Sometimes they even eat caribou calves. Denali Alaska's most impressive feature is Denali. This is the highest mountain on the North American continent, measuring 20,320 feet from the 2,000 foot lowlands to its summit. Denali lies within the Alaskan Range, which extends 600 miles, dividing southcentral Alaska from the Interior. This magnificent range was created several hundred million years ago when two tectonic plates collided.
Mountains have two separate precipitation patterns.
The side toward the ocean is called the leeward side and this area gets most of the precipitation. The continental side is in what is called the rainshadow. This area receives much less rain. Mountains also have different vegetation types depending on the slope of the mountain. North-facing slopes receive the least direct sunshine and have shallow active layers.