Mount Balchen | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 11,205 ft (3,415 m) [1] |
Prominence | 1,990 ft (610 m) [2] |
Parent peak | Mount Hayes (13,832 ft) [2] |
Isolation | 4.28 mi (6.89 km) [2] |
Coordinates | 63°37′25″N146°51′09″W / 63.6236091°N 146.8524182°W [1] |
Naming | |
Etymology | Bernt Balchen |
Geography | |
Country | United States |
State | Alaska |
Census Area | Southeast Fairbanks Census Area |
Parent range | Alaska Range Hayes Range [3] |
Topo map | USGS Mount Hayes C-6 |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1974 |
Mount Balchen is an 11,205-foot-elevation (3,415-meter) mountain summit in Alaska, United States.
Mount Balchen is a glaciated mountain located on the crest of the eastern Alaska Range. It is the ninth-highest peak in the Hayes Range which is a subrange of the Alaska Range. [3] This remote peak is situated 4.4 miles (7.1 km) west of Mount Hayes and 85 miles (137 km) south-southeast of Fairbanks. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains north into tributaries of the Tanana River and south to the Susitna River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 3,700 feet (1,128 m) above the Hayes Glacier in 0.65 mile (1 km). The first ascent of the summit was made on April 30, 1974, by Dusan Jagersky and William Q. Sumner via the east ridge. [4]
The mountain is named for Bernt Balchen (1899–1973), United States Air Force, Arctic explorer and aviator. [1] The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1974 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. [1] There is a Mount Balchen in Antarctica which is also named after him.
Based on the Köppen climate classification, Mount Balchen is located in a subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool summers. [5] This climate supports the Hayes, Gillam, and Susitna Glaciers surrounding this peak. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °F with wind chill factors below −30 °F. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for climbing or viewing.
Mount Hayes is the highest mountain in the eastern Alaska Range, in the U.S. state of Alaska. Despite not being a fourteener, it is one of the largest peaks in the United States in terms of rise above local terrain. For example, the Northeast Face rises 8,000 feet (2,440 m) in approximately 2 miles (3.2 km). This large vertical relief contributes to Mount Hayes being the 51st most topographically prominent peak in the world.
Mount Foresta is an 11,000+ ft multi-peak massif located in Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, in the Saint Elias Mountains of Alaska in the United States. Rising high above the lower western margin of the Hubbard Glacier, the summit of Mount Foresta is just over nine miles (14 km) from tidewater at Disenchantment Bay, 12 mi (19 km) northwest of Mount Seattle, 14.5 mi (23 km) southeast of Mount Vancouver, and 46 mi (74 km) north of Yakutat.
Mount Johnson is an 8,400+ ft mountain summit located in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve, in Alaska, United States. It is situated on the west side of the Ruth Gorge, 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Denali and six miles (9.7 km) south-southwest of The Moose's Tooth. The nearest higher neighbor is Mount Wake, 0.69 miles (1.11 km) to the northwest.
Mount Abbe is an 8200+ feet double summit mountain located in the Fairweather Range of the Saint Elias Mountains, in southeast Alaska. The peak is situated near the terminus of the Johns Hopkins Glacier, within Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, 100 mi (161 km) northwest of Juneau, and 8.2 mi (13 km) northeast of Mount Orville. Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since the mountain rises up from tidewater in less than two miles. Mount Abbe is often seen and photographed with the Johns Hopkins Glacier, which is a popular destination for cruise ships. The mountain was named in 1936 by William Osgood Field and William Skinner Cooper, of the American Geographical Society, for Cleveland Abbe Jr., (1872-1934), an American geographer. Abbe received a Ph.D. in 1898 from Johns Hopkins University. The Gilman Glacier and Clark Glacier on the mountain's slopes were named for Daniel Coit Gilman, the institution's first president, and William Bullock Clark who was a professor of geology at the university. The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1937 by the United States Geological Survey. The first ascent of the south summit was made June 11, 1977, by Jim Wickwire and Dusan Jagersky via the Southeast Face. Three days later, Dusan Jagersky was killed while descending an unnamed peak. The first ascent of the north summit was made July 14, 1991, by Walter Gove and William Pilling. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for climbing Mount Abbe, but it's a challenging climb in any conditions, with few attempts.
Mount La Perouse is a 10,728-foot glaciated mountain summit located in the Fairweather Range of the Saint Elias Mountains, in southeast Alaska, United States. The peak is situated in Glacier Bay National Park, 4 mi (6 km) southeast of Mount Dagelet, 7.6 mi (12 km) south-southeast of Mount Crillon which is the nearest higher peak, and 28.6 mi (46 km) southeast of Mount Fairweather, which is the highest peak in the Fairweather Range. Topographic relief is significant as the mountain rises up from tidewater in less than nine miles. The mountain was named in 1874 by William Healey Dall of the U.S. Geological Survey, for Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (1741–1788), a French navigator who explored this coastal area in 1786. The first ascent of the peak was made in 1953 by USGS party consisting of James Seitz, Karl Stauffer, Rowland Tabor, Rolland Reid, and Paul Bowen. On February 16, 2014, a colossal 68 million ton landslide broke free from the flanks of Mt. La Perouse and flowed nearly 4.6 miles from where it originated. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for climbing and viewing.
Mount Bertha is a 10,204-foot (3,110-meter) glaciated mountain summit located in the Fairweather Range of the Saint Elias Mountains, in southeast Alaska, United States.
Mount Gilbert is a prominent 9,638-foot (2,938 m) glaciated mountain summit located in the Chugach Mountains, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The peak is situated 54 mi (87 km) east of Anchorage, 32 mi (51 km) northeast of Whittier, and 5.8 mi (9 km) northeast of Mount Muir, on land managed by Chugach National Forest. Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since the mountain rises up from tidewater at Harriman Fjord in Prince William Sound in less than six miles.
Mount Witherspoon is a 12,012-foot-elevation glaciated summit located 36 mi (58 km) northwest of Valdez in the Chugach Mountains of the U.S. state of Alaska. It's set on land managed by Chugach National Forest. This remote mountain, fifth-highest in the Chugach range, is situated 4.33 mi (7 km) northwest of Mount Einstein, with the heads of Yale Glacier and Columbia Glacier between the summits. It is the second-highest peak in the Dora Keen Range, which is the 25-miles-long divide separating Harvard Glacier from Yale Glacier. The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1928 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to honor David C. Witherspoon, a U.S. Geological Survey topographer for 30 years, "who at the time of his retirement in 1921 had mapped a greater area of Alaska than any other man." The first ascent of Mount Witherspoon was made June 25, 1957, by David Bohn, Arthur Maki, Jr., Martin Mushkin, and Lawrence E. Nielsen.
McGinnis Peak is an 11,400 ft (3,470 m) elevation glaciated summit located at the head of McGinnis Glacier in the eastern Alaska Range, in Alaska, United States. It is the eighth-highest peak in the Hayes Range, a subset of the Alaska Range. This remote peak is situated 14 mi (23 km) southeast of Mount Hayes, and 95 mi (153 km) southeast of Fairbanks. Mount Moffit, the nearest higher neighbor, is set 3.33 mi (5 km) to the northwest, and Mount Shand is positioned 4.5 mi (7 km) to the west. The Richardson Highway is 15 mi (24 km) to the east, with Hayes, McGinnis, and Moffit dominating the landscape along the drive south.
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