Mount Orville | |
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 10,495 ft (3,199 m)[1] |
Prominence | 1,795 ft (547 m)[1] |
Parent peak | Mount Wilbur[2] |
Isolation | 1.65 mi (2.66 km)[2] |
Coordinates | 58°44′10″N 137°16′20″W / 58.73611°N 137.27222°W[1] |
Geography | |
Interactive map of Mount Orville | |
Country | United States |
State | Alaska |
Census Area | Hoonah–Angoon |
Protected area | Glacier Bay National Park |
Parent range | Fairweather Range Saint Elias Mountains |
Topo map | USGS Mount Fairweather C-4 |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1995 by Steve Carroll, Philip Kauffman, and Patrick Simmons |
Easiest route | snow/ice climb |
Mount Orville is a high peak of the Fairweather Range, the southernmost part of the Saint Elias Mountains. It is included in Glacier Bay National Park. The peak is the lower of a pair of peaks, Mounts Wilbur and Orville, named after the Wright Brothers. The mountain's name was proposed to the National Park Service by Senator Ernest Gruening in 1961 to honor Orville Wright (1871–1948) who, with his brother Wilbur, invented the airplane, a form of transportation which contributed to the development of Alaska.[3] The toponym was officially adopted in 1962 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.[3]
Though not a particularly high peak in absolute terms, Mount Orville does stand quite high above local terrain, due to its proximity to the ocean: the summit is only 7.5 miles from tidewater at the head of Lituya Bay to the southwest.