Mount Hunter
Begguya
Mount Hunter from the northwest (Kahilta Base Camp)
Highest point
Elevation	14,573 ft (4,442 m)[1] NAVD88
Prominence	4,653 ft (1,418 m)[1]
Isolation	6.88 mi (11.07 km)[1]
Listing	North America highest peaks 22nd US highest major peaks 10th Alaska highest major peaks 10th
Coordinates	62°57′03″N151°05′22″W / 62.95083°N 151.08944°W /62.95083; -151.08944[2]
Geography
Mount Hunter Location in Alaska
Interactive map of Mount Hunter
Location	Matanuska-Susitna Borough,Alaska, U.S.
Parent range	Alaska Range
Topo map	USGS Talkeetna D-3[2]
Climbing
First ascent	1954 byFred Beckey,Heinrich Harrer, Henry Meybohm[3]
Easiest route	serious snow/ice/rock climb (Alaska Grade 4, 5.8, AI 3)

Mount Hunter orBegguya is amountain inDenali National Park inAlaska. It is approximately eight miles (13 km) south ofDenali, the highest peak in North America. "Begguya" means child (of Denali) in theDena'ina language. Mount Hunter is the third-highest major peak in theAlaska Range.^[1]

Mount Hunter has a complex structure: it is topped by a large, low-angled glacier plateau, connecting the North (Main) Summit and the South Summit (13,965 feet or 4,257 m). Long, corniced ridges extend in various directions; between them are exceptionally steep faces.

The native name for the mountain isBegguya, meaning "Denali's Child". Early prospectors referred to the mountain as Mount Roosevelt. In 1903, Robert Dunn, a reporter for theNew York Commercial Advertiser, visited the area as part ofFrederick Cook's attempt to climb Denali. He bestowed the name of his aunt Anna Falconnet Hunter (1885–1941), who financed his trip, on a high nearby mountain, prominent from the northwest. This was, in fact, a different peak, now known as Kahiltna Dome. The name Hunter was mistakenly applied to the present-day Mount Hunter by a government surveyor in 1906.^[4]

In October 2010, the South Summit was namedMount Stevens, afterTed Stevens (1923–2010), a former senator of Alaska.^[5]

Despite being much lower in elevation than Denali (formerly Mount McKinley), Mount Hunter is a more difficult climb, due to its steep faces and corniced ridges; it also sees far less traffic than its larger neighbor.

Fred Beckey,Heinrich Harrer, and Henry Meybohm completed the first ascent in 1954, via the long West Ridge; this was a great accomplishment for the time and used techniques such as extensive front-pointing which were unusual in the climbing world.^[3]

Beginning in 1977, withMichael Kennedy andGeorge Lowe's climb of a route on the northwest face of Mount Hunter, this steep rock and ice face has been the scene of many landmark hard climbs.

• 1954West Ridge - first ascent of the peak byFred Beckey,Heinrich Harrer, and Henry Meybohm^[6][3]
• 1977Lowe-Kennedy, on the north face.^[7]
• 1978Southeast Spur by John Mallon Waterman (solo, 145 days)^[8]
• 1981Moonflower Buttress (Alaska Grade 6: 5.8 A3 AI6 6100') first ascent to last rock band byMugs Stump and Paul Aubry (NZ).^[9]
• 1983Moonflower Buttress to summit, first complete ascent by Todd Bibler and Doug Klewin.^[9]
• 1985 "Diamond Arete" (Alaska Grade 6) first ascent by Jack Tackle and Jim Donini
• 1989Northwest Face first ascent byConrad Anker and Seth 'S.T.' Shaw, summit attained July 3, 1989.^[10]
• 1994Deprivation, (Alaska Grade 6, Alpine ED+, 90deg ice) first ascent by Scott Backes and Mark Francis Twight.^[11]
• 1994Wall of Shadows, (Alaska Grade 6, AI6+ 5.9 A4) first ascent byGreg Child andMichael Kennedy.^[12]

• 
  Looking down the SW Ridge at about 10,500 ft
• 
  Mount Hunter
• 
  Sunrise on Mount Hunter
• 
  Mount Hunter

• List of mountain peaks of North America
  • List of mountain peaks of the United States
    • List of mountain peaks of Alaska
• List of the highest major summits of the United States
• List of the most prominent summits of the United States

1. ^ This is excluding the North Peak and other sub-summits ofDenali.

Sources

• Selters, Andy (2004).Ways to the Sky. Golden, CO, USA: The American Alpine Club Press.ISBN 0-930410-83-1.

• Mount Hunter weather:Mountain Forecast

• Alaska Range
• Mountains of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska
• Four-thousanders of the United States
• Mountains of Denali National Park and Preserve

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