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Mount Darwin (Andes)

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Mount Darwin, the highest peak in Tierra del Fuego at 8,163 feet (2,488m), forms part of the Cordillera of the Andes, South America, just to the north of the Beagle Channel. Latitude 54 degrees 45' S Longitude 69 degrees 29' W. It is formed of crystalline schists and has massive glaciers down its steep southern slopes.

It is best climbed in late December, January, February and March, and was first climbed in 1961 by Eric Shipton, E. Garcia, F. Vivanco and C. Marangunic.

It was given its name during the Voyage of the Beagle by HMS Beagle's captain Robert FitzRoy to celebrate Charles Darwin's 25th birthday on 12 February 1834. A year earlier Fitzroy had named an expanse of water to the south-west of the mountain the Darwin Sound to commemorate Darwin's quick wit and courage in saving them from being marooned when waves from a mass of ice splitting off a glacier threatened their boats.

Reference

  • Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin (London: Michael Joseph, the Penguin Group, 1991). ISBN 0-7181-3430-3
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