{{Short description|Cluster of mountains in Alaska}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox mountain | image = Arrigetch Peaks.jpg | image_caption = | country = United States | state = Alaska | state_type = State | region = | region_type = County | range_coordinates = {{coord|67|25|N|154|11|W|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coordinates = | area_km2 = 103.42 | map = Alaska | map_caption = Location in Alaska | embedded={{Infobox protected area | child=yes | alt_name = '''Arrigetch Peaks National Natural Landmark''' | iucn_category = III | established=1968 | governing_body = }} }}
The '''Arrigetch Peaks''' (Iñupiaq: ''Argaich'') are a cluster of rugged granite spires in the Endicott Mountains of the central Brooks Range in northern Alaska. The name ''Arrigetch'' means 'fingers of the outstretched hand' in the Inupiat language. The peaks ring the glacial cirques at the head of the Kobuk River and 2 tributaries of the Alatna River: Arrigetch Creek and Aiyagomahala Creek (Creek 4662). They are located at latitude 67 degrees 24' N and longitude 154 degrees 10' W. All of the summits of the peaks are around 6,000 ft, 1825 m elevation. The Arrigetch Peaks area was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968 for its spectacular geography.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandmarks/site.htm?Site=ARPE-AK|title=National Natural Landmarks - National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)|website=www.nps.gov|language=en|access-date=2019-03-20}}</ref>
The earliest recorded Geological Survey of the area was in 1911 by Philip S. Smith and H.M. Eakin. The renowned conservationist Robert Marshall explored the area in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Robert |editor1-last=Marshall |editor1-first=George |title=Arctic Wilderness |date=1956 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |pages=82–99}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Government Geologists Cross Central Brooks Range |url=https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/government-geologists-cross-central-brooks-range.htm |website=Gates of the Arctic |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=3 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Philip |last2=Mertie |first2=J.B. |title=Geology and Mineral Resources of Northwestern Alaska | journal = USGS Bulletin |volume = 815 |year=1930 |url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b815 |publisher=USGS |doi=10.3133/b815 |hdl=2346/66059 |access-date=3 May 2020|doi-access=free |hdl-access=free }}</ref> These trips were described in Marshall's 1933 book ''Arctic Village'', and posthumous ''Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range''. An American climbing party led by Brownell Bergen completed the first successful rock climbing expedition to the peaks in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/gaar/naturescience/upload/arrigetch%20final%20report%20compressed.pdf |title=History and Route Descriptions of Rock Climbs in the Arrigetch Peaks, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska |access-date=2011-08-16 |archive-date=2012-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108181418/http://www.nps.gov/gaar/naturescience/upload/arrigetch%20final%20report%20compressed.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title = The Granite Towers of the Arrigetch, Brooks Range | first = Jeanne | last = Bergen | url = https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12196531500/The-Granite-Towers-of-Arrigetch-Brooks-Range | journal = American Alpine Journal | date = 1965 |issn = 0065-6925 | volume = #15 | issue = 39 | access-date = 23 May 2025 }}</ref><ref name=AJArrigetch>{{cite journal | title = Arrigetch | url = https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1967_files/AJ%201967%20109-116%20Westmacott%20Arrigetch.pdf | journal =Alpine Journal | date =1967 | pages = 109–116 | issn = 0065-6569 | first = Michael | last=Westmacott | volume =#72 | access-date = 23 May 2025}}</ref> The peaks have been visited by a number of rock climbing expeditions since then.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{commons category|Arrigetch Peaks}}
* Marshall, Robert. Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1956. {{ISBN|0-520-01711-0}} * Marshall, Robert. Arctic Wilderness. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1933. * Wood, Michael and Colby Coombs. Alaska: A Climbing Guide. Seattle: The Mountaineers. 2001. {{ISBN|0-89886-724-X}} * List of rock climbing routes in the Arrigetch Peaks [http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/arrig/index.htm] Retrieved on 2008-3-1
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Category:IUCN Category III Category:Landforms of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Category:Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Category:Brooks Range Category:Mountains of Unorganized Borough, Alaska Category:National Natural Landmarks in Alaska
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