Mount Agassiz (California)

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Mount Agassiz

A view of Mount Agassiz from the west, near Bishop Pass, showing a talus slope and several chutes, August 2007.
Elevation 13,899 ft (4,236 m)
Location California, USA
Range Sierra Nevada
Prominence 833 ft (254 m)
Coordinates 37°06′42.9516″N 118°31′50.4958″W / 37.111931, -118.530693278
Topo map USGS North Palisade
Easiest route class 2 scramble

Mount Agassiz, at 13,899 feet (4,236 m), is one of the twenty highest peaks of California. It is located at the north end of the Palisades in the eastern Sierra, near Bishop Pass, on the boundary between Kings Canyon National Park and Inyo National Forest. In 1879, Lilbourne Winchell named it Agassiz Needle for Harvard University professor of zoology and geology Louis Agassiz. Later, the USGS recognized it by its current name. There are routes from the west and south that are rated as class 2 climbs in the Yosemite Decimal System, but these are not obvious, and an attempt to ascend from the west via the wrong chute leads to areas that require ropes.

The peak is named after Swiss-American scientist Louis Agassiz. The name Agassiz Needle was originally applied to another nearby peak in 1879, likely Mount Winchell, but at some point the name moved to the current peak.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gudde, Erwin; William Bright (2004). California Place Names, Fourth ed., University of California Press, p. 3. ISBN 0-520-24217-3. 

[edit] External links

Mount Agassiz's north face seen from Cloudripper, with the Palisades extending to its left.
Mount Agassiz's north face seen from Cloudripper, with the Palisades extending to its left.