Mount Thor

This article is about Thor Peak on Baffin Island. For other mountains, see Mount Thor (disambiguation).

Mount Thor, officially gazetted as Thor Peak (Inuktitut: ᙯᕐᓱᐊᓗᒃQaisualuk "huge bedrock"[2][3] or Inuktitut: ᑭᒍᑎᙳᐊᖅKigutinnguaq "resembles a tooth"[2][4]), is a mountain with an elevation of 1,675 metres (5,495 ft) located in Auyuittuq National Park, on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. The mountain is located 46 km (29 mi) northeast of Pangnirtung and features Earth's greatest vertical drop of 1,250 m (4,101 ft), with the cliff overhanging at an average angle of 15 degrees from vertical.[5] Despite its remoteness, this feature makes the mountain a popular rock climbing site. Camping is allowed, with several designated campsites located throughout the length of Akshayuk Pass. For climbers looking to scale Mount Thor, there is an established campsite a few kilometres north of its base, complete with windbreaks and emergency shelters.

The mountain was named for Thor, the Norse thunder god.[6]

Contents
Geography
Ascents
See also
References
External links

Geography

Mount Thor is part of the Baffin Mountains which in turn form part of the Arctic Cordilleramountain range . The mountain consists of granite.[1]

Ascents

Donald Morton and Lyman Spitzer made the first ascent of Mount Thor in 1965 during the Alpine Club of Canada expedition led by Pat Baird.[7]: 347 [8] Pat Baird also led the 1953 geophysical expedition during which Hans Weber, J. Rothlisberger and F. Schwarzenbach climbed the North Tower of Mount Asgard for the first time.

The first ascent of the west face was achieved by Earl Redfern, John Bagley, Eric Brand and Tom Bepler in 1985.[9] The first solo ascent of the West Face was completed by Jason 'Singer' Smith in 1998. The first free climb of the Southwest Buttress was made in 2012 by Bill Borger and John Furneaux.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. "Thor Peak". Bivouac.com. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  2. "Qairsualuk". ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑕ. inuktitutilinniaqta.com. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  3. Slaymaker, Olav; Catto, Norm (2020). Landscapes and Landforms of Eastern Canada. Springer Nature. p. 4. ISBN978-3-030-35137-3. Retrieved 3 July 2020 .
  4. Wykes, Tim. "ᐸᓐᓂᖅᑑᖅ Pangnirtung"(PDF) . ihti.ca/. Inuit Heritage Trust. Retrieved 3 July 2020. ᒥ4.2 ᑭᒍᑎᙳᐊᖅ Kigutinnguaq Mountain Looks like a tooth, Mount Thor
  5. "Mount Thor -The Greatest Vertical Drop on Earth!". The Daily Galaxy. March 9, 2010. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  6. Jennings, Ken (10 June 2013). "Meet Canada's Mount Thor: The World's Steepest, Tallest Cliff". Conde Nast Traveler. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  7. Ostriker, J. P. (2007). "Lyman Spitzer. 26 June 1914 -- 31 March 1997: Elected ForMemRS 1990". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 53: 339–348. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2007.0020.
  8. Morton, Donald C. (1966). "Mt. Asgard And Mt. Thor". Canadian Alpine Journal. 49: 42–48.
  9. Redfern, Earl (December 1995), "-Mount Thor - 33 Days on the West Face", Climbing Magazine (93): 34–36, ISSN0045-7159
  10. "Climber Bill Borger". Radio Canada. July 24, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  11. Hummel, Will (August 3, 2012), "New route on Baffin Island's Mount Thor", Rock and Ice, archived from the original on 2012-08-08, retrieved 2012-08-28