Mount Edison is an elevation glaciated summit located northwest of
Valdez 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 Turnaga ...
of 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 ...
of
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 ...
. Set on land managed by
Chugach National Forest
The Chugach National Forest is a United States National Forest in south central Alaska. Covering portions of Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula and the Copper River Delta, it was formed in 1907 from part of a larger forest reserve. The C ...
, this remote peak is situated northwest of
Mount Einstein, near the head
Columbia Glacier. It is part of the
Dora Keen
Dora Keen (June 24, 1871 – January 31, 1963) was an American traveler, Alpinist, and social worker. She was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Blackburn and would subsequently write an article for ''The Saturday Evening Post'' title ...
Range, which is a 25-miles-long divide separating
Harvard Glacier
The Harvard Glacier is a large tidewater glacier in the Alaska's Prince William Sound. The glacier has a 1.5-mile (2 km) wide face where it calves into the College Fjord. It is 300 ft thick and covers 120,000 acres of Chugach National ...
from
Yale Glacier
Yale Glacier is a long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It begins at the saddle between Mount Witherspoon and Mount Einstein, and trends southwest to Yale Arm of College Fjord, 47 miles (76 km) west of Valdez. It was named for Yale ...
.
The mountain was named by members of the Chugach Mountains Expedition in 1955, and later officially adopted 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 ...
to honor
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invent ...
(1847–1931), who has been described as America's greatest inventor.
[''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', Donald J. Orth author, United States Government Printing Office (1967), page 301]
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 Edison is located in a
subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool summers.
Weather systems 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 eas ...
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. Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. This climate supports the Harvard, Yale, and Columbia Glaciers surrounding this mountain. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for climbing.
See also
*
List of mountain peaks of Alaska
This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaksThis article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a susexxleast of topographic prominence. All summits i ...
*
Geography of Alaska
Alaska occupies the northwestern portion of the North American continent and is bordered only by Canada on the east. It is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii is the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of th ...
References
{{reflist
Gallery
File:Columbia Glacier, Head, Hanging Glacier, August 24, 1964 (GLACIERS 1068).jpg, Mts. Edison and Witherspoon, with Einstein upper right corner
File:Mount Elusive.jpg, Aerial view looking west with Mt. Elusive centered, Mt. Edison upper left, and Mt. Gilbert Lewis in upper right
File:Thomas Edison2.jpg, Thomas Edison circa 1922
External links
* Weather
Mount Edison
Edison
Edison
Edison