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expedition. I only knew that as the only woman, I had to measure up.ââ On the first attempt at the summit, the team climbed too slowly and had to turn back 1700ft from the top. On the way down, Bradford
Washburn decided that they should rappel down an open crevasse to save time. According to Washburn, she learned to rappel on the fly with only brief instructions: "Now tie the rope around your waist....you just swing across this ice slope, and this is called rappelling." For the second summit attempt, three team members, Lowell Thomas Jr., Alva Morrison and Lee Wilson, decided to remain in camp. The remaining five, Barbara and Bradford Washburn, with Maynard Miller, Michl Feuersinger and Thomas Winship, achieved the summit on July 30, 1940. In August, as they returned to
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soft that you could not put your feet side by side." Bradford
Washburn's biographer, David Roberts, questioned the rationale for Washburn's lead, writing that "the crux pitches on a mountain such as Hayes should have been led by the best climber, which in this case was Brad. He weighed only about thirty pounds more than his wife. Had Barbara slipped off the ridge, or broken loose a cornice or even a chunk of the ridge, she would have taken a long, horrific pendulum fall down the sheer precipice on either the east or the west side. Even held on belay, she might have seriously injured herself, and it would have been no easy matter to get her back up to the ridge." In Washburn's obituary, the
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ice, thin as paper, wound into another cleft 300 yards away." With poor weather setting in, the climbers decided not to attempt the final sections. On August 1, the team planned a second attempt. Henry Hall, though an experienced climber, at 46 years old, was older than the rest of the team. Worn out from the first attempt, he decided to remain in camp for the second attempt. More stable weather conditions, and fixed ropes and ice steps cut during the previous climb quickened their way to the final stretches.
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mountain, and the whole team met up near the start of the Hayes glacier at 4,600 ft on July 17, 1941. Further supplies were parachuted to the climbers and they established a base camp at 4,900 ft with enough supplies to last 30 days. Between July 21 and 24, the team ferried loads up the shoulder of the mountain to 8,300 ft, with some delays for poor weather. Robin
Montgomery departed from the expedition, as planned, to rendezvous with a bush plane on August 1, leaving five remaining.
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the fun of it, in fear that the war would irrevocably alter their circumstances and prevent any future adventures. With a three-month-old baby, Washburn was initially reluctant to go on the trip, but was eventually persuaded. Bradford
Washburn's parents would care for the infant Dorothy "Dottie" Washburn in their absence. The Washburns assembled an experienced team, including Ben Ferris, Sterling Hendricks, Bill Shand, Robin Montgomery and Henry Hall.
208:, Robert Lange, Earl Norris, Grant Pearson, Leonard Shannon, Harvey Solberg, William Sterling, H.T. Victoreen, Bradford Washburn, Barbara Washburn and George Wellstead. Washburn was the only woman on the climb. Washburn, Hackett and Lange were the first to reach the summit, on June 6, 1947, followed by Deeke, Craig, Gale, Browne and Bradford Washburn.
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The
Washburns often worked in tandem, in areas of mountaineering, exploring, mapping, and museum administration. She did not realize that she had been the first woman to climb Denali until after their ascent. She typically accompanied her husband on his expeditions, and contributed to his work at the
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singled out this section of the climb as her greatest feat of mountaineering, noting that "what was probably the hardest bit of technical climbing Brad ever performed in his long
Alaskan career was a ridge traverse led by his wife." The ridge did not give way, and the climbers reached the summit that
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of Alaska, had been subject to two previous attempts at the summit, one reaching 11,000 ft, but had not yet had a first ascent. Bradford
Washburn later recalled it being one of the few expeditions the couple did with no additional angle, such as map-making or scientific discovery, but simply for
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Perched in a notch above 9000 ft, the climbers set up a forward camp. On July 29, 1941, they made a reconnaissance mission towards the summit, intending to perhaps complete the entire climb. The crux appeared as a "knife-like crest," according to
Bradford Washburn, "a tenuous arete of snow and
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At the crux, Washburn was chosen to lead the knife-like ridge, with the rationale that as the lightest climber, she would be easiest for the others to pull back up if the ridge should give way. A climber from a later expedition to Mt. Hayes would describe this section as "so narrow and the snow so
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The remote location of Mount Hayes required a complex plan of approach. The group was able to fly supplies into an impromptu landing spot approximately 19 miles northeast of Mount Hayes, with the help of bush pilot Johnny Lynn. Further supplies were air dropped at various points closer to the
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Washburn wrote that prior to her marriage, "I had no mountaineering background." Once in Alaska, the team ferried heavy loads up through a series of camps along the flanks of the mountain. She recalled of that time, "I had no real feeling about being a pioneering woman on a serious
Alaskan
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allowed the use of a ranger station, while Chief Ranger Grant
Pearson accompanied the expedition. Four representatives from RKO also took part in the expedition to capture photography, film and written accounts of the climb.
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The first ascent of the south (higher) peak occurred in 1913. Denali is approximately 130 miles South-Southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, 20,310 ft in height, with the upper reaches permanently swathed in snow and glaciers.
66:). When the Washburns announced their engagement, Barbara Washburn resigned from her job at the museum. They married on April 27, 1940, honeymooned in New Hampshire, then spent the summer on an Alaskan expedition.
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176:. Now a mother of three, Washburn was initially hesitant to join the climb, but eventually agreed after consulting the family physician, who assured her a lengthy absence would not harm the children.
91:, during the early summer of 1940. As the expedition's leader, Bradford Washburn envisioned a relatively casual affair. Besides Barbara Washburn, who had no mountaineering experience, a 16-year-old
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Shortly after marrying Bradford Washburn, Barbara Washburn was asked to accompany her husband and a team of six others on an expedition to attempt the first ascent of remote 10,182 ft
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62:. As a young woman, she took courses at Harvard University and worked as a secretary for Bradford Washburn, then the director of the New England Museum of Natural History (now the
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107:, Alaska, Washburn felt that she was not recovering from the ordeal as quickly as the others and sought the advice of a doctor, only to learn that she was a few months pregnant.
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In 1941, fearing that war time activities would preclude further expedition opportunities, Bradford Washburn pushed for the couple to take on a new challenge.
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In the end, 17 people would take part in the actual expedition: Carl Anderson, George Brown, Hakon Christensen, Robert Craig, William Deeke, Sgt. James Gale,
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drew together complex interests. The New England Museum supported scientific, surveying and photographic endeavors during the climb. The
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172:, but were convinced by Bradford Washburn that this was geopolitically unfeasible in the immediate aftermath of
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765:"Bradford and Barbara Washburn ... received it in 1980 for their contributions to geography and cartography"
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magazine supplement in July 1978. For that achievement and others, the Washburns received in 1980 the
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30:(Mount McKinley) on June 6, 1947. She was the wife and climbing partner of mountaineer and scientist
345:"Barbara Washburn, 1914â2014 â AAC Publications â Search The American Alpine Journal and Accidents"
245:. In 1981, the Washburns produced the most detailed and accurate map ever made of Mount Everest.
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484:"Barbara Polk Washburn, 99; 'Accidental Adventurer' was first woman to ascend Mount McKinley"
153:, an attempt at climbing Denali (then Mount McKinley) in 1947. The expedition was funded by
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Project Jukebox: Digital Branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program
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424:"Mount Bertha â Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)"
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With her husband, she completed a large-scale map of the Grand Canyon, published as a
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Barbara and Bradford Washburn raised three children, Dorothy, Edward and Elizabeth.
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323:. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 184, 190â191, 192â204, 226â235.
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As the only woman on the expedition, Washburn became the first woman to climb
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The Life and Adventures of Bradford Washburn, America's Boldest Mountaineer
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The Accidental Adventurer: Memoir of the First Woman to Climb Mt. McKinley
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The Accidental Adventurer: Memoir of the First Woman to Climb Mt. McKinley
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research and high altitude camping, helped with logistics, while the
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283:"Barbara Polk Washburn, 99; first woman to ascend Mount McKinley"
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Barbara Washburn was asked to return to Alaska to participate in
372:"Barbara Washburn: Accidentally Adventurous, Deliberately Brave"
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748:"Nat Geo awards Alexander Graham Bell Medals to GIS pioneers"
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Originally, studio executives wanted to support a trip to
22:(November 10, 1914 â September 25, 2014) was an American
654:"Denali: Facts About North America's Tallest Mountain"
399:(1st ed.). New York: HarperCollins. p. 324.
256:, and Bradford Washburn, Epicenter Press, May 2001.
574:"Denali Mountaineering: Bradford Washburn, Part 35"
710:and Bradford Washburn, Epicenter Press, May 2001.
606:"Barbara Washburn, 1914â2014 â AAC Publications"
509:"Married Adventures And Tales of Amelia Earhart"
829:National Geographic Society medals recipients
750:. National Geographic Society. Archived from
723:. National Geographic Society. Archived from
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554:. The American Alpine Journal and Accidents
681:"Operation White Tower â AAC Publications"
452:"'Accidental Adventurer' Barbara Washburn"
721:"Bradford and Barbara Washburn, Climbers"
95:came along at the request of his father,
281:Bailey, Michael J. (25 September 2014).
196:set up the team with radio support. The
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26:. She became the first woman to climb
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349:publications.americanalpineclub.org
54:, Massachusetts. She attended the
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572:Washburn, Bradford (2000-07-08).
397:Alaska : saga of a bold land
70:Mountaineering and first ascents
16:American mountaineer (1914â2014)
450:Leonard, Brendan (2019-05-24).
119:, a 13,832 ft peak in the
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746:David Braun (July 13, 2010).
507:McCombs, Phil (2001-05-21).
395:Borneman, Walter R. (2003).
194:Alaska Communications System
834:21st-century American women
819:Boston Latin Academy alumni
548:"The Ascent of Mount Hayes"
243:National Geographic Society
239:Alexander Graham Bell Medal
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799:American mountain climbers
219:Cartography and other work
629:Charles R Wilson (1975).
56:Boston Girls Latin School
804:American female climbers
226:Boston Museum of Science
64:Boston Museum of Science
631:"Mt Hayes: North Ridge"
319:Roberts, David (2010).
138:American Alpine Journal
706:by Barbara Washburn,
652:Zimmermann, Kim Ann.
252:by Barbara Washburn,
248:Washburn's memoir is
198:National Park Service
182:Operation White Tower
151:Operation White Tower
46:Polk, grew up in the
824:American sportswomen
754:on December 24, 2011
83:, a mountain in the
234:National Geographic
58:and graduated from
633:. Alpina Americana
42:Barbara Washburn,
727:on March 30, 2011
456:Adventure Journal
330:978-0-06-156095-8
93:Lowell Thomas Jr.
85:Fairweather range
32:Bradford Washburn
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814:2014 deaths
809:1914 births
428:www.nps.gov
141:afternoon.
121:Hayes Range
117:Mount Hayes
111:Mount Hayes
24:mountaineer
793:Categories
690:2019-07-07
663:2019-07-07
615:2019-07-07
588:2019-07-05
558:2019-07-05
526:2018-05-30
493:2018-05-30
466:2019-07-05
433:2019-07-05
381:2017-03-06
354:2017-03-06
268:References
190:cosmic ray
38:Early life
521:0190-8286
241:from the
758:June 22,
731:June 22,
159:the Alps
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289:4 July
213:Denali
145:Denali
105:Juneau
89:Alaska
48:Boston
28:Denali
760:2011
733:2011
639:2015
517:ISSN
401:ISBN
325:ISBN
291:2015
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