Hey Folks,

Few people realize just how special these mountains are. Everyone knows Denali, of course, and the Himalayas, but the St. Elias Mountains just don’t seem to have caught the public eye like those others. I suspect it’s because they’re full of “seconds.” Mount St. Elias is the second highest mountain in both the US and Canada. Mount Logan is the second highest mountain in North America. We live in a culture of competition where there often isn’t a prize for second place, but that suits me fine. It just means when I go visit, there’s hardly anyone around.

From Sea Level to Eighteen Thousand Feet

Part of what makes Mount St. Elias so commanding is its proximity to the coast. The mountain rises right from the beach to over 18,000 feet. From shore to summit, it is only 2,000 feet shy of its more well-known brother in the Alaska Range, Denali. Because the summit is only 10 miles from the tidewater of Icy Bay, it has as great a vertical relief as any mountain on earth, including the highest peaks in the Himalayas.

The native Tlingit people referred to the mountain as Yaas’éit’aa Shaa, meaning “mountain behind Icy Bay.” Sometimes the Yakutat Tlingit referred to it simply as Shaa Tléin, or “Big Mountain.” It is an apt name for a peak that generates the Bagley Icefield, a 160 mile long river of ice that stands as the largest non-polar icefield in the world.

The Loneliness of the Summit

The newly released film “Mount St. Elias” highlights just how brutal this landscape can be for climbers. While Denali draws hundreds of climbers every year, Mount St. Elias is a different story. When Alex Naglich and Peter Ressman reached the summit in 2007 while making their film, they were the first people to stand on top in four years. After the Duke of Abruzzi led the first successful ascent in 1897, nearly 50 years passed before the next group made it up.

The weather is the primary gatekeeper. Mount St. Elias is a magnet for storms coming off the Gulf of Alaska. It is a steep, icy, and unforgiving spire.

Aerial Photography in the St. Elias Range

Last year in September I had an opportunity to do some aerial photography of these mountains and it was absolutely awesome. I did a flight in the morning and another in the evening. We flew south from McCarthy towards Mount St. Elias and Mount Logan. Mount Logan is actually getting taller due to tectonic plate action. It has the largest base circumference of any mountain on Earth and the coldest recorded temperatures outside of Antarctica.

The pilot, Don, is someone I have flown with a number of times for backcountry drop-offs on my backpacking trips. He is an incredible pilot and working with him while shooting was a real treat. He would check our altitude for a fly-by and make sure I was ready before he put the plane into position.

While we were flying above the Bagley Icefield, I saw a massive wall of fluting and deep powder off to the side. I knew instantly it was the shot I wanted. I described the frame to Don and he put the plane perfectly in place. He slowed us down from 170 miles per hour, I opened the window, and clicked the shutter.

That photo is now one of my favorite images from all the landscapes I’ve taken. I have a large print of it hanging in my home and I also made a black and white version. The light that day was some of the most gorgeous I have ever seen.