Albert MacCarthy

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Albert H. "Mack" MacCarthy (born January 1, 1876 in Ames (Iowa) , † October 11, 1956 in Annapolis (Maryland) ) was an American mountaineer . Several first ascents are ascribed to him, including one of the first to climb the 5959 meter high Mount Logan , the highest mountain in Canada and the second highest on the North American continent.

Life

Albert MacCarthy was born in Ames, Iowa in 1876 and attended school there and in Des Moines . Then he began training at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis (Maryland) , which he graduated in 1897. He served in the Navy for ten years . During this time he took part in the Spanish-American War . In 1907 he retired from the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander .

Two years earlier, on May 30, 1905, he had married Elizabeth Larned, known as "Bess". From 1909 the two developed a passion for mountaineering and the landscape of the Canadian Rockies . One of MacCarthy's first major tours was the ascent of Mount Daly in the Waputik ice field two years later. After a tour through the Bow Valley from Castle Mountain to Windermere in British Columbia , he and Bess bought a ranch in Canada, which they used as a summer residence. In 1911 MacCarthy joined the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC). The following year he took part in the first ascent of Strathcona's Matterhorn , the second highest mountain on Vancouver Island . Among the other participants were ACC founder Arthur Oliver Wheeler , his son Edward , who led the expedition, and William Wasbrough Foster . They named the mountain Elkhorn Mountain .

On July 31, 1913, he boarded along with Foster and Conrad Kain to Mount Robson . This is considered to be one of two possible first ascents of the mountain. Together with Cain, he undertook a number of first ascents in the period that followed: August 10, 1914, they were the first to reach the highest point of Mount Farnham . In 1915 they first climbed a number of peaks in the Purcell Mountains , including Mount Ethelbert , Commander Mountain , Jumbo Mountain , Mount Peter , Mount McCoubrey and Spearhead Peak . There were also a number of second ascents in this area. In the same year MacCarthy managed the first solo ascent of Mount Sally Serena . In 1916 they were the first to climb Mount Louis , Howser Spire and Bugaboo Spire . The following year they climbed Mount Hungabee ; Bess was one of them, the first woman to climb this summit. MacCarthy wrote several expedition reports for the ACC's press organ, the Canadian Alpine Journal .

In 1925, MacCarthy became the leader of an expedition that made the first ascent of Mount Logan . Other participants were Fred Lambart , Andrew Taylor , Allen Carpé , William Wasbrough Foster and Norman Read . They reached the summit of Canada's highest mountain on June 23, 1925. MacCarthy was then made an honorary member of the ACC.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s , MacCarthy stayed mostly on an estate near Annapolis, where he had attended naval school, and returned to seafaring. Although his health deteriorated in the 1940s, he took part in trips by the ACC until 1952. He died in Annapolis on October 11, 1956, at the age of 80.

literature

  • Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . Rocky Mountain Books Ltd, 2000, ISBN 978-0-921102-59-5 , pp. 76, 96 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 2, 2011]).
  • Henry S. Hall Jr .: Albert H. MacCarthy: 1876-1956, IN MEMORIAM . In: Canadian Alpine Journal . Vol.LXI, No. 294 , May 1957, p. 64 f .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Lindsay Elms: Albert H. (Mack) MacCarthy. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011 ; accessed on May 3, 2011 .
  2. ^ Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . 2000, p. 71 .
  3. ↑ 1925 Climb. Archived from the original on January 12, 2011 ; accessed on August 26, 2010 (English / French).
  4. ^ Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . 2000, p. 96 ff .
personal data
SURNAME MacCarthy, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES MacCarthy, Albert H .; Mack
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American climber
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Ames, Iowa
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 1956
Place of death Annapolis, Maryland