Mount Juneau (

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

in Southeast Alaska just one and a half miles (2.4 km) east of downtown

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

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. ...

, in the Boundary Ranges.

History

Mount Juneau is steeped in

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

history. Originally named Gold Mountain in 1881 by miners, it was also named Bald Mountain in roughly 1896. The name "Juneau Mountain" was first used in the mining records by Pierre "French Pete" Erussard when he located mining claims on the mountain in 1888. In 1976, it was proposed by Chuck Keen of Alaska Trams (later to become Mount Juneau Enterprises) that a jigback

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

be built to the top of the mountain. The venture never reached fruition although Goldbelt Inc. did end up building

Mount Roberts Tramway The Goldbelt Tram (formerly Mount Roberts Tramway) is an aerial tramway located directly south of downtown Juneau in the U.S. state of Alaska. In operation since 1996, the tram makes a six-minute ascent of 3,819-foot (1,164 m) up Mount Rober ...

to the neighboring Mount Roberts.

Weather

Mount Juneau receives an estimated 300% more rain than downtown Juneau (which receives per year on average). During winter, Mount Juneau is one of the preeminent avalanche threats to a major population center.

Access

The trail to Mount Juneau's summit can be accessed via the Perseverance Trail about in from the trailhead. The trail features an assortment of alpine views as well although it traverses many steep slopes and caution is prudent in wet or snowy weather.

1962 avalanche

In March of 1962 an avalanche slid down the south side of Mount Juneau. It started with a lot of snowfall coming from the north-east. Some of the snow at about 220 meters came loose causing the avalanche.

Damage

The avalanche caused damage to 34 houses. 7 were severely damaged, 9 were moderately damaged, and 18 had minor damage To this day there is still a visible path that the avalanche took down the mountain.

Future prevention

After the avalanche the local government brought in a Swiss avalanche expert to assess the damage and propose possible prevention methods for when another avalanche occurred. They assessed that the avalanche could have been worse as it stopped right before hitting the neighborhood. They also said that building mounds that could divert the avalanche away is the best option. Future avalanche experts rebuked the idea since while this avalanche was powerful, more powerful ones are likely to occur in the same area. They stated that the best course of action is to move the neighborhood. Locals on the other hand were not fully convinced on moving, so the local government decided to mitigate further damages by banning the construction of add-ons in avalanche zones and by buying lots that could go to building homes in avalanche zones.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juneau, Mount Mountains of Juneau, Alaska Mountains of Alaska