Mount Foresta


Mount Foresta is an multi-peak massif located in Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, in the Saint Elias Mountains of Alaska in the United States. Rising high above the lower western margin of the Hubbard Glacier, the summit of Mount Foresta is just over from tidewater at Disenchantment Bay, northwest of Mount Seattle, southeast of Mount Vancouver, and north of Yakutat.

History

The mountain was named for Foresta Hodgson Wood, who was responsible for the logistics planning of the Project Snow Cornice of the Arctic Institute of North America. Foresta, with her daughter Valerie F. Wood, were killed in an airplane crash in the vicinity of this mountain on July 27, 1951 during this scientific expedition. The Valerie Glacier flows along the southwest aspect of Mount Foresta. The names were proposed in 1957 by the Arctic Institute of North America.
The first ascent of Mount Foresta was made on July 24, 1979 by Fred Beckey, Rick Nolting, John Rupley, and Craig Tillery.

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Mount Foresta is located in a subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool summers. Weather systems coming off the Gulf of Alaska are forced upwards by the Saint Elias Mountains, causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall. Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for viewing and climbing.