Hudson Stuck (1863–1920)

In 1913, Hudson Stuck and team made the first ascent of the highest mountain in the US. To Stuck's credit, given his age and colonial British background, he was a supporter of native rights in so far as using the native name for the mountain instead of Mt McKinley. I was impressed they brought a live sourdough culture (!) thinking they could bake fresh bread daily on the face of the mountain. Sadly the microbes in the starter died from the cold and altitude, leaving them breadless and short on carbs. The party almost lost their newly invented Primus stove, which would have left them without means to melt snow for water; but he says that was no problem as they would eat the snow - which would have been a disaster because it takes too much caloric energy for the body to melt enough water. They didn't use sleeping bags but merely animals skins and layers of blankets. The party carried heroic amounts of weight, often in relays, such as it was in an age of wood and canvas. Unlike his peer Robert Falcon Scott, Stuck had no problem using dog-sled teams to help in the lower reaches.… (meer)