Cathedral Peak is a mountain summit located in the
Boundary Ranges
The Boundary Ranges, also known in the singular and as the Alaska Boundary Range, are the largest and most northerly subrange of the Coast Mountains. They begin at the Nass River, near the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle in the Canadian p ...
of the
Coast Mountains
The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...
, in the
U.S. state of
Alaska.
The peak is situated in the Taku Range of the
Juneau Icefield, north of
Juneau, and north of
Taku Towers, on land managed by
Tongass National Forest. The Taku Range is a north-south trending ridge on the edge of the
Taku Glacier. The mountain was named in 1964 by members of the Juneau Icefield Research Project, and officially adopted in 1965 by the
U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
Climate
Based on the
Köppen climate classification, Cathedral Peak is located in a subpolar
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
zone, with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool summers.
Weather systems coming off the
Gulf of Alaska are forced upwards by the Coast Mountains (
orographic lift), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall. Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. The month of July offers the most favorable weather to view or climb Cathedral Peak.
See also
*
List of mountain peaks of Alaska
*
Geography of Alaska
References
{{Coast Mountains
Mountains of Alaska
Mountains of Juneau, Alaska
Boundary Ranges
North American 1000 m summits