Fossil Mountain (Alberta)

Last updated
Fossil Mountain
Mount St. Bride.jpg
Fossil Mountain to left in front
Highest point
Elevation 2,946 m (9,665 ft) [1] [2] [3]
Prominence 471 m (1,545 ft) [4]
Parent peak Mount Richardson [4]
Listing Mountains of Alberta
Coordinates 51°30′15″N116°02′40″W / 51.50417°N 116.04444°W / 51.50417; -116.04444 [1]
Geography
Canada Alberta relief location map - transverse mercator proj.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Fossil Mountain
Location in Alberta
Location Alberta, Canada
Parent range Slate Range
Topo map NTS 82N9 Hector Lake
Climbing
First ascent 1906
Easiest route Easy scramble

Fossil Mountain is a mountain located south of Skoki Mountain in Banff National Park, Canada. The mountain was named in 1906 by M.P. Bridgland, of the first ascent party, after the numerous fossils that can be found on its slopes. [1] [4]

Contents

Fossil Mountain is the site of the first known skiing fatality in the Canadian Rockies. On April 7, 1933, Raymond Paley died in a slab avalanche when he attempted to ski down the mountain after skiing almost to the top. [1]

In February 1988, cousins Dan and Wayne Hugo (29 and 27 respectively) were hiking and skiing on Fossil Mountain when an avalanche, which they may have triggered, occurred. They both died. [5]

Routes

The scrambling route ascends easy scree slopes from Deception Pass. Due to these easy slopes, the mountain is sometimes ascended in winter by skiers. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banff, Alberta</span> Town in Canada

Banff is a resort town in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, 126 km (78 mi) west of Calgary, 58 km (36 mi) east of Lake Louise, and 1,400 to 1,630 m above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Forbes</span> Mountain in Banff NP, Canada

Mount Forbes is the seventh tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies and the tallest within the boundaries of Banff National Park. It is located in southwestern Alberta, 18 km (11 mi) southwest of the Saskatchewan River Crossing in Banff. The mountain was named by James Hector in 1859 after Edward Forbes, Hector's natural history professor at the University of Edinburgh during the mid-19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Temple (Alberta)</span> Mountain in Banff NP, Canada

Mount Temple is a mountain in Banff National Park of the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Niblock</span> Mountain in Banff NP, Canada

Mount Niblock is a mountain in Banff National Park near Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Garibaldi</span> Stratovolcano in British Columbia, Canada

Mount Garibaldi is a dormant stratovolcano in the Garibaldi Ranges of the Pacific Ranges in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It has a maximum elevation of 2,678 metres and rises above the surrounding landscape on the east side of the Cheakamus River in New Westminster Land District. In addition to the main peak, Mount Garibaldi has two named sub-peaks. Atwell Peak is a sharp, conical peak slightly higher than the more rounded peak of Dalton Dome. Both were volcanically active at different times throughout Mount Garibaldi's eruptive history. The northern and eastern flanks of Mount Garibaldi are obscured by the Garibaldi Névé, a large snowfield containing several radiating glaciers. Flowing from the steep western face of Mount Garibaldi is the Cheekye River, a tributary of the Cheakamus River. Opal Cone on the southeastern flank is a small volcanic cone from which a lengthy lava flow descends. The western face is a landslide feature that formed in a series of collapses between 12,800 and 11,500 years ago. These collapses resulted in the formation of a large debris flow deposit that fans out into the Squamish Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascade Mountain (Alberta)</span> Mountain in Alberta, Canada

Cascade Mountain is a mountain located in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park, adjacent to the town of Banff. The mountain was named in 1858 by James Hector after the waterfall or cascade on the southern flanks of the peak. The mountain has also been called Stoney Chief, which is related to the name of the smaller neighbouring mountain Stoney Squaw, which is still in use. Cascade is the highest mountain adjacent to the townsite.

Pika Peak is a mountain located between Mount Richardson and Ptarmigan Peak in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada The mountain was named in 1928 after the pika, the small "rock rabbit" that inhabits alpine regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slate Range (Alberta)</span> Mountain range in Alberta, Canada

The Slate Range is a mountain range of the Canadian Rockies, located in Banff National Park, Canada. The range is named after slate, the primary composition of the mountains in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Richardson (Alberta)</span> Mountain in Banff NP, Alberta, Canada

Mount Richardson is the highest mountain of the Slate Range located beside Pika Peak in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The mountain was named in 1859 by James Hector after Sir John Richardson who was the ship's surgeon and naturalist on John Franklin's 1819 and 1825 expeditions into the Arctic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ptarmigan Peak (Alberta)</span> Mountain in Alberta, Canada

Ptarmigan Peak is a mountain located near Pika Peak in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Rundle</span> Mountain in Banff National Park, Canada

Mount Rundle is a mountain in Canada's Banff National Park overlooking the towns of Banff and Canmore, Alberta. The Cree name was Waskahigan Watchi or house mountain. In 1858 John Palliser renamed the mountain after Reverend Robert Rundle, a Methodist invited by the Hudson's Bay Company to do missionary work in western Canada in the 1840s. He introduced syllabics there—a written language developed for the Cree, as part of his missionary work. He only visited the Stoney-Nakoda of the area around what is now called Mount Rundle in 1844 and 1847.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Ball</span> Mountain in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada

Mount Ball is a mountain located on the Continental Divide, on the borders of Banff and Kootenay national parks in Western Canada. Mt. Ball is the highest peak of the Ball Range in the Canadian Rockies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Mountain</span> Mountain in Alberta, Canada

Castle Mountain is a mountain located within Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, approximately halfway between Banff and Lake Louise. It is the easternmost mountain of the Main Ranges in the Bow Valley and sits astride the Castle Mountain Fault which has thrust older sedimentary and metamorphic rocks forming the upper part of the mountain over the younger rocks forming its base. The mountain's castellated, or castle-like, appearance is a result of erosive processes acting at different rates on the peak's alternating layers of softer shale and harder limestone, dolomite and quartzite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Tom (California)</span> Mountain in eastern California

Mount Tom is a large and prominent peak near the city of Bishop in Inyo County of eastern California. It is in the Sierra Nevada and east of the Sierra Crest. The mountain is also in the John Muir Wilderness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilot Mountain (Alberta)</span> Mountain in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Pilot Mountain is a mountain in the Bow River valley of Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located southeast of Redearth Creek and directly west of the Trans-Canada Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banff Sunshine</span> Ski resort in Alberta, Canada

Banff Sunshine Village is a ski resort in western Canada, located on the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies within Banff National Park in Alberta and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia. It is one of three major ski resorts located in the Banff National Park. Because of its location straddling the Continental Divide, Sunshine receives more snow than the neighbouring ski resorts. The Sunshine base area is located 15 km (9 mi) southwest of the town of Banff. By car, it is about a ninety-minute drive from the city of Calgary; the Sunshine exit on the Trans Canada Highway is 8 km (5 mi) west of the town of Banff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mt Norquay</span> Ski resort in Alberta, Canada

Mt. Norquay is a mountain and ski resort in Banff National Park, Canada that lies directly northwest of the Town of Banff. The regular ski season starts early December and ends mid-April. Mount Norquay is one of three major ski resorts located in the Banff National Park.

The Stanley Mitchell hut is an alpine hut located at an altitude of 2,060 metres (6,759 ft) in the Little Yoho Valley in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada. It sits in a small meadow not far from the base of a mountain called The President. It serves as a base for hiking, scrambling, ski-touring and climbing the nearby mountains. The hut is maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbot Pass hut</span> Historic building in Alberta, Canada

The Abbot Pass hut was an alpine hut located at an altitude of 2,925 metres (9,596 ft) in Abbot Pass in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. It was nestled between Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy, straddling the Great Divide, which, in this region, defines the boundary between Banff National Park in Alberta and Yoho National Park in British Columbia. While close to the border, the hut lay entirely in Banff National Park, and was the second-highest permanently habitable structure in Canada. The hut was maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Rae</span> Mountain in Alberta, Canada

Mount Rae is a mountain located on the eastern side of Highway 40 between Elbow Pass and the Ptarmigan Cirque in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta. Mount Rae was named after John Rae, explorer of Northern Canada, in 1859.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Fossil Mountain". cdnrockiesdatabases.ca. Retrieved 2004-10-14.
  2. 1 2 Kane, Alan (1999). "Fossil Mountain". Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies . Calgary: Rocky Mountain Books. p. 253. ISBN   0-921102-67-4.
  3. Banff & Mt. Assiniboine (Map). Cochrane, AB: GemTrek Publishing Ltd. 1997. § 6606. ISBN   1-895526-04-3.
  4. 1 2 3 "Fossil Mountain". Bivouac.com. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  5. "Newspaper Archives p.2". newspaperarchive.com. Medicine Hat News. February 22, 1988. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
Fossil Mountain seen from Ptarmigan Lake Fossil Mountain seen from Ptarmigan Lake.jpg
Fossil Mountain seen from Ptarmigan Lake