GPS Survey of Mt. Blachnitzky (58° 47'
48.225" North, 134° 23' 46.285" West WGS84,
elev. 2025.391 meters MSL)
Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Blachnitzky was department chief at the
Bavarian Office for Survey and Geoinformation (Bayerisches
Landesvermessungsamt) in Munich, Germany. He was
also a key faculty member with the Juneau Icefield Research
Program. His easy-going style of teaching helped many students
master the intricacies of surveying with a Wild T2 theodolite.
In 1988 he lost his life in a tragic climbing accident. In honor
of his dedication to JIRP, we unofficially named a peak rising
majestically above the Gilkey Glacier for him. In 2004, a
team of four (including two of Klaus' survey students in 1988)
made the first ascent of the mountain (see Daellenbach,
2004,
2005). The team noted that their
handheld GPS indicated a summit elevation approximately 30
meters (100 feet) higher than that shown on the official U.S.
Geological Survey 1:63,360 scale topographic map. The climbers
realized that the uncertainty of the summit elevation had to be
resolved. Thus began efforts to perform a high accuracy GPS survey
of the summit. Mt.
Blachnitzky was officially recognized by the United
States Board on Geographic Names in 2007.
On August 5, 2009, Scott McGee and two Swiss surveyors
(Florence Vaudan and Melanie Kunz, both from the
Eidgenössische Technische
Hochschule Zürich) helicoptered to the summit of Mt. Blachnitzky
with high-precision differential GPS and determined the
elevation to be 2030.178 meters (6658.98 feet) when referenced
to the WGS84 ellipsoid.
After factoring in the geoid height of
+4.941 meters and the regional crustal uplift rate of 11 mm/year, the height above mean sea level is 2025.391
meters (6643.28 feet).
The survey was conducted using
real-time differential GPS. The base unit was a Trimble NetRS
configured with a Trimble Zephyr geodetic antenna mounted on a
wood tripod centered and leveled over the N1 benchmark at Camp
18. The base unit transmitted real-time corrections to the rover
via a Pacific Crest radio modem. The rover, on the summit of Mt.
Blachnitzky 8 kilometers west of the base, was a Trimble 5700
with a Trimble Zephyr geodetic antenna mounted on a wood tripod
placed at the highest elevation of the summit. Readings were
taken for 15 minutes.
Daellenbach, Keith (2005).
Various Ascents.The American Alpine Journal,
Volume 47, No. 79. The American Alpine Club. pp. 200-201.
Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Blachnitzky (left) instructs Keith Daellenbach
(right) on the operation
of a Wild T2 theodolite during JIRP 1988.
The prominent summit of Mt. Blachnitzky (upper left) rises
dramatically above the Gilkey Glacier.
Official letter from the United States Board on Geographic Names
recognizing Mount Blachnitzky as a proper place name.
This is the official listing for Mount Blachnitzky in the
Geographic Names Information System. The elevation of 6401
feet was
taken from the
National Elevation Dataset and is recognized by the U.S.
Geological Survey to be approximate. The newly-determined
position and
elevation of the summit is noted in the Description
section.
This brass plaque, located on an outcrop at Camp 18 and facing
west toward Mt. Blachnitzky, commemorates the contributions
Klaus made to JIRP.
June 29-30, 2004: U.S. Geological Survey 1:63,360 scale
topographic map showing the route taken by the members of the
first ascent team.
Team members were Scott McGee, Keith Daellenbach, Charles
Daellenbach, and Fred Skemp III. Scott and Keith were members of
the
1988 JIRP crew and worked closely with Klaus Blachnitzky.
June 29, 2004: First ascent of Mt. Blachnitzky. View is looking
west from halfway up the west ridge of the mountain.
Smoke from forest fires in
Yukon Territory and British Columbia fills the Gilkey Trench and
obscures the view.
Charles (left) and Keith (right) Daellenbach. Not shown, Scott
McGee and Fred Skemp III.
June 29, 2004: Campsite at the tarn lake halfway up the
mountain.
June 30, 2004: Climbing the headwall snow slope on the way to
the summit.
June 30, 2004: On the summit of Mt. Blachnitzky after the first
ascent. View is to the east toward JIRP's Camp 18.
From left to right: Charles Daellenbach, Keith Daellenbach, Fred
Skemp III. Not shown, Scott McGee.
June 30, 2004: On the summit of Mt. Blachnitzky after the first
ascent. View is to the east toward JIRP's Camp 18.
From left to right: Scott McGee, Keith Daellenbach, Fred Skemp
III. Not shown, Charles Daellenbach.
Scott and Keith displaying the Bavarian flag and other contents
of the summit register container.
Closeup of some of the items in the summit register. The compass
and lapel pins belonged to Klaus and were donated by his wife,
Hannelore,
for placement on the summit. These items are securely encased in
a waterproof copper container which is itself inside the rock
cairn that was built and left on the summit by the climbers.
August 5, 2009: Five years after the first ascent,
a helicopter with the survey team aboard flies toward the summit
of
Mt. Blachnitzky.
Photo was taken from Camp 18, 8 kilometers east
of the summit, at a lens focal length of 1120 mm. As with the
first
ascent, smoke from forest fires in Yukon Territory to the north
reduced visibility.
The helicopter makes a powered landing on the summit of Mt.
Blachnitzky, with just the front of the skids touching down. The
small bump in
front of the helicopter is the rock summit cairn built by the
members of the first ascent team on June 30, 2004.
Barely visible through the smoke in the air, the survey team
stands on the summit and sets up the GPS equipment.
Taken from the helicopter as it approached the summit, this view
shows the heavily glaciated north side of Mt. Blachnitzky.
On final approach to the summit. View is to the west.
Setting up the rover GPS on the summit of Mt. Blachnitzky. The
base unit is set up on the small nunatak that is in the background
and to the
immediate right of the summit cairn. View is to the east toward
Camp 18.
The survey team on the summit, with the rover GPS set up and
collecting data. The GPS collected data every second for 15
minutes. These
readings were then corrected based on the known position of the
base GPS set up at the benchmark at Camp 18. Finally, the
individual
corrected rover positions were averaged to obtain the final position
and elevation of the summit.
Melanie Kunz (left) and Florence Vaudan (right). Not shown,
Scott McGee and Mike Wilson (pilot, Coastal Helicopters).
Another view of the rover GPS on the summit, with the rock cairn
dismantled in order to access the summit register container
(copper cylinder).
Recording the GPS survey in the summit logbook. At the
completion of the survey, the logbook was put back in the
waterproof metal
container, which was then encased by the rebuilt rock cairn.
After completing the survey, the helicopter came back to pick up
the survey team. Only the front of the skids are touching the
summit - the
pilot had to maintain full power as the summit was too small to
land normally. The back of the skids are hanging over the edge
of the summit.
Another view of the helicopter picking up the survey team at the
completion of the survey.
This photo was taken from Camp 18, 8 kilometers to the east.
Photograph of the computer screen showing the results of the
survey. Klaus-1 is the average of 10 minutes of readings, while
Klaus-2 is
the
average of 5 minutes. Taking the average of these two gives a
WGS84 elevation of 2030.178 meters. The geoid height at this
position is
+4.941 meters. The regional crustal uplift rate is approximately
11 mm/year, resulting in 15.4 cm of uplift since 1995 when the N1
benchmark
at Camp 18 was surveyed. After making adjustments for the geoid
height and uplift, the elevation of the summit above mean sea level,
in August 2009, is 2025.391 meters (6643.28 feet).
Video of the helicopter landing on the summit of Mt. Blachnitzky
to pick up the survey team.
Right-click and select PLAY to start the video.
Video of the helicopter flight from the summit of Mt.
Blachnitzky to Camp 18. The helicopter takes off from
the summit and circles it, giving a nice view of the summit from
all sides.
Right-click and select PLAY to start the video.
August 10, 2005: The crescent Moon sets over the summit of Mount
Blachnitzky.
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