Mount Saint Elias (5 510 m / 18 077 ft)

Mount Saint Elias, also designated Boundary Peak 186, is the second highest mountain in both Canada and the United States. The area where the mountain lies - Icefield Ranges, of the St. Elias Mountains, occupy two-thirds of Kluane National Park & Reserve's interior and represent a portion of the most extensive non-polar Icefield in the world. Mount Saint Elias is highly noted as it's the highest mountain so close to the ocean. Only 12 horizontal miles lead from the head of Taan fjord to the summit giving it an incredible amount of overall vertical relief. Denali and other Himalaya peaks don't quite have as much vertical relief despite being higher in elevation. If you choose to climb Saint Elias from tidewater, you have over 18,000 feet of ascending to do!  Mount Saint Elias is infrequently climbed today, despite its height, because it has no easy route to the summit and because of its prolonged periods of bad weather (mainly snow and low visibility).

A beautiful pyramid-shaped peak, Mt. Saint Elias is notable for its immense vertical relief. The summit of Mount St. Elias consists of a spacious plateau stretching, with a slight inclination, from south-east to north-west. The highest point stands north, and forms a raised platform about 40 square yards in extent.

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Lies on the US Canadian border, is located only about 12 kilometres of sea level, and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada. The Canadian side is part of Kluane National Park, while the U.S. side of the mountain is located within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Most climbing routes are accessed via charter boat or float plane out of Yakutat or Canada.

All persons spending time within the Icefield Ranges of Kluane National Park & Reserve must have an Icefields Mountaineering Permit. You must apply for your permit a few months in advance of the start of your trip on a park’s web site. Fees apply. Please note that Kluane National Park Reserve has different rules and regulations than Wrangell-St. Elias NP/P. Unlike most National Parks, there are NO entrance stations or required fees to enter Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve.

In 2007, an Austrian documentary movie called "Mount. St.

Elias" was made about a team of skier/mountaineers

determined to make "the planet's longest skiing descent" –

ascending the mountain and then skiing nearly all 18,000

feet down to the Gulf of Alaska; the movie finished editing

and underwent limited release in 2009. The climbers

ended up summiting on the second attempt and skiing

down to 13,000 feet.

 

Mountain is located only about 12 km from sea level as of

2004, measured from the now-stable terminus of the

tidewater Tyndall Glacier. During most of the 20th century,

as Tyndall Glacier retreated, the distance from the summit

to sea level has decreased from nearly 60 km to the

present 12 km. This ongoing retreat has produced one of

the steepest topographic gradients anywhere on Earth.

 

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Logistics

• Yakutat Coastal Airlines
• Wrangler Mountain Air
• Copper Valley Air Service
• High Country Rentals (Anchorage)

Guided Tours

• Saint Elias Guides

• General description about the mountain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Saint_Elias
• Technical details. http://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=24475
• Technical details. http://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=552
• Other sources. http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/yt/kluane/activ/activ3.aspx