: Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass | edition=3rd | last=Beckey | first=Fred | authorlink=Fred Beckey | editor1-last=Fulsaas | editor1-first=Kris | editor2-last=Clifton-Thornton | editor2-first=Christine | publisher=The Mountaineers Books | date=2003 | place=Seattle, Washington | isbn=9781594851551 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ukAUElJXPIC| title=Climbing and High Routes: Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass}}{{rp|265 –267}}
| prominence = {{convert|1885|ft|m|0}}
| prominence_ref = {{cite peakbagger | pid=1872 | title=Mount Forimdable | date=2013 | accessdate=August 26, 2013}}
| listing =
| range = North Cascades
| parent_peak = Overdrive Tower
| location = Skagit County, Washington, United States
| map = USA Washington
| map_alt = Mount formidable is located in north-central Washington, near the Cascade crest
| map_caption = The location of Mount Formidable within Washington state
| coordinates = {{coord|48|24|59|N|121|4|2|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| topo = USGS Cascade Pass
| type = Fold
| age = Triassic
| first_ascent = Calder T. Bressler
Ralph W. Clough
Bill Cox
Tom Myers
| easiest_route = Class III
}}
Mount Formidable is a mountain in the North Cascades of Skagit County, in Washington state.{{cite map |publisher=Green Trails |title=CASCADE PASS, WASH — NO 80 |year=1989 |orig-year=First published 1977 |url=http://www.greentrailsmaps.com/maps/search/mapid=80 |scale=1: 69500 |series=15 minute series |version= |cartography= |section= |inset= |edition= |location= |language= |format= |isbn= |id= |accessdate=August 26, 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519165226/http://www.greentrailsmaps.com/maps/search/mapid=80 |archivedate=May 19, 2012 |url-status=dead }} Its first ascent was undertaken by members of the original Ptarmigan Traverse.{{rp|265 –267}} It was named by early mountaineer Herman Ulrichs in 1935 because of the rugged appearance of its north face.{{rp|265 –267}} The peak can be accessed from Cascade Pass via the Ptarmigan Traverse.
Geography and climate
Mount Formidable is located on a spur ridge about half a mile west of the Cascade crest, between Cascade Pass and Dome Peak, and about a mile west of Spider Mountain. It is within the Marine west coast climatic zone, and experiences heavy snowfall as a result. The surrounding area is part of the Pacific temperate rainforests ecoregion, and lower elevations are densely vegetated.{{rp|214 -217}} The Middle Cascade Glacier, which drains into the Skagit River via the Cascade River,{{cite gnis |id=1517451 |name=Cascade River}} is on the north side of the mountain.{{rp|265 -267}}
Geology
The North Cascades are composed of terranes, or scattered, unrelated rock groups of various ages.Lasmanis, Raymond. The geology of Washington: Rocks and Minerals. 1991. (cited in {{cite web | url=http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ResearchScience/Topics/GeologyofWashington/pages/ncascade.aspx | title=Geology of Washington — Northern Cascades | publisher=Washington State Department of Natural Resources | date=2013 | access-date=2013-08-28 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008180331/http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ResearchScience/Topics/GeologyofWashington/pages/ncascade.aspx | archive-date=2014-10-08 | url-status=dead }}) Retrieved August 28, 2013. More specifically, the immediate area surrounding Mount Formidable (i.e., within ten miles), is mainly composed of granitic rocks that are Mesozoic in age, and schist that dates from the late paleozoic.{{Cite journal | last=Cater | first=Fred W. | title=Intrusive Rocks of the Holden and Lucerne Quadrangles, Washington — The Relation of Depth Zones, Composition, Textures, and Emplacement of Plutons | date=1982 | publisher=United States Geological Survey | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8NUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA101}} Mount Formidable itself is likely composed of originally igneous rocks that formed in the Triassic and were metamorphorphized in the Late Cretaceous.{{cite web| last=Carter | first=F.W. | title=Intrusive Rocks of the Holden and Lucerne Quadrangles, Washington | date=1982 | page=9 –23 | url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1220/report.pdf | accessdate=August 28, 2013}} (cited in Beckey 2003)
Climbing
Mount Formidable can be accessed via the Ptarmigan Traverse, which begins at Cascade Pass.{{rp|265 –267}} Climbers access the higher elevations of the Middle Fork Cascade River basin via Cache Col and proceed to the summit via the Middle Cascade Glacier.{{cite book | page=84 –87 | last=Goldman | first=Peggy | publisher=Wilderness Press | date=2004 | place=Birmingham, Alabama | isbn=9780899976082 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70fPe0APWtAC&pg=PA84| title=Washington's Highest Mountains: Basic Alpine and Glacier Routes}}
{{clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|United States|Mountains}}
- {{Commons-inline}}
- {{cite peakware|id=2941|name=Mount Formidable}}
- [http://www.summitpost.org/mount-formidable/154648 Mount Formidable] on Summitpost.org
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnclimer67/35533326213/in/album-72157650165240627/ Mount Formidable] on Flickr
{{Authority control}}