March 24, 1965

Mountain and mountain climbing stories in The STAR have always received prominent coverage. One of the interesting climbs was made by the late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy in March 1965 when he climbed the Canadian mountain named for his brother President John F. Kennedy.

The mountain, 145 miles northwest of Whitehorse, forms a triangle with Mount Alverstone and Mount Hubbard and until that time was the highest (13,905 ft.) unclimbed peak in the St. Elias mountains.

When the mountain was named for the late President, the National Geographic Society and the Boston Museum of Science decided to conduct a joint survey which would result in a completely detailed map. Bobby Kennedy, though he had never climbed before, joined the party at the last minute and thus the world press became very interested. Newsmen descended on the Yukon in droves but the Whitehorse Star had the first published pictures of the event.

Veteran Everest climber Jim Whittaker of Seattle led the three man party of Kennedy and Barry Prather up the last ridge where they unroped and let the Senator ascend the last 50 yards alone to be the first man on top. It was not a particularly tough climb, as climbs go, but it was a personal pilgrimage for Kennedy, who planted the Kennedy family crest, Canadian flags and National Geographic emblem on the top.

Kennedy Mountain, at the lower camps, was crawling with other members of the climb, military men and helicopters, private planes rented by the media, the ice field research people and anyone else who could scrounge a ride.

A National Film Board crew guided by Whitehorse mountaineer Monty Alford, recorded the climb and Yukoners Bob Erlam, Alex Van Bibber and Wayne MacDonald took pictures which appeared in Life, Time and The Whitehorse Star. The latter three, incidentally, were also present when Kennedy came down that night from the ascent. They fed him steak, instant mashed potatoes, ice cream and the heel of a bottle of Madeira wine which someone had stashed in a pack sack.

Back in Whitehorse, Kennedy dropped in to the Capital Hotel to get cleaned up and have a drink with the locals. He bought a round and paid for it with a cheque which owner Cal Miller kept and had framed. Said Cal, "I told him I wanted to keep it as a souvenir of the next President of the United States."