Mount Orville is a high peak of the Fairweather Range, the southernmost part of the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains (french: Chaîne Saint-Élie) are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range ...

. It is included in

Glacier Bay National Park Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is an American national park located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier Bay a national monument under the Antiquities Act on February 26, 1925. C ...

. The peak is the lower of a pair of peaks, Mounts Wilbur and Orville, named after the Wright Brothers. Though not a particularly high peak in absolute terms, Mount Orville does stand quite high above local terrain, due to its proximity to the ocean: the summit is only 7.5 miles from tidewater at the head of

Lituya Bay Lituya Bay (; Tlingit: ''Ltu.aa'',. Spelled L'tua in translation of Tebenkov's log. meaning 'lake within the point') is a fjord located on the coast of the south-east part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is long and wide at its widest point ...

to the southwest.

Ascents

The first and only summit to date was achieved in 1995 by seasoned climbers Steven Carroll, Philip Kauffman, and Patrick Simmons. Despite the climbers' preparedness and experience, the climb was ill-fated. The three climbers were killed in an avalanche, on the descent, that was caused by unseasonable changes in weather conditions. In April 2012 professional mountaineer

Florian Hill Florian Hill (born April 9, 1984 in Germany) is a professional mountaineer and entrepreneur. He currently lives in New York City and Haines, Alaska. Biography and athletic career Hill was introduced to the mountains by his family early on in li ...

and Will Wacker attempted Mount Orville several times but had to cut off the expedition due bad weather.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orville Mountains of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Mountains of Alaska Saint Elias Mountains Landforms of Hoonah–Angoon Census Area, Alaska Wright brothers Mountains of Unorganized Borough, Alaska