Shiprock New Mexico or “The Winged Rock” is a monadnock rising approximately 1,583 feet above the high-desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. It is located in the center of the Ancient Pueblo People.
A prehistoric Native American culture often referred to as the Anasazi. It is the most noticeable landmark in northwestern New Mexico. Shiprock’s peak elevation is approximately 7,177 feet above sea level. It lies around 10.75 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak.
The formation is the four corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religious mythology and tradition. Thus, Shiprock is composed of fractured volcanic breccia and black dikes of igneous rock called Minette. It is the erosional leftover of the throat of a volcano, and the volcanic breccia formed in a diatreme. Moreover, Shiprock is a famous location for rock climbers and has been featured in several Hollywood movies and novels.
It is also considered a heaven for a photographer to take stunning photographs. Furthermore, “Shiprock” or Shiprock Peak has a similarity to an enormous 19th-century clipper ship. Anglos first called the peak “The Needle”, a name to indicate that “Ship Rock” dates from the 1870s. The exposed rock probably was originally formed 2,500–3000 feet below the Earth’s surface and was exposed after millions of years of erosion.
Shiprock and the surrounding land have religious and historical significance to the Navajo people and have been mentioned in numerous of their myths and legends. Navajo legends put the peak in a larger geographic context and said it to be either a medicine pouch or a bow carried by the “Goods of Value Mountain”, a large mythic male figure comprising several mountain features throughout the region. Navajo legend has it that Bird Monsters nested on the peak and fed on human flesh.
The peak is mentioned in stories from the Enemy Side Ceremony and the Navajo Mountain Chant. And is allied with the Bead Chant and the Naayee’ee Ceremony. The legend of the rock seems more likely to be a metaphor hinting at the sites. The magical power to lift the human soul above the problems of daily existence into an awareness of the Great Spirit.
Therefore, the first recorded ascent was in 1939, by a Sierra Club party including David Brower, Raffi Bedayn, Bestor Robinson, and John Dyer. So, this was the first climb in the United States to use expansion bolts for protection.
After that, at least seven routes have been climbed on the peak, all of them of great technical difficulty. Moreover, the first ascent route is featured in the book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. However, the idea of climbing Shiprock is offensive to numerous Navajo people; climbing has been illegal since 1970.
In spite of this, rock climbers continue to see Shiprock as an interesting place to climb. Even more serious than the possible physical harm illegal climbs could pose is the religious damage done to the Navajo people by these non-Navajo visitors.
The Monuments are sacred to the Navajo, and any human interaction is strictly off-limits. Please abide by the humble religious requests of the Navajo people and do not climb the Monuments. Navajo law will be firmly enforced on this issue, Parks Department Manager Ray Russell also added.
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