Mount Bona

Mount Bona
Highest point
Elevation16,550 ft (5,040 m)[1]
NAVD88
Prominence6,900 ft (2,100 m)[1]
Isolation49.7 mi (80.0 km)[1]
Listing
Coordinates61°23′08″N 141°44′55″W / 61.38556°N 141.74861°W / 61.38556; -141.74861[2]
Geography
Mount Bona is located in Alaska
Mount Bona
Mount Bona
Location in Alaska
Map
Interactive map of Mount Bona
LocationWrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, U.S.
Parent rangeSaint Elias Mountains
Topo mapUSGS McCarthy B-2
Geology
Mountain typeStratovolcano
Last eruption847 AD
Climbing
First ascentJuly 2, 1930 by Allen Carpé, Terris Moore, Andrew Taylor
Easiest routeGlacier climb (Alaska Grade 2)[3]

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.[a] It is either the tenth- or eleventh-highest peak in North America. 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.[4]

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.[2] 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.[3]


Elevation

Mount Bona's exact elevation is uncertain. USGS 1:250,000 topographical maps show an elevation of 16,421 feet (5,005 m),[5] which was determined in 1913 by International Boundary Commission surveyors.[6] However, USGS 1:63,360 topographical maps do not show a spot height, and their contour lines indicate a summit elevation of 16,550±50 feet (5045±15 meters).[7] Many sources quote the latter figure.[8]

  • Mount Bona from the south
    Mount Bona from the south

See also

References and notes

Notes

  1. ^ This counts both the North and South Peaks of Denali (Mount McKinley), which is not a universally accepted practice. See Fourteener.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mount Bona, Alaska". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Mount Bona". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  3. ^ a b Wood, Michael; Coombs, Colby (2001). Alaska: A Climbing Guide. Mountaineers Books. pp. 161–162. ISBN 0-89886-724-X.
  4. ^ "Mount Bona". Alaska Volcano Observatory. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  5. ^ 1:250,000 Sheet "Mc Carthy, Alaska", US Geological Survey, 1960
  6. ^ International Boundary Commission (1918). Joint Report Upon the Survey and Demarcation of the International Boundary Between the United States and Canada Along the 141st Meridian from the Arctic Ocean to Mount St. Elias. p. 158.
  7. ^ 1:63,360 Sheet "Mc Carthy (B-2), Alaska", US Geological Survey, 1959
  8. ^ "Mount Bona". bivouac.com. Retrieved 2021-11-11.

Further reading