Mount Upton and Other Peaks. In 1968, Philip P. Upton made the first landing at the Arctic Institute of North America’s Mount Logan High Camp at 5300 meters. There followed 500 more plane trips without incident to that most inhospitable site. The mountain named in his honor was ascended for the first time 23 years after that first landing. Mount Upton is located at the heart of a triangular massif bounded by the Logan, Hubbard and Walsh Glaciers. The 3520-meter (11,550-foot) summit is 22 kilometers north of McArthur Peak. Barry Blanchard and Troy Kirwin, co-leaders, Ron Van Leeuwen, Dale Cote and I flew from Kluane Lake to 2560 meters in a sheltered basin at the southerly foot of Mount Upton. The first of eight days on the glacier, when light snow fell, was the only bad weather experienced. A two-kilometer traverse of part of the easterly arm enclosing the cirque was made on June 11. We encountered thigh-deep snow, steep ice and rocky pinnacles. From the first summit climbed (3068 meters) we had a spectacular view of Mounts Queen Mary and King George across the crumpled expanse of the Hubbard Glacier. We reached another summit (2840 meters) that day and descended from the 2600-meter col. The ascent of Mount Upton began at 4:30 A.M. on June 13. By nine o’clock we had reached the crest and continued to the windswept summit of Mount Upton. A small Canadian flag was placed in honor of a great aviator. After a day of reflection, we completed the six-kilometer trek of the eastern ridge, reaching summits of 2760, 2840 and 2680 meters.

Douglas Smith, Alpine Club of Canada