Mount Logan is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America after Denali. The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). Mount Logan is located within Kluane National Park Reserve in southwestern Yukon, less than 40 km north of the Yukon–Alaska border. Mount Logan is the source of the Hubbard and Logan glaciers. Although many shield volcanoes are much larger in size and mass, Mount Logan is believed to have the largest base circumference of any non-volcanic mountain on Earth, including a massif with eleven peaks over 5000 m. Mount Logan is the 6th most topographically prominent peak on Earth. Due to active tectonic uplifting, Mount Logan is still rising in height (approximately 0.35 mm per year). Before 1992, the exact elevation of Mount Logan was unknown and measurements ranged from 5959 to 6050 m. In May 1992, a GSC expedition climbed Mount Logan and fixed the current height of 5959 m using GPS. Temperatures are extremely low on and near Mount Logan. On the 5000 m plateau, air temperature hovers around -45 C in the winter and reaches near freezing in summer with the median temperature for the year around -27 C. Minimal snow melt leads to a significant ice cap, almost 300 m thick in certain spots.

Peaks of the massif

The Mount Logan massif is considered to contain all the surrounding peaks with less than 500 m of prominence, as listed below:

Discovery and naming

Mount Logan is not readily visible from the surrounding lowlands or the coast, due to its position in the heart of the Saint Elias Mountains, although it can be seen from 125 mi out to sea. Pictures taken across Yakutat Bay to the south southeast suggest it is visible from near Yakutat. Its first reported sighting was in 1890 by Israel C. Russell, during an expedition to nearby Mount Saint Elias, from the crest of the Pinnacle Pass Hills (60.15833°N, -140.3°W). He wrote: "The clouds parting toward the northeast revealed several giant peaks not before seen... One stranger, rising in three white domes far above the clouds, was especially magnificent". Russell gave the mountain its present name. In 1894, Mount Logan's elevation was determined to be about 19500 ft, making it the highest known peak in North America at the time. In 1898, Denali was determined to be higher.

Ascent attempts

First ascent

In 1922, a geologist approached the Alpine Club of Canada with the suggestion that the club send a team to the mountain to reach the summit for the first time. An international team of Canadian, British and American climbers was assembled the following year, initially planning an attempt in 1924 but forced by funding and preparation delays to postpone the trip until 1925. The international team of climbers began their journey in early May, crossing the mainland from the Pacific coast by train. They then walked the remaining 200 km to within 10 km of the Logan Glacier where they established base camp. In the early evening of June 23, 1925, Albert H. MacCarthy (leader), H.F. Lambart, Allen Carpé, Norman H. Read, W.W. Foster, and Andy Taylor stood on top for the first time. It had taken them 65 days to approach the mountain from the nearest town (McCarthy across the border in Alaska), reach the summit, and return, with all climbers intact, although some of them suffered severe frostbite.

Subsequent notable ascents and attempts

Climbing rules

In January 2020, due to the cost of search and rescue operations in recent years, Parks Canada announced new rules for climbing Mount Logan: There have been eight rescue missions in the past seven years in Kluane National Park. Each mission typically costs between $60,000 to $100,000 CAD which is paid for by Canadian taxpayers. A Parks Canada spokesperson said the new rules are to help reduce the financial burden to taxpayers.

Proposed renaming

Following the death of Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, in 2000, then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, a close friend of Trudeau, proposed renaming the mountain Mount Trudeau. However opposition from Yukoners, mountaineers, geologists, Trudeau's political critics, and many other Canadians forced the plan to be dropped. A mountain in the Premier Range of British Columbia was named Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau instead.

In popular culture

X-Men writer Chris Claremont was inspired by Mount Logan for the adopted name of the superhero Wolverine; Claremont said in an interview that "the idea was the tallest mountain being the name of the shortest character".