| Mount Geryon | |
|---|---|
 The east face of Mount Geryon, as seen from the summit of the Acropolis | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | |
| Prominence | |
| Isolation | |
| Listing |
|
| Coordinates | 41°55′41″S146°03′17″E / 41.92806°S 146.05472°E [1] |
| Geography | |
  Mount Geryon Location in Tasmania | |
| Location | Central Highlands of Tasmania, Australia |
| Parent range | Du Cane |
| Geology | |
| Rock age | Jurassic |
| Mountain type | Dolerite |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | Hugh Gordon, David W. Wilson, 1937 [3] |
Mount Geryon is a mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian island state of Tasmania. The mountain is part of the Du Cane Range and is situated within the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, one of several national parks of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
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The mountain was given its current name in 1935 by Malcolm Livingstone Urquhart, who named it after Geryon, the three-headed monster of Greek mythology. [4] Like Geryon, the mountain has three main summits: north peak, the highest; south peak; and the Foresight [3] in between, named for its resemblance of a rifle sight. A fourth, lower peak, south of south peak, is known as southern spur. [3]
Mount Geryon's north peak has an elevation of 1,516 metres (4,974 feet) above sea level [1] and is the twelfth-highest mountain in Tasmania. The south peak, with an elevation of 1,509 metres (4,951 ft), [2] is the state's fifteenth-highest peak.
The peaks of Geryon are features of a sharp rocky ridge or arête extending north-south and connecting the main massif of the Du Cane Range with the Acropolis. East of this arête is the Narcissus River valley and to the west, Pine Valley, the valley of Cephissus Creek. Both were once occupied by glaciers flowing toward what is now Lake St Clair.
Mount Geryon is a major feature of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, and an occasional venue for bushwalkers and mountain climbers. It has more than 40 ascent routes for climbers, some of which are more than 300 metres (980 ft) in height. However, it is the east face at up to 420 metres (1,380 ft) in height, easily the greatest precipice in the national park, for which Mount Geryon is most admired.
The lakes of The Labyrinth, to the west on the opposite side of Pine Valley, are often used as foreground in photographs of Mount Geryon. Sunsets illuminate the mountain's west face and its three main peaks are prominent.
