Mount Saint Elias

Mount Saint Elias is a massive mountain located in North America. It sits on the border between Alaska and the Yukon. This peak is the second-highest mountain in both the United States and Canada. It is also the second-highest in Alaska and the Yukon. The mountain spans two different protected areas. The Canadian side is part of Kluane National Park and Reserve. The U.S. side is within Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

The mountain is famous for its immense vertical relief. This means it rises very steeply over a short distance. The summit rises vertically from the head of Taan Fjord. This fjord is located off Icy Bay. Although Mount Logan is much higher, Mount Saint Elias has high prominence. This is because the low Columbus-Seward Glacier separates it from Mount Logan. This unique shape makes the mountain a striking landmark near the Pacific Ocean.

The Tlingit people have deep connections to this mountain. In the Tlingit language, the name Was'eitushaa means "mountain behind Icy Bay." Some Yakutat Tlingit people call it "Big Mountain." The Kwaashkʼiḵwáan clan used the peak as a guide. They used it while traveling down the Copper River. Tlingit legends describe the mountain's history. Legend says Mount Saint Elias and Mount Fairweather once stood next to each other. They had an argument and moved apart. The mountains between them are called Tsalx̱aan Yátxʼi, or "Children of Tsalxaan."

Weather on Mount Saint Elias is extremely severe. It experiences some of the harshest conditions in North America. The mountain is near the Pacific Ocean. This proximity puts it in the path of Aleutian Low pressure systems. These systems move northeast from the Gulf of Alaska. The mountain's height causes orographic lift. This process forces moist Pacific air upward. As the air rises, it produces intense snowfall. The region receives between 200 to over 1,000 centimeters of precipitation annually.

Conditions can change in just minutes. A clear day can turn into a whiteout very quickly. A whiteout is when visibility is lost due to snow. The mountain also faces hurricane-force winds. In winter, temperatures drop below -30°C. Wind chills can reach -50°C when winds hit 100 km/h or more. At 60°N latitude, winter climbing happens in near-continuous darkness. These factors lead to a high expedition failure rate.

European explorers first saw the mountain on July 16, 1741. They were part of an expedition led by Vitus Bering. Bering was a Danish-born Russian explorer. Historians debate how the mountain got its name. Some say Bering named it. Others believe mapmakers named it after Cape Saint Elias. The first successful summit occurred on July 31, 1897. An Italian expedition led by Prince Luigi Amedeo reached the top. The famous photographer Vittorio Sella was also part of this team.

Climbing history shows how difficult the mountain is to conquer. In 1946, the Harvard Mountaineering Club climbed the Southwest Ridge. They used eleven camps to manage the weather. They even needed air drops for food. In 1965, another Harvard team climbed the Northwest Ridge. During that trip, a heavy wind-slab avalanche struck the team. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. The first winter ascent did not happen until February 13, 1996. David Briggs, Gardner Heaton, and Joe Reichert reached the summit then. They used a variation called the "Milk Bowl" to avoid loose rock.

Modern explorers still find the mountain challenging. It is known for having no easy routes to the summit. The mountain receives snow in every month of the year. This makes the terrain unpredictable. In 2007, a documentary called "Mount St. Elias" followed a team of skiers. They wanted to make the planet's longest skiing descent. They climbed the mountain and skied down to the Gulf of Alaska. This project shows the extreme scale of the mountain's slopes.