Mount Bona

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Bona

| photo = Mt. Bona, Alaska.jpg

| photo_caption =

| elevation_system = NAVD88

| elevation_ft = 16550

| elevation_ref = {{cite peakbagger|pid=496|title=Mount Bona, Alaska|access-date=December 30, 2015}}

| prominence_ft = 6900

| prominence_ref =

| isolation = 49.7 mi (80.0 km)

| isolation_ref =

| listing = {{unbulleted list

|North America highest peaks 10th

|North America prominent peak 84th

|US highest major peaks 4th

|Alaska highest major peaks 4th

}}

| map = USA Alaska

| map_caption = Location in Alaska

| label_position = left

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-zoom = 8

| mapframe-caption = Interactive map of Mount Bona

| location = Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, U.S.

| range = Saint Elias Mountains

| coordinates = {{coord|61|23|08|N|141|44|55|W|type:mountain_region:US-AK_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref =

| topo = USGS McCarthy B-2

| type = Stratovolcano

| age =

| last_eruption = 847 AD

| first_ascent = July 2, 1930 by Allen Carpé, Terris Moore, Andrew Taylor

| easiest_route = Glacier climb (Alaska Grade 2){{cite book

| last1 = Wood | first1 = Michael

| last2 = Coombs | first2 = Colby

| title = Alaska: A Climbing Guide

| publisher = Mountaineers Books

| pages = 161–162

| year = 2001

| isbn = 0-89886-724-X}}

}}

Mount Bona is one of the major mountains of the Saint Elias Mountains in eastern Alaska, and is the fifth-highest independent peak in the United States.{{efn|This counts both the North and South Peaks of Denali (Mount McKinley), which is not a universally accepted practice. See Fourteener.}} It is either the tenth- or eleventh-highest peak in North America. Mount Bona and its adjacent neighbor Mount Churchill are both large ice-covered stratovolcanoes. Bona has the distinction of being the highest volcano in the United States and the fourth-highest in North America, outranked only by the three highest Mexican volcanoes, Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl, and Iztaccíhuatl. Its summit is a small stratovolcano on top of a high platform of sedimentary rocks.{{cite web |title=Mount Bona |url=https://avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Bona,%20Mt |website=Alaska Volcano Observatory |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |access-date=17 February 2019}}

The mountain's massif is covered almost entirely by icefields and glaciers, and it is the principal source of ice for the Klutlan Glacier, which flows east for over {{convert|40|mi}} into the Yukon Territory of Canada. The mountain also contributes a large volume of ice to the north-flowing Russell Glacier system.

Mount Bona was named by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi in 1897, who saw the peak while making the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias about {{convert|80|mi}} to the southeast. He named it after the Bona, his racing yacht.

{{cite gnis

| id = 1416579

| name = Mount Bona

| access-date = 2007-03-10 }}

The mountain was first climbed in 1930 by Allen Carpé, Terris Moore, and Andrew Taylor, from the Russell Glacier on the west of the peak. The current standard route is the East Ridge; a climb of nearby Mount Churchill is a relatively easy addition via this route as well.

__NOTOC__

Elevation

Mount Bona's exact elevation is uncertain. USGS 1:250,000 topographical maps show an elevation of {{Convert|16421|ft|m|sp=us|round=5}},1:250,000 Sheet "Mc Carthy, Alaska", US Geological Survey, 1960 which was determined in 1913 by International Boundary Commission surveyors.{{Cite book|last=International Boundary Commission|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WsCFAAAAMAAJ|title=Joint Report Upon the Survey and Demarcation of the International Boundary Between the United States and Canada Along the 141st Meridian from the Arctic Ocean to Mount St. Elias|year=1918|pages=158|language=en}} However, USGS 1:63,360 topographical maps do not show a spot height, and their contour lines indicate a summit elevation of 16,550{{+-}}50 feet (5045{{+-}}15 meters).1:63,360 Sheet "Mc Carthy (B-2), Alaska", US Geological Survey, 1959 Many sources quote the latter figure.{{Cite web|title=Mount Bona|url=https://bivouac.com//MtnPg.asp?MtnId=7669|access-date=2021-11-11|website=bivouac.com}}