East Peak is a glaciated mountain summit located in the

Chugach Mountains The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnagai ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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. ...

. The peak is situated east of Valdez, northeast of Mount Francis, and immediately north of Hogback Ridge. Although modest in elevation,

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

is significant since the western aspect of the mountain rises up from tidewater of

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 T ...

in approximately six miles. The mountain received its descriptive name in 1898 from 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 ...

, who led an 1898 expedition seeking a route from coastal Alaska to the Klondike.Donald J. Orth, ''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', 1967, page 299. Alaska pipeline route near Valdez River

Climate

Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, East Peak is located in a subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Weather fronts coming off 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 ...

are forced upwards by the Chugach Mountains (

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. This climate supports the Rubin, Keystone, and Camicia Glaciers, as well as smaller unnamed hanging glaciers surrounding the mountain.

References

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External links

* Weather forecast
East Peak
* East Peak
YouTube
* Skiing video East Peak
Vimeo
Mountains of Alaska Landforms of Chugach Census Area, Alaska North American 2000 m summits

Climate

See also

References

External links