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28-509: The wilderness encompasses most of the upper reaches of the San Francisco Peaks including Humphreys Peak , Arizona's highest point at 12,643 feet (3,854 m). The area is named for the Hopi spirit beings, or Kachinas , some of whom according to Hopi mythology live here from July to December. In mid-summer kachinas can bring clouds and rain from the top of the peaks to the Hopi mesas during

56-1052: A dry-summer subalpine climate ( Köppen Dsc ), bordering on a dry-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen Dsb ). The only Arctic-Alpine vegetation in Arizona is found in a fragile 2-square-mile (5.2 km) zone on the peaks of Kachina Peaks Wilderness. This is the only place where the threatened San Francisco Peaks groundsel (Packera franciscana) is found. Common recreational activities in Kachina Peaks Wilderness include hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and hunting. San Francisco Peaks The San Francisco Peaks ( Navajo : Dookʼoʼoosłííd , Spanish : Sierra de San Francisco , Hopi : Nuva'tukya'ovi , Western Apache : Dził Tso , Keres : Tsii Bina , Southern Paiute : Nuvaxatuh , Havasupai-Hualapai : Hvehasahpatch / Huassapatch / Wik'hanbaja , Yavapai : Wi:mun Kwa , Zuni : Sunha K'hbchu Yalanne , Mojave : 'Amat 'Iikwe Nyava ) are

84-500: A mission at a Hopi Indian village in honor of St. Francis , 65 miles from the peaks. Seventeenth century Franciscans at Oraibi village gave the name San Francisco to the peaks to honor St. Francis of Assisi , the founder of their order. The mountain man Antoine Leroux visited the San Francisco Peaks in the mid-1850s, and guided several American expeditions exploring and surveying northern Arizona. Leroux guided them to

112-461: A volcanic mountain range in the San Francisco volcanic field in north central Arizona , just north of Flagstaff and a remnant of the former San Francisco Mountain . The highest summit in the range, Humphreys Peak , is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12,633 feet (3,851 m) in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded stratovolcano . An aquifer within

140-454: A height of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m) above sea level. Prior to its collapse due to a landslide and hypothesized Mount St. Helens-like lateral eruption to the northeast (around 200,000 years ago) and subsequent glacial erosion, the San Francisco Peaks fully matured elevation is estimated to have been around 16,000 feet (4,900 m). In 1629, 147 years before San Francisco, California , received that name, Spanish friars founded

168-415: A number of recreational opportunities, including wintertime snow skiing and hiking the rest of the year. Hart Prairie is a popular hiking area and Nature Conservancy preserve located below the mountain's ski resort, Arizona Snowbowl . Humphreys Peak (latitude 35°20'47" N) and Agassiz Peak (latitude 35°19'33" N) are the two farthest south-lying mountain peaks in the contiguous United States that rise to

196-459: A recreation and sport. Military ski races were held in Norway during the 18th century, and ski warfare was studied in the late 18th century. As equipment evolved and ski lifts were developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, two main genres of skiing emerged— Alpine (downhill) skiing and Nordic skiing . The main difference between the two is the type of ski binding (the way in which

224-483: A set of six life zones found from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the summit of the mountains, based on elevation, latitude, and average precipitation. He designated their characteristic flora, as follows: Merriam considered that these life zones could be extended to cover all the world's vegetation types with the addition of only one more zone, the tropical zone. The San Francisco Peaks themselves contain four of

252-446: A wastewater pipeline to the peaks. In response, there was an ongoing series of protest actions including demonstrations and lockdowns in which protesters chained themselves to construction equipment. In 2012, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of Arizona Snowbowl, and wastewater to snow conversion began in the 2012–2013 ski season. The biologist Clinton Hart Merriam studied these mountains and surrounding areas in 1889, describing

280-469: Is practiced in certain areas that are reserved exclusively for ski jumping. Telemark skiing is a ski turning technique and FIS-sanctioned discipline, which is named after the Telemark region of Norway. It uses equipment similar to Nordic skiing, where the ski bindings are attached only at the toes of the ski boots, allowing the skier's heel to be raised throughout the turn. However, the skis themselves are often

308-538: The Havasupai , Navajo , Hopi , and Zuni .) In particular, the peaks form the Navajo sacred mountain of the west, called Dookʼoʼoosłííd . The peaks are associated with the color yellow, and they are said to contain abalone inside, to be secured to the ground with a sunbeam, and to be covered with yellow clouds and evening twilight. They are gendered female. For the Hopi people, the San Francisco Peaks are associated with

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336-670: The International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). Skiing has a history of almost five millennia. Although modern skiing has evolved from beginnings in Scandinavia , it may have been practiced more than 100 centuries ago in the Altai Mountains , according to an interpretation of ancient paintings. However, this continues to be debated. The word "ski" comes from

364-458: The Old Norse word "skíð" which means to "split piece of wood or firewood". Asymmetrical skis were used in northern Finland and Sweden until at least the late 19th century. On one foot, the skier wore a long straight non-arching ski for sliding, and a shorter ski was worn on the other foot for kicking. The underside of the short ski was either plain or covered with animal skin to aid this use, while

392-480: The caldera supplies much of Flagstaff's water while the mountain itself is in the Coconino National Forest , a popular recreation site. The Arizona Snowbowl ski area is on the western slopes of Humphreys Peak, and has been the subject of major controversy involving several tribes and environmental groups. The six highest individual peaks in Arizona are contained in the range: The mountain provides

420-547: The intercardinal direction southwest. They constitute ritually pure sacred spaces, and are used as sources for ceremonial objects. The alignment of the sunset from the peaks to Hopi villages on Black Mesa is used to calculate the winter solstice, signifying “the beginning of a new year, with a new planting season and new life”. The peaks are seen as the home of the katsinam or kachina spirits, ancestors who have become clouds following their death. Katsinam are invited to Hopi villages to serve as ethical and spiritual guides to

448-493: The ski boots are attached to the skis). Also called "downhill skiing", Alpine skiing typically takes place on a piste at a ski resort . It is characterized by fixed-heel bindings that attach at both the toe and the heel of the skier's boot. Ski lifts , including chairlifts , bring skiers up the slope. Backcountry skiing can be accessed by helicopter , snowcat , hiking and snowmobile . Facilities at resorts can include night skiing , après-ski , and glade skiing under

476-599: The Hopi community from midwinter to midsummer. Aaloosaktukwi or Humphrey's Peak holds particular religious significance and is associated with the deity Aaloosaka , a symbol of the Two-Horn Society, a religious group among the Hopi dating to the occupation of the Awat’ovi village on Antelope Mesa. Depiction of the peaks in association with calendar-keeping is attested in a kiva at the Hisatsinom settlement of Homol'ovi, which

504-579: The San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve, at the request of Gifford Pinchot , the head of the U.S. Division of Forestry. The local reaction was hostile – citizens of Williams, Arizona , protested and the Williams News editorialized that the reserve "virtually destroys Coconino County ." In 1908, the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve became a part of the new Coconino National Forest . In 2002, Arizona Snowbowl ,

532-471: The bottom of alpine skis to give them traction on snow. This permits Nordic style uphill and back-country travel on alpine skis. For downhill travel, the heels are locked and the skins are removed. The Nordic disciplines include cross-country skiing and ski jumping , which both use bindings that attach at the toes of the skier's boots but not at the heels. Cross-country skiing may be practiced on groomed trails or in undeveloped backcountry areas. Ski jumping

560-403: The long ski supporting the weight of the skier was treated with animal fat in a similar manner to modern ski waxing . Early skiers used one long pole or spear. The first description of a skier with two ski poles dates to 1741. Troops in continental Europe were equipped with skis by 1747. Skiing was primarily used for transport until the mid-19th century but, since then, it has also become

588-548: The only reliable spring, one on the western side of the peaks, which was later named Leroux Springs. Around 1877, John Willard Young , a son of the Mormon leader Brigham Young , claimed the area around Leroux Springs, and he built Fort Moroni, a log stockade , to house railroad tie-cutters for the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad , which was then being built across northern Arizona. In 1898, U.S. President William McKinley established

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616-414: The rim of the volcano's inner basin, a huge caldera which was formed during its last eruption. Kachina Peaks Wilderness features Arizona's best examples of Ice Age glaciation , found in lateral and medial moraines and abandoned stream beds. Snowslide Canyon is a SNOTEL weather station in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness, located within the inner basin of the San Francisco Peaks . Snowslide Canyon has

644-531: The same width as Alpine skis. The following skiing disciplines are sanctioned by the FIS . Many have their own world cups and are included in the Winter Olympic Games . Equipment used in skiing includes: Technique has evolved along with ski technology and ski geometry . Early techniques included the telemark turn, the stem , the stem Christie , snowplough , and parallel turn . New parabolic designs like

672-603: The seasonal monsoons. These peaks are sacred to tribes including the Havasupai , Hopi , Navajo , and Zuni . Several religious shrines have been identified in the wilderness, some of which are still in use. Kachina Peaks Wilderness is part of a large composite volcano that last erupted roughly two million years ago. Some of the area's trails lead to the top of the Kachina Peaks: Humphreys Peak, Doyle Peak (11,460 ft), Fremont Peak (11,969 ft), and Agassiz Peak (12,365 ft). These mountains form

700-400: The six life zones. The four life zones that are found along the slopes of the San Francisco Peaks are listed below along with their approximate elevation ranges, dominant tree species found within each of the four life zones, and average annual precipitation of each life zone: The San Francisco Peaks have considerable religious significance to thirteen local American Indian tribes (including

728-433: The ski resort on the peaks, proposed a plan to expand and begin snowmaking using reclaimed water made of treated sewage effluent . A coalition of Indian tribes and environmental groups sued the Coconino National Forest , which leases the land to the ski resort, in an attempt to stop the proposed expansion, citing serious impacts to traditional culture , public health, and the environment. In 2011, construction began on

756-478: The supervision of the ski patrol and the ski school . Alpine skiing branched off from the older Nordic type of skiing around the 1920s when the advent of ski lifts meant that it was no longer necessary to climb back uphill. Alpine equipment has specialized to the point where it can now only be used with the help of lifts. Alpine Touring setups use specialized bindings which are switchable between locked and free-heel modes. Climbing skins are temporarily attached to

784-459: Was occupied from 1250 to 1425; katsinam imagery dates to the 13th century as well. Other Native American peoples also relate kachina spirits to heavy snowfalls on the peaks. There are several names for the San Francisco Peaks in local languages: Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport . Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by

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