Thompson Pass information

Thompson Pass
Thompson Pass
	Thompson Pass, as seen in May 2009.
Elevation	2,805 ft (855 m)
Traversed by	Richardson Highway, Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
Location	Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, United States
Range	Chugach Mountains
Coordinates	61°07′43″N 145°43′47″W / 61.12861°N 145.72972°W

Thompson Pass is a 2,600 foot-high (855 meter-high) gap in the Chugach Mountains northeast of Valdez, Alaska.^[1] It is the snowiest place in Alaska, recording 500 inches (1,300 cm) of snow per year on average.^[2] In the winter of 1952–1953, 974.1 inches (2,474 cm) of snow fell—the most ever recorded in one season at one location in Alaska.^[3] It is not the most snow ever recorded in one season at one location anywhere in the fifty states as that record belongs to Mount Baker Ski Resort at 1140 inches in 1998-99.^[4] The pass also holds the Alaska record for the most snow in a single day: 62 inches (160 cm) fell on December 29, 1955.^[3]

The pass was named in 1899 by U.S. Army captain William Abercrombie "in compliment to Hon. Frank Thomson, of Pennsylvania", but he spelled the name "Thompson" on his sketched map, and that spelling stuck.^[1] The pass had been used by Alaska Native Ahtna people for generations prior to Abercrombie's arrival, but he marked and defined a trail through the pass for use by Klondike Gold Rush miners.^[5] His route, which became the Valdez-Eagle Trail, later was used by the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System, which strung cables through Thompson Pass. The path through the pass continued to be improved, and automobiles first drove the entire length of the trail in 1913. By that point, it had become the Valdez-Fairbanks Trail, and it was renamed the Richardson Road in 1919.^[6]

Because of heavy snowfall in Thompson Pass, the Richardson Highway was used only in summer.^{[citation needed]} Not until 1950, when a freight company foreman demonstrated that the pass could be kept open with snowplows, was the road drivable year-round.^{[citation needed]} The trail through the pass remained gravel until 1955, when the Alaska Road Commission (part of the US Department of the Interior) paved it.^[7]

^ ^a ^b Geographic Names Information Service. "Thompson Pass, Alaska", U.S. Geological Survey. Accessed July 2, 2009.
^ Desert Research Institute. "State Extremes: Alaska", Western Regional Climate Center. Accessed July 2, 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Alaska Snowfall and Snow Depth Extremes Table". National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
^ "National Snowfall and Snow Depth Extremes Table". National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
^ Bleakley, Geoffrey. "History of the Valdez Trail", U.S. National Park Service. Accessed July 2, 2009.
^ Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. "The Valdez Trail", U.S. National Park Service. Accessed July 2, 2009.
^ Byron Johnson, PE

[USGS-1] Geographic Names Information Service. "Thompson Pass, Alaska", U.S. Geological Survey. Accessed July 2, 2009.

[snowrecords-2] Desert Research Institute. "State Extremes: Alaska", Western Regional Climate Center. Accessed July 2, 2009.

[ak-noaa-3] "Alaska Snowfall and Snow Depth Extremes Table". National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 9, 2013.

[usa-noaa-4] "National Snowfall and Snow Depth Extremes Table". National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 9, 2013.

[5] Bleakley, Geoffrey. "History of the Valdez Trail", U.S. National Park Service. Accessed July 2, 2009.

[6] Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. "The Valdez Trail", U.S. National Park Service. Accessed July 2, 2009.

[7] Byron Johnson, PE

Thompson Pass information

and 19 Related for: Thompson Pass information

Thompson Pass

Klay Thompson

List of mountain passes

Worthington Glacier

Emma Thompson

Thompson submachine gun

Fred Thompson

California Trail

Chucky Thompson

Bennie Thompson

Watchman Peak

Route of the Oregon Trail

Ty Thompson

Girls Mountain

Thompson River

Oregon Trail

Darian Thompson

Hogback Ridge

White Man Pass