The Chugach Mountains of southern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

are the northernmost of the several

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

s that make up the

Pacific Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...

of the western edge of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The range is about long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnagain Arms of the

Cook Inlet Cook Inlet ( tfn, Tikahtnu; Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its sou ...

on the west to

Bering Glacier Bering Glacier is a glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It currently terminates in Vitus Lake south of Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, about from the Gulf of Alaska. Combined with the Bagley Icefield, where the snow that feeds the gl ...

Tana Glacier Tana Glacier is a long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It begins at Bagley Icefield and flows northwest to its 1950 terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or term ...

, and the Tana River on the east. It is bounded on the north by the Matanuska,

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, and

Chitina Chitina (Ahtna language, Ahtna Athabascan Tsedi Na < ''tsedi'' "copper" + ''na'' "river") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Copper River Census Area, Alaska, Copper River Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 ...

rivers. The highest point of the Chugach Mountains is

Mount Marcus Baker Mount Marcus Baker (Ahtna: ''Ts'itonhna Dghilaaye’''; Dena'ina: ''Ch'atanhtnu Dghelaya'') is the highest peak of the Chugach Mountains of Alaska. It is located approximately east of Anchorage. This peak is very prominent because of its proxim ...

, at , but with an average elevation of , most of its summits are not especially high. Even so, its position along the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, ...

ensures more snowfall in the Chugach than anywhere else in the world, an annual average of over 1500 cm (800 in).Steep, Freeskiing Documentary, 2007 The mountains are protected in the

Chugach State Park Chugach State Park covers 495,204 acres (2,004 square kilometers) immediately east of the Anchorage Bowl in south-central Alaska. Though primarily in the Municipality of Anchorage, a small portion of the park north of the Eklutna Lake area in th ...

and the

Chugach National Forest The Chugach National Forest is a United States National Forest in south central Alaska. Covering portions of Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula and the Copper River Delta, it was formed in 1907 from part of a larger forest reserve. The Ch ...

. Near to

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, they are a popular destination for outdoor activities. The

Richardson Highway The Richardson Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 368 miles (562 km) and connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. It is marked as Alaska Route 4 from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route 2 from there to Fairbanks. It ...

Seward Highway The Seward Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends from Seward to Anchorage. It was completed in 1951 and runs through the scenic Kenai Peninsula, Chugach National Forest, Turnagain Arm, and Kenai Mountains. The Seward H ...

Portage Glacier Highway The Portage Glacier Highway, or Portage Glacier Road, is a highway located in the U.S. state of Alaska. The highway is made up of a series of roads, bridges, and tunnels that connect the Portage Glacier area of the Chugach National Forest and the ...

, and the

Glenn Highway The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a tota ...

run through the Chugach Mountains. The

Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel The Portage Glacier Highway, or Portage Glacier Road, is a highway located in the U.S. state of Alaska. The highway is made up of a series of roads, bridges, and tunnels that connect the Portage Glacier area of the Chugach National Forest and the ...

of the Portage Glacier Highway provides railroad and automobile access underneath

Maynard Mountain Maynard Mountain is a mountain summit located in the Chugach Mountains, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The peak is situated in Chugach National Forest, northwest of Whittier, Alaska, at the isthmus of the Kenai Peninsula, where the Chugach Mountai ...

between Portage Lake and the city of Whittier on

Prince William Sound Prince William Sound (Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Tr ...

. On Mount Gordon Lyon, at about the level, is a five-pointed star using around 350 light globes. This faces

to be visible from the city at night. It is illuminated to commemorate

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

, being lit from

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

until

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

; and, on

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. Maintenance is undertaken by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

’s

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

, although it was established in around 1960 and formerly maintained by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

having been near the former Army (

Nike missile The United States Army's Nike Ajax was the world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile (SAM), entering service in 1954. Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft flying at high subsonic speeds and altitudes above ...

Site Summit) in the mountains.Airmen help save holiday tradition in Alaska’s largest city

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

/militarytimes.com, 2021-12-03

History

The name "Chugach" comes from

Chugach Sugpiaq Chugach , Chugach Sugpiaq or Chugachigmiut is the name of an Alaska Native people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound on the southern coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq (Pacific Eskimo) people who speak ...

"Cuungaaciiq," Alaska Natives inhabiting the

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...

and

on the south coast of Alaska. The Chugach people are an Alutiiq (Pacific Eskimo) people who speak the Chugach dialect of the Alutiiq language. In 1898

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Captain

William R. Abercrombie William R. Abercrombie (August 17, 1857 – November 7, 1943) was a career U.S. Army officer during the late 19th century. Biography William R. Abercrombie was born at Fort Ridgely on August 17, 1857. Raised in Long Island, New York, he was appo ...

spelled the name "Chugatch" and applied it to the mountains. It is possible that the Koniagmiut (Sugpiat or Alutiit of the Kodiak Archipelago and the Alaska Peninsula) may also have called these northern Sugpiat "Cuungaaciirmiut" in ancient times but it is also possible that this was a

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

during Russian America, Russian times.

Mountains

The twelve highest peaks in the Chugach Mountains are listed below: Other important peaks in the Chugach Mountains include: * Mount Michelson *

Bashful Peak Bashful Peak is a mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska, located in Chugach State Park. At , Bashful is the highest peak in Chugach State Park, and the highest peak in the Municipality of Anchorage. The peak carries snow year-round and several sm ...

* Mount Billy Mitchell * Mount Palmer *

Eagle Peak Eagle Peak is the name of 44 mountain peaks of the United States including: *Eagle Peak (Alaska) * Eagle Peak (Admiralty Island), in Alaska * Eagle Peak (Washington), a summit in Mount Rainier National Park *Eagle Peak (Mariposa County, California), ...

Polar Bear Peak Polar Bear Peak is a mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska, located in Chugach State Park. Situated in the Chugach Mountains, it lies at the head of South Fork Eagle River, ESE of Eagle Lake, and ESE of downtown Anchorage. The peak was named in ...

Mount Williwaw Mount Williwaw is a prominent mountain summit located in the Chugach Mountains, in Anchorage Municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. Mount Williwaw, the highest peak of the Chugach Front Range, is situated in Chugach State Park, southeast of ...

* The Ramp * North Suicide Peak * Ptarmigan Peak *

Byron Peak Byron Peak is a mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest ...

Flattop Mountain Flattop Mountain and Flat Top Mountain may refer to *in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consi ...

Bold Peak Bold Peak is a mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska, located in Chugach State Park in Anchorage Municipality. Location Bold Peak sits on the eastern side of the head of Eklutna Lake, about two and a half miles northwest of Bashful Peak, the hig ...

Gallery

File:Bold Peak.JPG, Bold Peak File:North Suicide Peak. Chugach Mountains, Alaska..jpg, North Suicide Peak File:Peters Creek backtounry below Mount Rumble.JPG, Peters Creek backcountry, below

Mount Rumble Mount Rumble is a mountain summit located in the Chugach Mountains, in Anchorage Municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. On a clear day the peak can be seen from the George Parks Highway. The peak is situated in Chugach State Park at the head ...

File:Mount Eklutna.jpg, Mount Eklutna File:Bashful Peak.jpg,

, the tallest mountain in western Chugach State Park File:ChugachMountainStream.jpg, Small stream in the Chugach Mountains File:Bold Peak. Chugach Mountains, Alaska.jpg, Bold Peak File:First view of Twin Peaks near Eklutna Lake (3200967294).jpg,

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

File:Mt. Rumble from the summit of Peak 5505. Chugach Mountains, Alaska - panoramio.jpg,

File:Goat Mountain. Chugach State Park, Alaska.jpg, Goat Mountain

References

External links

* {{Authority control Landforms of Chugach Census Area, Alaska Landforms of Copper River Census Area, Alaska Mountain ranges of Alaska Mountains of Anchorage, Alaska Mountains of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Mountains of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

History

Mountains

Gallery

See also

References

External links