Mount Hayes

Mount Hayes

🏔️ Overview

Mount Hayes is a towering 13,832-foot (4,216-meter) mountain in the eastern Alaska Range and the highest summit of the Hayes Range. Rising in Alaska’s Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, it combines enormous topographic prominence, tremendous local relief, extensive glaciers, and one of the most important early climbing histories in Alaskan mountaineering.

With approximately 11,482 feet (3,500 meters) of clean prominence, Mount Hayes is an exceptionally independent mountain. Its summit rises more than two vertical miles above its key saddle at Broad Pass, placing it among the most prominent peaks in the United States.

It is also remarkably isolated. Higher terrain does not occur for approximately 125.5 miles (202 kilometers), with the nearest higher named summit being Mount Sanford in the Wrangell Mountains.

Mount Hayes was first climbed on August 1, 1941, by Bradford Washburn, Barbara Washburn, Benjamin Ferris, Sterling Hendricks, and William Shand. Their ascent of the long, heavily corniced North Ridge was exceptionally advanced for its era and was not repeated for more than three decades.

Today, the East Ridge is generally considered the mountain’s more approachable established route, but Mount Hayes remains a remote expedition objective with glacier travel, steep snow and ice, dangerous cornices, severe storms, and limited access.

⚡ Fast Facts

Fact	Details
Continent	North America
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Census Area	Southeast Fairbanks
Mountain Range	Alaska Range
Subrange	Hayes Range
Elevation	13,832 ft / 4,216 m
Prominence	Approximately 11,482 ft / 3,500 m
Isolation	Approximately 125.52 mi / 202 km
Key Col	Broad Pass, approximately 2,350 ft / 716 m
Parent Peak	Unnamed Peak on the Mount Sanford side of the prominence system
Nearest Higher Neighbor (NHN)	Mount Sanford
Highest Point Of	Hayes Range
Main Summit	North Summit
South Summit	13,305 ft / 4,055 m
First Ascent	August 1, 1941
First Ascenders	Bradford Washburn, Barbara Washburn, Benjamin Ferris, Sterling Hendricks, William Shand
First-Ascent Route	North Ridge
East Ridge First Ascent	1971
North Ridge First Repeat	1975
Major Glaciers	Hayes Glacier, Trident Glacier, Susitna Glacier
Named For	Charles Willard Hayes
Named	1898 by W. J. Peters and A. H. Brooks

Peakbagger identifies Mount Hayes’s immediate prominence line parent as an unnamed higher point labeled East Buttress – Peak 14,630. Following Mountain Field Guide convention, that unnamed numerical feature is best described simply as Unnamed Peak, while Mount Sanford is the useful nearest higher named mountain.

📍 Where Is Mount Hayes?

Mount Hayes rises in the eastern part of the Alaska Range approximately 43 miles southwest of Delta Junction and roughly 90 miles southeast of Fairbanks.

The mountain dominates the Hayes Range, a rugged eastern subdivision of the larger Alaska Range.

Important nearby peaks include:

• Mount Moffit
• Mount Deborah
• Mount Hess
• Mount Shand
• Mount Balchen
• Mount Geist

The higher Wrangell Mountains lie far to the southeast, where Mount Sanford finally rises above Mount Hayes.

To the north are the broad Tanana River lowlands.

South of the Alaska Range crest, glaciers and rivers eventually drain toward the Susitna basin.

This position places Mount Hayes near one of Alaska’s great watershed divides.

🏔️ Highest Peak in the Hayes Range

Mount Hayes is the highest summit in the Hayes Range.

Bradford Washburn described this mountain group as a narrow wedge of rugged peaks extending for roughly 60 miles through the eastern Alaska Range.

Several major summits crowd the region.

Mountain	Elevation
Mount Hayes	13,832 ft
Mount Moffit	13,020 ft
Mount Deborah	12,339 ft
Mount Hess	11,940 ft
Mount Shand	Approx. 11,280 ft

Mount Hayes is therefore not simply a named point among similar peaks.

It is the dominant summit of the entire subrange.

📏 Elevation

The modern USGS elevation of Mount Hayes is:

13,832 feet / 4,216 meters

Older expedition accounts used lower figures.

Bradford Washburn’s 1942 report described Mount Hayes as 13,740 feet.

This was based on mapping available at the time.

Later USGS surveys established the now-standard 13,832-foot elevation.

The approximately 92-foot difference is a useful reminder that early Alaskan climbers were exploring mountains that had not yet been surveyed with modern precision.

📐 Extraordinary Topographic Prominence

Mount Hayes has approximately:

11,482 feet / 3,500 meters of clean prominence

Its key col is Broad Pass, at approximately:

2,350 feet / 716 meters

This enormous drop between Mount Hayes and the terrain connecting it with higher mountains makes Hayes one of the great prominence peaks of North America.

Its prominence is only about 2,350 feet less than its total elevation.

In practical terms, Mount Hayes rises very independently from the surrounding landscape.

Many substantially higher Alaskan mountains have much less prominence because they are closely connected to still higher neighbors.

🌍 An Ultra-Prominent Mountain

Mount Hayes easily qualifies as an ultra-prominent mountain.

An Ultra requires at least:

1,500 meters / 4,921 feet of prominence

Mount Hayes has approximately 3,500 meters.

It exceeds the Ultra threshold by around 2,000 meters.

That makes its topographic independence one of the mountain’s defining characteristics.

Mount Hayes may not approach Denali in absolute elevation, but measured by independent rise above its key saddle, it ranks among the most imposing mountains in the United States.

🧭 Nearest Higher Neighbor: Mount Sanford

The nearest higher named mountain to Mount Hayes is Mount Sanford.

Mount Sanford is a huge glaciated volcano in the Wrangell Mountains.

Modern mapping gives Mount Hayes approximately 125.52 miles (202 kilometers) of topographic isolation before higher ground is reached in the direction of the Wrangells.

That is an extraordinary distance.

Between Hayes and Sanford lie lower mountains, valleys, plateaus, river systems, and passes.

Mount Hayes therefore dominates an enormous geographic area despite being hundreds or thousands of feet lower than Alaska’s tallest peaks.

🧭 The Unnamed Line Parent

Peakbagger’s prominence system gives Mount Hayes a line parent called East Buttress – Peak 14,630.

This is an unnamed point of higher terrain rather than a widely recognized independent mountain.

Using Mountain Field Guide’s naming convention, it is best labeled simply:

Unnamed Peak

For ordinary readers, Mount Sanford is much more useful as the nearest higher named reference point.

This also avoids turning an obscure numerical terrain designation into what appears to be a formal mountain name.

🌄 Enormous Local Relief

Mount Hayes does not merely have great mathematical prominence.

It also possesses tremendous local relief.

Its steep northern and northeastern sides rise thousands of feet above surrounding glaciers and valleys.

The mountain’s North Ridge is particularly dramatic.

Bradford Washburn’s first-ascent route followed a narrow crest suspended between huge slopes dropping away on both sides.

Later climbers described sections where dislodged snow could fall thousands of feet toward completely different glacier basins depending on which side of the ridge it crossed.

That scale helps explain why the relatively modest elevation of 13,832 feet understates Mount Hayes’s visual impact.

🏷️ How Mount Hayes Got Its Name

Mount Hayes was named in 1898 by U.S. Geological Survey explorers W. J. Peters and A. H. Brooks.

They named the mountain for Charles Willard Hayes, an important American geologist.

Hayes lived from 1858 to 1916 and worked with the U.S. Geological Survey from the late 1880s into the early 20th century.

The name became established on government maps and eventually lent itself to the broader term Hayes Range for this section of the eastern Alaska Range.

Mount Hayes should not be confused with Hayes Volcano, a completely different volcanic feature in the Tordrillo Mountains of south-central Alaska.

⚠️ Mount Hayes vs. Hayes Volcano

The similar names cause occasional confusion.

They refer to entirely different mountains.

Feature	Mount Hayes	Hayes Volcano
Elevation	13,832 ft	Approx. 9,146 ft
Range	Alaska Range	Tordrillo Mountains
Volcano	No	Yes
Prominence	Approx. 11,482 ft	Much lower
Named For	Charles Willard Hayes	Name derived from Hayes Glacier
First Recognized as Volcano	Not applicable	1975

Mount Hayes is a high nonvolcanic Alaska Range mountain.

Hayes Volcano is a heavily ice-covered Aleutian Arc volcano more than 200 miles away.

🪨 Geology of Mount Hayes

Bradford Washburn’s early description of the Hayes Range provides an unusually useful geological summary.

The smaller mountains and foothills contain strongly deformed:

• Slate
• Schist
• Shale
• Other metamorphosed and sedimentary rocks

The core of the major peaks contains coarse-grained granite.

This resistant intrusive rock helps form the high, steep central summits.

Mount Hayes therefore shares a broad geological characteristic with several of the Alaska Range’s greatest mountains: strong granitic cores standing above more easily eroded surrounding formations.

🌎 Building the Alaska Range

The Alaska Range exists because southern Alaska is tectonically active.

The Pacific Plate and the Yakutat microplate interact with the North American Plate along southern Alaska.

Compression generated by this collision has:

• Shortened the crust
• Uplifted the Alaska Range
• Activated major faults
• Produced frequent earthquakes

The Denali Fault system is one of the most important structures associated with the range.

Mount Hayes lies east of Denali’s central high peaks but belongs to the same enormous tectonic mountain belt.

🧊 Glacial Sculpture

Tectonic uplift created the mountain mass.

Glaciers carved it into its modern form.

Major ice streams around Mount Hayes have excavated:

• Deep valleys
• Cirques
• Steep faces
• Arêtes
• Hanging glaciers
• Sharp ridges

The Hayes, Trident, and Susitna glacier systems all contribute to the dramatic Alpine landscape.

Repeated glacial erosion has helped expose the resistant granitic core while cutting deeply into weaker surrounding rock.

This process is a major reason Mount Hayes possesses such extraordinary relief.

❄️ Hayes Glacier

Hayes Glacier lies on the northern side of Mount Hayes.

It played a central role in the mountain’s early climbing history.

The 1941 Washburn expedition established itself near the glacier before moving loads onto the North Ridge.

From the glacier, the climbers faced thousands of feet of elevation gain before reaching their high camp.

The glacier also emphasizes one of Mount Hayes’s major challenges:

even before technical ridge climbing begins, climbers must travel through remote crevassed terrain far from roads or permanent infrastructure.

❄️ Trident Glacier

The Trident Glacier lies east of Mount Hayes.

It became the principal approach for the East Ridge.

The second ascent of Mount Hayes began from the westernmost fork of the Trident Glacier at approximately 6,000 feet.

The climbers established successive camps while moving toward a ridge feature they named Levi’s Bump.

Later expeditions continued to use the Trident side because the East Ridge offered a somewhat less technically severe alternative to Washburn’s original North Ridge.

❄️ Susitna Glacier

The upper Susitna Glacier drains terrain south and southwest of the Mount Hayes massif.

It provides access toward the mountain’s South Summit and southwestern faces.

Japanese and American teams used the Susitna side extensively during the 1970s while exploring new routes.

The glacier is part of the much larger Susitna River watershed.

Mount Hayes therefore stands close to the divide separating water flowing north toward the Tanana and Yukon systems from water ultimately draining south through the Susitna.

📜 Early Attempts

Mount Hayes remained unclimbed until 1941.

At least two serious efforts preceded the successful expedition.

1935 Attempt

Two University of Alaska students attempted the mountain by its long eastern ridge.

They reached a little over 9,000 feet before turning back.

Their names were not preserved in Washburn’s later account.

1937 Expedition

A much more organized expedition arrived in 1937.

The team was led by Oscar Houston and included Roger Whitney, Andrew Taylor, and Grant Pearson.

They reached more than 11,000 feet.

Poor weather and limited supplies eventually forced them to abandon the climb.

The experience provided valuable information about the mountain for future expeditions.

🧗 Bradford & Barbara Washburn

The 1941 Mount Hayes expedition was organized by Bradford Washburn, one of the most influential figures in the history of Alaskan mountaineering.

Washburn was a climber, cartographer, photographer, explorer, and later founder of Boston’s Museum of Science.

His wife, Barbara Washburn, was also part of the expedition.

Barbara later became famous for becoming the first woman to summit Denali in 1947.

Mount Hayes was already a major achievement six years earlier.

The Washburns were accompanied by a strong team assembled for a mountain that Bradford already understood would require serious commitment.

🧗 The 1941 Expedition

The full expedition included:

• Bradford Washburn
• Barbara Washburn
• Benjamin Ferris
• Sterling Hendricks
• William Shand
• Henry S. Hall Jr.
• Lieutenant Robin Montgomery

The group left Fairbanks in July 1941.

Aircraft transported them to a gravel landing area near Delta Creek.

Supplies were then dropped from the air near the mountain.

This combination of bush-plane access and airdropped expedition equipment was still relatively novel in Alaskan mountaineering.

It helped transform how climbers approached extremely remote Alaska Range peaks.

🎒 Hundreds of Pounds of Supplies

The 1941 expedition carried an enormous quantity of equipment and food.

The remote approach required enough supplies to support a substantial team for weeks.

Aircraft dropped hundreds of pounds of gear at the base of the mountain.

Washburn’s account mentions both parachuted loads and packages simply pushed from the aircraft.

Most survived surprisingly well.

The expedition then began the laborious process of carrying equipment upward onto Mount Hayes.

This was classic siege-style mountaineering: repeated load carries, carefully established camps, and deliberate route preparation.

⛺ High Camp on the North Ridge

The climbers eventually established a high camp in a notch on the North Ridge at approximately 9,500 feet.

From there, the summit was still more than 4,000 vertical feet higher.

The terrain above contained steep ice and spectacularly exposed ridges.

On July 29, the team made a major reconnaissance.

They climbed to approximately 12,650 feet.

The summit was only around half a mile away.

Then the weather began to deteriorate.

🔙 The July 29 Retreat

The climbers faced an important decision.

They were close enough to see that the summit was attainable.

But an approaching storm threatened to trap them high on the exposed ridge.

They turned around.

The decision demonstrated the judgment required in Alaska Range mountaineering, where a relatively small distance on a map can become enormous in storm conditions.

The climbers returned to high camp.

They would make another attempt when the weather improved.

🏆 First Ascent: August 1, 1941

The summit team left high camp on August 1, 1941.

Five climbers reached the top:

• Bradford Washburn
• Barbara Washburn
• Benjamin Ferris
• Sterling Hendricks
• William Shand

Henry Hall remained at high camp.

Robin Montgomery had already left the expedition because of military responsibilities.

The five climbers reached the summit shortly after noon.

Temperatures were around 12°F (-11°C), accompanied by strong wind.

The first ascent of Mount Hayes was complete.

👩 Barbara Washburn

Barbara Washburn’s presence on the first ascent deserves particular attention.

Women were still extraordinarily uncommon on major Alaskan climbing expeditions during this period.

Her successful Mount Hayes ascent came six years before she became the first woman to climb Denali.

The Mount Hayes expedition was therefore an important part of her own mountaineering history.

She was not merely accompanying Bradford.

She was one of the five climbers who completed a technically difficult first ascent that remained unrepeated for decades.

🧗 The North Ridge

The original North Ridge is one of Mount Hayes’s defining features.

It combines:

• Steep snow
• Ice
• Knife-edge ridges
• Large cornices
• Extreme exposure

Later climbers described parts of the crest as doubly corniced.

Snow falling from one side could plunge thousands of feet into one glacier basin, while snow kicked from the opposite side could descend another enormous face.

The ridge demanded extraordinarily careful movement.

For a 1941 expedition using the equipment and techniques available at the time, the ascent was a remarkable achievement.

⏳ More Than Three Decades Without a Repeat

The North Ridge was not repeated until 1975.

Charles Wilson, Steve Hackett, James Brady, and Dan Osborne completed the second ascent by Washburn’s original route.

That gap of approximately 34 years demonstrates how advanced the first ascent had been.

By the 1970s, climbing equipment had improved dramatically.

Crampons, ice tools, ropes, snow protection, clothing, and expedition logistics were all significantly better.

Yet the North Ridge still demanded serious commitment.

🧗 East Ridge: The Second Ascent

The East Ridge became Mount Hayes’s second major route.

The first ascent of the ridge took place in 1971, with the account published in the 1972 American Alpine Journal.

The team included:

• Dan Osborne
• Mark Hottmann
• Tom Hillis
• James Brady

They approached from the Trident Glacier.

The climb became the second ascent of Mount Hayes by a new route.

Unlike the extremely narrow North Ridge, much of the East Ridge is broader and more moderate.

However, substantial ice obstacles and severe weather still made it a serious Alaska climb.

🏔️ Levi’s Bump

One distinctive landmark on the East Ridge route is Levi’s Bump.

The 1971 first-ascent party gave the name to a roughly 9,900-foot ridge feature above the Trident Glacier.

From Levi’s Bump, the ridge climbs generally toward the main summit.

The team encountered a significant bergschrund and ice wall requiring fixed rope.

The upper mountain nevertheless proved considerably less knife-edged than Washburn’s North Ridge.

This helped establish the East Ridge as the more practical route for later climbers.

🧗 The Traditional Standard Route

The East Ridge is generally considered the standard climbing route on Mount Hayes.

It is often described around Alaska Grade 2+, although grades in Alaska should never be interpreted without considering conditions.

The route still involves:

• Remote glacier access
• Crevasses
• Bergschrunds
• Steep snow
• Ice
• High camps
• Severe winds
• Rapidly changing weather

Mount Hayes is not a frequently climbed mountain.

A route being the “standard” option does not mean that it receives enough traffic to develop fixed trails or reliable infrastructure.

🧗 The 1976 Traverse

In 1976, Jim Jennings, Dave Dausel, and Kenneth Irving completed an impressive traverse of Mount Hayes.

They climbed the East Ridge from the Trident Glacier.

After reaching the 13,832-foot summit, instead of descending the same way, they continued onto the North Ridge.

The descent exposed them to the same dramatically corniced terrain encountered by the 1941 first-ascent party.

They then endured several days of stormy weather before completing a roughly 30-mile circuit back to their landing site.

The climb linked Mount Hayes’s two most important historic ridges.

🧗 West Face

Also in 1976, Dakers Gowans, Keith Hansen, and Dave Davis climbed the first route on the West Face of Mount Hayes.

Their line reached the crest of the North Ridge.

The ascent added another major face to the mountain’s climbing history.

The West Face contains complicated couloirs and rock buttresses rather than one obvious continuous snow ridge.

Davis described the terrain as a labyrinth when viewed from close range.

The successful line climbed diagonally across the face before joining the historic North Ridge.

🏔️ Mount Hayes South Summit

Mount Hayes has a substantial southern subsidiary summit.

The South Summit reaches approximately:

13,305 feet / 4,055 meters

Although more than 500 feet lower than the principal North Summit, it is an impressive high point in its own right.

The south and southwest sides offered technical climbing objectives that became an important focus during the 1970s.

The South Summit should not be confused with the 13,832-foot main summit when reading older expedition reports.

🧗 South Summit First Ascent

A Japanese team made the first recorded ascent of the Mount Hayes South Summit in 1976.

The climbers were:

• Takashi Aizawa
• Takeshi Ootsu
• Takeshi Kubo
• Shinichi Suzuki

They approached from the Susitna Glacier.

On April 29, they climbed the South Face and reached the 13,305-foot summit.

Their route required extensive fixed rope between the glacier camps and upper mountain.

🧗 Southwest Face of the South Summit

Later in the 1976 season, another strong party attacked the Southwest Face of the South Summit.

The team included:

• Fred Beckey
• Benno Ochenski
• Dougal McCarty
• Leo LeBon

They climbed from the Susitna Glacier side.

The party completed the major southwest wall but did not continue to Mount Hayes’s 13,832-foot main summit.

The ascent added another technically significant route to the increasingly diverse climbing history of the Hayes massif.

🌨️ Severe Weather

Bradford Washburn emphasized that the Hayes Range occupies an awkward climatic position.

Although it lies well inside Alaska, it is still influenced by coastal weather moving north from the Gulf of Alaska.

At the same time, storms can arrive from the colder continental interior.

This combination produces:

• Heavy cloud
• Snow
• Strong winds
• Sudden storms
• Severe cold

Almost every important Mount Hayes expedition has dealt with significant weather delays.

Storm management is therefore as important as technical climbing ability.

❄️ Cornices

Cornices are among Mount Hayes’s most famous hazards.

Strong winds transport snow across the narrow ridges.

The snow accumulates beyond the solid crest, forming enormous overhanging shelves.

These may appear solid from above.

They are not.

Walking too close to the edge can cause a cornice to collapse and carry climbers down a face thousands of feet high.

The North Ridge is especially notorious for this problem.

Careful route-finding along the true underlying ridge is essential.

⚠️ Avalanches

The steep faces of Mount Hayes create significant avalanche exposure.

Fresh snowfall and wind loading can rapidly destabilize slopes.

Potential avalanche terrain includes:

• Snow faces
• Couloirs
• Glacier headwalls
• Corniced ridges
• Wind-loaded bowls

Remote Alaskan mountains have no formal avalanche-control infrastructure.

Climbers must make their own assessments using current conditions, weather history, snowpack observations, and conservative judgment.

🧊 Crevasses & Bergschrunds

The glaciers around Mount Hayes are heavily crevassed.

Common hazards include:

• Hidden crevasses
• Weak snow bridges
• Bergschrunds
• Ice cliffs
• Broken glacier surfaces

Several historical routes specifically mention difficult crevasses near summit areas.

Even the relatively moderate East Ridge requires safe glacier travel before the ridge climbing itself begins.

Roped travel and crevasse-rescue skills are mandatory.

🌡️ Altitude

At 13,832 feet, Mount Hayes is high enough for altitude to matter.

Climbers may experience:

• Headache
• Fatigue
• Reduced appetite
• Poor sleep
• Shortness of breath
• Slower decision-making

However, altitude is rarely the mountain’s greatest challenge.

Technical terrain, storms, cornices, glacier hazards, and extreme isolation generally present more immediate difficulties.

Acclimatization remains important, particularly for parties arriving quickly from low-elevation Alaskan communities.

🚁 Access

Mount Hayes has no road or maintained trail to its base.

Aircraft have played an important role in expeditions since the 1941 first ascent.

Potential approaches include glacier landings near:

• Trident Glacier
• Susitna Glacier
• Other suitable snow or ice landing areas

Some expeditions have also made long overland approaches from roads near Delta Junction and the Richardson Highway.

Landing possibilities change with:

• Glacier conditions
• Crevasses
• Snow depth
• Weather
• Aircraft type
• Pilot judgment

Historic landing locations should never automatically be assumed safe today.

🥾 Can You Hike Mount Hayes?

No.

Mount Hayes is a technical expedition-mountaineering objective.

There is no hiking route to its summit.

Climbers typically need experience with:

• Glacier travel
• Crevasse rescue
• Crampons
• Ice axes
• Snow protection
• Ice climbing
• Corniced ridges
• Winter camping
• Wilderness navigation

Even the East Ridge requires genuine Alaskan mountaineering skills.

This is not a peak for ordinary hikers or beginner climbers.

🏞️ Land Management

Peakbagger places the highest point of Mount Hayes on BLM-managed land in Alaska.

Unlike Denali, Mount Hayes is not inside a heavily visited national park mountaineering corridor.

There are no ranger stations, established high camps, marked climbing routes, or regular summit patrols.

That lack of infrastructure contributes significantly to the mountain’s wilderness character.

Expeditions should verify current federal land rules, aircraft regulations, and access requirements before traveling.

🏔️ Mount Hayes vs. Mount Sanford

Mount Sanford is Mount Hayes’s nearest higher named neighbor.

Feature	Mount Hayes	Mount Sanford
Elevation	13,832 ft	Approx. 16,237 ft
Prominence	Approx. 11,482 ft	Approx. 7,600 ft
Isolation	Approx. 125.5 mi	Much lower
Range	Alaska Range	Wrangell Mountains
Volcano	No	Yes
NHN	Mount Sanford	Higher Wrangell/St. Elias terrain

Sanford is more than 2,000 feet higher.

Mount Hayes, however, is considerably more prominent.

The comparison demonstrates how topographic prominence can reveal geographic dominance that elevation rankings alone miss.

🏔️ Mount Hayes vs. Mount Deborah

Mount Deborah rises west of Mount Hayes.

Feature	Mount Hayes	Mount Deborah
Elevation	13,832 ft	12,339 ft
Prominence	Approx. 11,482 ft	Approx. 5,139 ft
Subrange	Hayes Range	Hayes Range
NHN	Mount Sanford	Mount Hayes
First Ascent	1941	1954

Mount Hayes is both higher and substantially more prominent.

Mount Deborah nevertheless possesses steeper technical faces and has its own distinguished climbing history.

🏔️ Nearby Mountains

Mount Moffit

Mount Moffit rises to approximately 13,020 feet east-southeast of Mount Hayes.

Mount Hayes is Moffit’s nearest higher neighbor.

Mount Deborah

Mount Deborah reaches 12,339 feet west of Hayes.

Its steep northeast face is one of the great technical walls of the eastern Alaska Range.

Mount Hess

Mount Hess rises to approximately 11,940 feet near Mount Deborah.

Together, Hess and Deborah form a dramatic neighboring pair west of Mount Hayes.

Mount Sanford

Mount Sanford lies far southeast in the Wrangell Mountains.

It is Mount Hayes’s nearest higher named summit despite being approximately 125 miles away.

Denali

Denali lies far west in the central Alaska Range.

Its 20,310-foot summit is the highest point in North America.

🌍 Why Mount Hayes Is Special

Mount Hayes combines several characteristics that rarely occur together.

It is:

• The highest summit in the Hayes Range
• Nearly 14,000 feet high
• More than 11,000 feet prominent
• Over 125 miles from higher terrain
• Heavily glaciated
• Technically serious
• Historically important
• Remarkably remote

Its 1941 first ascent is especially significant.

Bradford and Barbara Washburn and their companions climbed an exposed, corniced ridge with equipment that would appear primitive beside modern Alaskan gear.

Their route was difficult enough that no one repeated it for more than three decades.

Yet Mount Hayes never became a heavily trafficked destination.

The easier East Ridge opened another way to the summit, but distance, weather, glaciers, and logistics continue to keep visitation low.

That combination gives Mount Hayes a character increasingly rare among major North American peaks.

It is simultaneously one of Alaska’s great topographic giants and one of its quieter mountaineering mountains.

💡 Interesting Facts

• Mount Hayes reaches 13,832 feet.
• It is the highest summit in the Hayes Range.
• Its topographic prominence is approximately 11,482 feet.
• Mount Hayes qualifies easily as an ultra-prominent mountain.
• Its isolation is approximately 125.52 miles.
• Mount Sanford is its nearest higher named neighbor.
• Its prominence line parent is an Unnamed Peak associated with higher terrain toward the Wrangell Mountains.
• Broad Pass is Mount Hayes’s key col.
• W. J. Peters and A. H. Brooks named Mount Hayes in 1898.
• The mountain honors geologist Charles Willard Hayes.
• Bradford Washburn led the successful first-ascent expedition in 1941.
• Bradford Washburn, Barbara Washburn, Benjamin Ferris, Sterling Hendricks, and William Shand reached the summit on August 1.
• The original North Ridge route was not repeated until 1975.
• The East Ridge was first climbed in 1971.
• The first complete East Ridge–North Ridge traverse was made in 1976.
• The West Face received its first ascent in 1976.
• The 13,305-foot South Summit was first climbed by a Japanese team in 1976.
• Mount Hayes is not the same geographic feature as Hayes Volcano.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

How high is Mount Hayes?

Mount Hayes reaches 13,832 feet (4,216 meters).

Where is Mount Hayes?

It lies in the eastern Alaska Range in Alaska’s Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, approximately 43 miles southwest of Delta Junction.

What mountain range is Mount Hayes in?

Mount Hayes is part of the Hayes Range, a subdivision of the Alaska Range.

What is the highest mountain in the Hayes Range?

Mount Hayes is the range’s highest summit.

How prominent is Mount Hayes?

Peakbagger calculates approximately 11,482 feet (3,500 meters) of clean prominence.

Is Mount Hayes an Ultra?

Yes. Its prominence is more than twice the 1,500-meter threshold for an ultra-prominent summit.

How isolated is Mount Hayes?

Its topographic isolation is approximately 125.52 miles (202 kilometers).

What is Mount Hayes’s nearest higher neighbor?

The nearest higher named summit is Mount Sanford in the Wrangell Mountains.

What is Mount Hayes’s parent peak?

Peakbagger’s prominence system connects Mount Hayes to an unnamed 14,630-foot point farther along the higher-terrain system. Following Mountain Field Guide convention, this is best labeled Unnamed Peak.

What is Mount Hayes’s key col?

Its key col is Broad Pass, at approximately 2,350 feet.

Who was Mount Hayes named after?

It honors Charles Willard Hayes, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

When was Mount Hayes named?

W. J. Peters and A. H. Brooks named it in 1898.

Who first climbed Mount Hayes?

Bradford Washburn, Barbara Washburn, Benjamin Ferris, Sterling Hendricks, and William Shand made the first ascent.

When was Mount Hayes first climbed?

The summit was first reached on August 1, 1941.

What route did the first ascent use?

The first-ascent team climbed the North Ridge.

Why was the first ascent so significant?

The North Ridge contains narrow, heavily corniced, exposed terrain. The 1941 ascent was technically advanced for its period, and the route was not repeated until 1975.

What is the standard route today?

The East Ridge is generally considered the standard established route and is often graded approximately Alaska Grade 2+.

When was the East Ridge first climbed?

It was first climbed in 1971, with the account appearing in the 1972 American Alpine Journal.

Does Mount Hayes have another summit?

Yes. The South Summit reaches approximately 13,305 feet.

Is Mount Hayes a volcano?

No. Mount Hayes is a nonvolcanic Alaska Range mountain.

It should not be confused with Hayes Volcano in the Tordrillo Mountains.

Can you hike Mount Hayes?

No. Mount Hayes is a remote technical mountaineering objective involving glaciers, steep snow and ice, corniced ridges, severe weather, and expedition logistics.

🔗 Related Articles

• Mount Sanford (Alaska)
• Mount Moffit
• Mount Deborah
• Mount Hess
• Alaska Range
• Denali
• Mountain Ranges in the U.S.

📚 Sources

• Peakbagger — Mount Hayes
• American Alpine Club — The Ascent of Mount Hayes
• American Alpine Club — Naming Alaska’s Mountains
• American Alpine Club — Mount Hayes: Second Ascent by New Route, the East Ridge
• American Alpine Club — Mount Hayes Traverse
• American Alpine Club — West Face of Mount Hayes
• American Alpine Club — Mount Hayes, South Summit
• American Alpine Club — Mount Hayes, Southwest Face of the South Summit
• U.S. Geological Survey — Dictionary of Alaska Place Names
• USGS — Mount Hayes Topographic Map