Mount Balchen is an mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

in Alaska, United States.

Description

Mount Balchen is a glaciated mountain located on the crest of the eastern

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBo ...

. It is the ninth-highest peak in the

Hayes Range The Hayes Range is a part of the Alaska Range in Denali and the census area of Southeast Fairbanks, Alaska in the United States. The mountains are located to the east of Denali National Park and are located west of the Delta Mountains, from which ...

which is a subrange of the Alaska Range. This remote peak is situated west of

Mount Hayes Mount Hayes is the highest mountain in the eastern Alaska Range, in the U.S. state of Alaska. Despite not being a fourteener, it is one of the largest peaks in the United States in terms of rise above local terrain. For example, the Northeast Fa ...

and south-southeast of

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the ...

. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from the mountain drains north into tributaries of the

Tanana River The Tanana River ( Lower Tanana: Tth'eetoo', Upper Tanana: ''Tth’iitu’ Niign'') is a tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Bright, the name is from the Koyukon (Athaba ...

and south to the

Susitna River The Susitna River (; aht, Sasutna’; tfn, Susitnu) is a long river in the Southcentral Alaska. It is the 15th largest river in the United States, ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth. The river stretches from the Susitna Glacier to ...

Topographic relief Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin w ...

is significant as the summit rises 3,700 feet (1,128 m) above the Hayes Glacier in 0.65 mile (1 km). The

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 e ...

of the summit was made on April 30, 1974, by Dusan Jagersky and William Q. Sumner via the east ridge.Dusan Jagersky, ''Mounts Balchen and Geist, Alaska Range''
American Alpine Journal, 1975, americanalpineclub.org, Retrieved 2023-11-28.

Etymology

The mountain is named for

Bernt Balchen Bernt Balchen (23 October 1899 – 17 October 1973) was a Norwegian pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader. A Norwegian native, he later became an American citizen and was a recipient of the Disting ...

(1899–1973),

United States 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 S ...

, Arctic explorer and aviator. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1974 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 ...

. There is a

Mount Balchen The Herbert Range is a mountain range in the Queen Maud Mountains of Antarctica, extending from the edge of the polar plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf between the Axel Heiberg and Strom glaciers. Named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committ ...

in Antarctica which is also named after him.

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, nota ...

, Mount Balchen is located in a subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool summers. This climate supports the Hayes, Gillam, and

Susitna Glacier Susitna Glacier is an alpine or valley glacier in the Alaska Range. Susitna Glacier flows over a seismically active area. The 7.9-magnitude 2002 Denali earthquake struck the region in November 2002. The earthquake initiated with thrust movement ...

s surrounding this peak. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °F with wind chill factors below −30 °F. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for climbing or viewing.

Gallery

File:Mt. Hayes and the eastern Alaska Range mountains.jpg, The Hayes Range. L→R: Mt. Balchen, Mt. Hayes,

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship '' Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant wh ...

, Mt. Shand File:A-10 Thunderbolt over Mt. Balchen.jpg, South aspect of Mount Balchen centered. Mt. Giddings to left, Mt. Skarland to right, and part of Mt. Geist behind Balchen. File:Bernt Balchen.jpg, Bernt Balchen

References

External links