Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since the eastern aspect of the mountain rises up from the tidewater of Prince William Sound's Passage Canal in approximately one mile.

The mountain was named by Chief Warrant Officer Robert G. Warns, US Army, in commemoration of his friend Robert L. Maynard, a fellow Army helicopter pilot who was killed April 27, 1964, when his CH-21 helicopter crashed on the nearby Portage Glacier while aiding victims of the Good Friday earthquake.

[3] The flight was in support of operation "Helping Hand", transporting personnel and supplies from Anchorage to the Port of Whittier.

[4] Weather systems coming off the Gulf of Alaska are forced upwards by the Chugach Mountains (orographic lift), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall.

This climate supports permanent ice on the slopes of the mountain, as well as the Learnard Glacier on the northeast aspect.