Coast Mountains

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The Coast Mountains are the westernmost range of the Pacific Cordillera, running along the south western shore of the North American continent, extending south from the Alaska Panhandle and covering most of coastal British Columbia. They are part of a larger grouping, the Pacific Coast Ranges, which includes the Alaska Range, the Chugach Mountains, the Saint Elias Mountains, the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico.

The Coast Mountains are approximately 1600 km long and average 200 km in width. Its southern and southeastern boundaries are described by the Fraser River and the Interior Plateau. North of the Nechako Diversion, the Coast Mountains are flanked on the inland side by the Hazelton Mountains, the Skeena Mountains, the Stikine Plateau and the Tahltan and Tagish Highlands. Its far northwestern edge is delimited by the Kelsall River at the north end of the Alaska Panhandle, beyond which are the Saint Elias Mountains.

Covered in dense temperate rainforest on its western exposures, the range rises to heavily glaciated peaks, including the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world. It then tapers to the dry interior plateau on its eastern flanks, or to the subarctic boreal forest of the Skeena Mountains and Stikine Plateau.

Mount Waddington, at 4,019 metres or 13,186 feet, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains and also the highest peak entirely within British Columbia.

[edit] Significant peaks

Mountain/Peak Height (metres) Prominence (metres)
Mount Waddington 4019 3289
Monarch Mountain 3555 2930
Skihist Mountain 2968 2463
Mount Ratz 3090 2430
Mount Queen Bess 3298 2355
Wedge Mountain 2892 2249
Otter Mountain 2692 2242
Kwatna Peak 2290 2225
Scud Peak 2987 2172
Razorback Mountain 3183 2253

[edit] Subranges

There are several subdivisions of the Coast Mountains. These include:

There are innumerable smaller named ranges, and informal names for many groupings, within these subdivisions. Some neighbouring ranges can be found in Interior Plateau and the Hazelton Mountains section of the Skeena Mountains (which are not part of the Coast Mountains but just inland).

[edit] External links

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