Mount Juneau (

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

: ''Yadaa.at Kalé'') is a

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

Southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern, and sometimes called the Alaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian provi ...

just east of downtown

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, in the

Boundary Ranges The Boundary Ranges, also known in the singular and as the Alaska Boundary Range, are the largest and most northerly subrange of the Coast Mountains. They begin at the Nass River, near the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle in the Canadian pro ...

History

Mount Juneau is steeped in

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

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, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

be built to the top of the mountain. The venture never reached fruition although Goldbelt Inc. did end up building Mount Roberts Tramway 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 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 One-thousanders of the United States