Wrangell Mountains

Wrangell Mountains, mountain range of the Coast Ranges, south-eastern Alaska, near the border with Yukon Territory. The highest peaks of these lofty volcanic mountains are Mount Sanford (4,949 m/16,237 ft) and Mount Blackburn (4,996 m/16,390 ft). In 1953, the University of Alaska and New York University established a cosmic-ray research station on Mount Wrangell (4,269 m/14,006 ft), another peak of the range. Together with the Kluane National Park in Canada and the Alaskan Glacier Bay and St Elias Mount range, Wrangell Mountains form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, first established in 1979 and extended in 1992 and 1994; the area contains a unique variety of wildlife and the most extensive non-polar ice field in the world.