Mount Blachnitzky is a mountain summit in the
city and borough of Juneau,
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. ...
, United States. It is a part of the
Boundary Ranges of the
Coast Mountains in western North America. It is located between
Gilkey Glacier and Avalanche Canyon; it is named after
Klaus Blachnitzky (1921-1988), a surveyor, geodesist, and explorer of the
Juneau Icefield
The Juneau Icefield is an ice field located just north of Juneau, Alaska, continuing north through the border with British Columbia, extending through an area of in the Coast Range ranging north to south and east to west. The icefield is the so ...
.
Mr. Blachnitzky was the head surveyor for the Juneau Icefield Research Program. Much of his work was conducted in the vicinity of this summit. In August 1988, having completed almost two seasons instructing student surveyors and scientists in the science and practice of terrestrial field surveying and geodesy, he was killed when he slipped from a rock cleaver on the slope of Vaughan Lewis Glacier.
The site of his death is four miles from the mountain named in his honor. In 2004, four climbers made a memorial climb of the previously unclimbed summit, leaving at the peak some surveying mementos of Mr. Blachnitzky's life.
That
first ascent
In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...
was made by Scott McGee, Keith Daellenbach, Charles Daellenbach, and Fred Skemp III, on June 30, 2004, via the southwest cirque/south ridge.
[Keith Daellenbach, ''First Ascent: Mt. Blachnitzky and Peak 6500' on Juneau Icefield'', Mazama 2004, page 13] The mountain's name was officially adopted in 2007 by the
U.S. Board on Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...
.
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 ...
, Mount Blachnitzky has a
subarctic climate with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers..
Most
weather front
A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For in ...
s originate in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
, and travel east toward the Coast Mountains where they are forced upward by the range (
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 them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall. As a result, the Coast Mountains experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. The month of July offers the most favorable weather for viewing and climbing Mount Blachnitzky.
See also
*
References
Gallery
File:Gilkey Glacier, Juneau Icefield, Alaska.jpg, Gilkey Glacier. Mt. Blachnitzky to right of center
File:Gilkey Glacier, valley glacier with banded ogives and dark moraines, 1955 (GLACIERS 6160).jpg, Gilkey Glacier, Mt. Blachnitzky to right, Mt. Queena centered. Circa 1955
External links
* Mount Blachnitzky
weather forecast
Boundary Ranges
Mountains of Juneau, Alaska
Mountains of Alaska
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