Top 10 Highest Mountains in America
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| Mountain. Photo: Mixi's |
While any discussion of the world’s tallest mountains rightly revolves around the Himalayas of Asia, the United States has an extremely impressive collection of peaks in its own right. With notorious Mount Everest holding down the world’s top spot at a whopping 29,029 feet above sea level, Nepal boasts not only the tallest mountain but eight of the top ten. While none of the American peaks manage to break into the planet’s top one hundred, we do have one of the largest groups of 14,000-foot+ summits to be found anywhere in the world. So, what are the tallest mountains in the United States?
List of 10 Highest Mountains in America
1. Denali- Alaska - elev. 20,310 ft
2. Mount Saint Elias – Alaska Yukon - 8,009 ft
3. Mount Foraker – Alaska - 17,400 ft
4. Mount Bona – Alaska - 16,550 ft
5. Blackburn (Wrangell Mountains, Alaska) – 16,390 ft
6. Sanford (Wrangell Mountains, Alaska) – 16,237 ft
7. Fairweather (Saint Elias Mountains, Alaska) – 15,325 ft
8. Hubbard (Saint Elias Mountains, Alaska) – 14,951 ft
9. Bear (Saint Elias Mountains, Alaska) – 14,831 ft
10. Hunter (Alaska Range, Alaska) – 14,573 ft
Which are the Highest Mountains in America?
1. Denali- Alaska - elev. 20,310 ft
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| Photo: Travel Alaska |
Rising 20,310 feet (6,190 meters) , Denali is the United States’ highest mountain. Denali is also the highest mountain in North America and is the third highest mountain of the Seven Summits (a hiking term for the tallest mountain on each continent) after Mount Everest and Aconcagua.
Located in the Alaska Range, Denali and the mountains around it were formed from dramatic tectonic activity that continues to increase the mountain’s elevation little by little every year.
Denali is the Koyukon Athabaskan word meaning ‘the tall one,’ and the mountain holds great significance for indigenous Alaskans who have resided around it since time immemorial.
Additionally, Denali National Park and Preserve is one of the most visited locations in Alaska, bringing tourists in from around the world during the summer months. Many animals including wolves, moose, caribou, black bear and grizzly bear can be seen from the park’s singular road.
2. Mount Saint Elias – Alaska Yukon - 8,009 ft
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| Photo: Wikipedia |
Mount Saint Elias straddles the Alaska/Canadian border in the Saint Elias Mountain Range in northern southeast Alaska. At 18,009 feet (5,489 meters), it is the second highest mountain in the United States and in Canada behind Mount Logan.
Mount Saint Elias, on the US side is part of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest National Park in the United States. Nine of the 16 highest peaks in the United States are found in this National Park.
This mountain range is located near Glacier Bay, which has a high density of glaciers and icefields as well as tectonic and volcanic activity that has helped make this mountain range popular for modern and past exploration.
Mount Saint Elias is called Yasʼéitʼaa Shaa or Shaa Tlein by the indigenous Yakutat Tlingit people who have lived in the area for thousands of years. Mount Saint Elias saw its first recorded summit in 1897 by an Italian expedition.
3. Mount Foraker – Alaska - 17,400 ft
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| Photo: Pixabay |
On a clear day, Mount Foraker can be seen in tandem with Denali in the Alaska Range.
Mount Foraker is the third highest peak in the United States with an elevation of 17,400 feet (5304 meters).
The indigenous Dena’ina names for Mount Foraker are Sultana, meaning ‘the woman,’ or Menlale, meaning ‘Denali’s wife’ due to its close proximity to Denali.
The first recorded successful summiting of the north and south peaks occurred in 1934. The mountain is located on a fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, the longest glacier in the Alaska Range, across from Denali and Mount Hunter.
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4. Mount Bona – Alaska - 16,550 ft
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| Photo: St. Elias Alpine Guides |
Mount Bona is one of the major mountains of the Saint Elias Mountains in eastern Alaska, and is the fifth-highest independent peak in the United States. Mount Bona and its adjacent neighbor Mount Churchill are both large ice-covered stratovolcanoes. Bona has the distinction of being the highest volcano in the United States and the fourth-highest in North America, outranked only by the three highest Mexican volcanoes, Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl, and Iztaccíhuatl. Its summit is a small stratovolcano on top of a high platform of sedimentary rocks.
The mountain's massif is covered almost entirely by icefields and glaciers, and it is the principal source of ice for the Klutlan Glacier, which flows east for over 40 miles (64 km) into the Yukon Territory of Canada. The mountain also contributes a large volume of ice to the north-flowing Russell Glacier system.
Mount Bona was named by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi in 1897, who saw the peak while making the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias about 80 miles (130 km) to the southeast. He named it after the Bona, his racing yacht. The mountain was first climbed in 1930 by Allen Carpé, Terris Moore, and Andrew Taylor, from the Russell Glacier on the west of the peak. The current standard route is the East Ridge; a climb of nearby Mount Churchill is a relatively easy addition via this route as well.
5. Blackburn (Wrangell Mountains, Alaska) – 16,390 ft
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| Photo: akMOUNTAIN.com |
Mount Blackburn is the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska in the United States. It is the fifth-highest peak in the United States and the twelfth-highest peak in North America. The mountain is an old, eroded shield volcano, the second-highest volcano in the U.S. behind Mount Bona and the fifth-highest in North America. It was named in 1885 by Lt. Henry T. Allen of the U.S. Army after Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn, a U.S. senator from Kentucky. It is located in the heart of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, the largest national park in the country.
The mountain's massif is covered almost entirely by icefields and glaciers and is the principal source of ice for the Kennicott Glacier, which flows southeast over 20 miles (32 km) to just above the town of McCarthy. The mountain also contributes a large volume of ice to the north-flowing Nabesna Glacier and the Kuskulana Glacier system.
Mount Blackburn is a large, dramatic peak, with great local relief and independence from higher peaks. Its west face drops over 11,000 ft (3,350 m) to the Kuskulana Glacier in less than 4 horizontal miles (6.4 km). Its other faces drop 8,000–10,000 ft (2,440–3,050 m), all in less than 8 miles (13 km). The toe of the Kuskulana Glacier, less than 12 miles (19 km) from the summit, lies at an elevation of 2,400 ft (730 m), giving a rise of 14,000 ft (4,270 m). While these figures speak to the peak's relief, one measure of its independence is that it is the 50th-most topographically prominent peak in the world.
The western of Blackburn's two summits is the mountain's highest point, a fact that was not understood until the 1960s when new USGS maps were published. The first ascent of the west peak, and hence Mount Blackburn, was done on May 30, 1958, by Bruce Gilbert, Dick Wahlstrom, Hans Gmoser, Adolf Bitterlich, and Leon Blumer via the North (also called the Northwest) Ridge. This team made the first ascent of Blackburn but did not even know it at the time due to the incorrect identification of the highest point. Blumer's article in the 1959 American Alpine Journal is titled "Mount Blackburn – Second Ascent."
6. Sanford (Wrangell Mountains, Alaska) – 16,237 ft
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| Photo: Peakbagger |
Mount Sanford is another dormant shield volcano in the Wrangell Mountains. At 16,237 feet 4,949 meters) high, Mount Sanford is the third highest volcano in the United States.
The ice that comes from the mountain contributes to the aptly named Sanford Glacier.
The volcano hasn’t been active since before the historical record began in the 1700s; however, vapor, rock and ice fall from near the summit often look like smoke or ash rising from the summit. The first recorded ascent of the mountain occurred in 1938, and mountaineers continue to make Mount Sanford a go-to mountain for expeditions.
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7. Fairweather (Saint Elias Mountains, Alaska) – 15,325 ft
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| Photo: SummitPost |
Glacier Bay is one of the most popular tourist locations in Alaska, drawing millions of visitors each year to view the tidewater glaciers, wildlife, and remote beauty of this part of the world.
For thousands of years, indigenous Alaskans have lived at the foot of these mountains and glaciers. In the Tlingit language, Mount Fairweather is called Tsalxhaan or Tanaku, and the mountains between it and Mount Saint Elias are known as Tsalxhaan Yatx’i, or the Children of Tsalxhaan.
Mount Fairweather clocks in at 15,325 feet (4671 meters) and lies in Glacier Bay and the City and Borough of Yakutat in Alaska, and British Columbia in Canada.
8. Hubbard (Saint Elias Mountains, Alaska) – 14,951 ft
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| Photo: - Wikimedia Commons |
Mount Hubbard is one of the major mountains of Saint Elias Range. It is located on the Alaska/Yukon border; the Canadian side is within Kluane National Park and Reserve, and the American side is part of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park. The mountain was named in 1890 by U.S. Geological Survey geologist Israel Russell after Gardiner Greene Hubbard, first president of the National Geographic Society, which had co-sponsored Russell's expedition.
Hubbard is the highest point of a large massif with three named summits; the other two are Mount Alverstone and Mount Kennedy. Alverstone and Hubbard form a corner of the Canada–United States border: the border extends roughly south from these peaks toward the Alaska panhandle, and roughly west toward Mount Saint Elias, approximately 100 km (62 mi) away. The Hubbard Glacier separates Mount Hubbard from Mount Vancouver to the west, while the Lowell Glacier lies to the east of the peak.
Mount Hubbard is the eighth-highest peak in the United States and the twelfth highest peak in Canada. It is also notable for its large rise above local terrain. For example, its west face rises 7,500 feet (2,300 meters) above the Alverstone Glacier in less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers), and the peak rises 11,000 feet (3,350 m) above the Hubbard Glacier to the southwest in only 7 mi (11.3 km). Mount Hubbard is just over 20 mi (32 km) from tidewater at Disenchantment Bay. However, despite its precipitous drops to the west, the eastern side provides a non-technical (though long) route to the summit.
9. Bear (Saint Elias Mountains, Alaska) – 14,831 ft
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| Photo: Pinterest |
Mount Bear is 14,831 feet (4520 meters) tall and is located in the Wrangell-Saint Elias Mountains in Alaska, just four rugged miles away from the Canadian border.
Mount Bear contributes ice to the Barnard Glacier and the Klutlan Glacier complexes. Mount Bear is a little-climbed peak often overlooked for mountaineering expeditions because of the nearby Mount Logan, Mount Bona, and Mount Lucania.
10. Hunter (Alaska Range, Alaska) – 14,573 ft
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| Photo: Wikipedia |
Mount Hunter is a 14,573 foot peak within Denali National Park. Located about eight miles away from Denali, Mount Hunter was named Begguya by the Dena’ina people. Begguya means ‘child of Denali.’
Mount Hunter has a North Summit, which is considered the main summit, and a South Summit known as Mount Stevens after a former Alaska state senator. The first recorded ascent of Mount Hunter happened in 1954.
Why the Tallest Mountains in the U.S. Are Almost the Same HeightBeing a frontiersman wasn’t an exact science. When the American West was being explored, the hard problem wasn't finding the high mountains—it was measuring them. Today, thanks to GPS and advanced mathematical modeling of the "geoid" (the underlying shape of the Earth), elevations can be measured to within a fraction of an inch. But a century ago, a surveyor's best option would be to climb a mountain, and then boil water or measure barometric pressure at the peak. So altitude measurements would be taken in inches (of mercury), not feet. Every tall mountain in America is basically the same height. As a result, mountaintop measurements could be wrong by hundreds of feet and that matters a lot in the continental United States. Due in part to coincidence and in part to a geologic process called the "glacial buzz saw," which limits how high mountains grow, all 30 of the highest peaks in the lower 48, from the Cascades of Washington to the Rockies of Colorado to the Sierras of California, are within just 500 feet of each other in height. In Colorado, size matters. For example, Washington's Mount Rainier was measured at 14,408 feet in 1914, while California's Mount Whitney was originally believed to be 14,100 feet. This would make Colorado's Mount Elbert, at 14,433 feet, the highest mountain in America. But many Coloradans were annoyed that Elbert might even be the highest mountain in Colorado. Fans of nearby Mount Massive, which has a much more impressive silhouette, built a stone cairn atop its summit to retake the crown, only to have the manmade addition torn down by Elbert partisans. Denali makes molehills out of mountains. Due to mismeasurements, many atlases and gazetteers listed Rainier as the nation's highest point well into the 20th century. Other sources placed it behind Whitney (correctly), Shasta (incorrectly), and several of the Rockies (both correctly and incorrectly). Its gradual demotion annoyed Alden J. Blethen, publisher of The Seattle Times, who wrote an angry front-page editorial accusing the other mountains of cheating by "starting" at such high-altitude bases. Thanks to today's better surveying, the order is clear: Whitney, then three Colorado peaks, then Rainier. But Alaska statehood made the whole battle moot. Denali is over a mile higher than any of them. |
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