Mount Winchell

Mount Winchell
Mount Winchell's East Arête route, October 2007.
Elevation	13,781 ft (4,200 m) [1][2]
Prominence	655 ft (200 m) [2]
Parent peak	Mount Agassiz[2]
Listing	Sierra Peaks Section[3]
Location
Mount Winchell Location in California
Location	Fresno and Inyo counties, California, USA
Range	Sierra Nevada
Coordinates	37°06′12″N 118°31′33″W / 37.10333°N 118.52583°W / 37.10333; -118.52583Coordinates: 37°06′12″N 118°31′33″W / 37.10333°N 118.52583°W / 37.10333; -118.52583[4]
Topo map	USGS North Palisade
Climbing
First ascent	June 10, 1923 by Harvey C. Mansfield, John M. Newell, and Windsor B. Putnam[5]
Easiest route	East Arête, class 3 scramble[6]

Mount Winchell, a thirteener, is among the thirty highest peaks of California. It is in the Palisades region of the Sierra Nevada, on the Sierra Crest between Mount Agassiz and Thunderbolt Peak.

Geography

The Inyo-Kern County line follows Winchell's northwest-southeast ridges. Hydrologically, this same boundary divides the Big Pine Creek drainage from Dusy Basin, part of the Kings River's headwaters. Its west slopes fall within Kings Canyon National Park, while its east slopes are in the John Muir Wilderness of the Inyo National Forest.^[7]

History

"Mt. Winchell" by Ansel Adams, circa 1930s.

Two mountain peaks in the vicinity were christened Mount Winchell during the 1870s, but neither of them were present day Mount Winchell. The United States Geological Survey applied the name to the present peak. The name's original application was made by Elisha Winchell for his cousin, Alexander Witchell,^[5] who was a founding member of the Geological Society of America.

The first recorded climb of Mount Winchell was by Harvey C. Mansfield, Sr., John M. Newell, and Windsor B. Putnam, in June 1923.^[5] Their route, a class 3 scramble up the east arête, is the least technical route. The first known winter climb by Norman Clyde, Morgan Harris, and David Brower used this same route in January 1938.^[6]

See also

• Mountain peaks of California
• Palisades of the Sierra Nevada
• Thirteener

References

1. ^ The NGVD 29 elevation of 13,775 feet was converted using VERTCON to the NAVD 88 elevation of 13,781 feet.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Mount Winchell, California". Peakbagger.com. http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=2723. Retrieved 2009-08-09. 
3. ^ "Sierra Peaks Section List". Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club. http://angeles.sierraclub.org/sps/spslist.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-22. 
4. ^ "Mount Winchell". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:269219. Retrieved 2008-12-10. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Farquhar, Francis P. (1926). Place Names of the High Sierra. San Francisco: Sierra Club. http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/w.html. Retrieved 2009-08-09. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Secor, R. J. (1999). The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails (2nd ed.). Seattle: The Mountaineers Books. pp. 250–253. ISBN 0-89886-625-1. 
7. ^ USGS. North Palisade quadrangle, California (Map). 1:24000, 7.5 Minute Topographic. http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=37.103333&lon=-118.525833&datum=nad83&zoom=4. Retrieved 2009-08-09. 

External links

• "Mount Winchell". SummitPost.org. http://www.summitpost.org/page/151010. Retrieved 2011-06-03.