The Columbia Icefield is the largest

ice field An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and highe ...

in North America's

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

. Located within the Canadian Rocky Mountains astride the Continental Divide along the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, the ice field lies partly in the northwestern tip of Banff National Park and partly in the southern end of

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...

. It is about in area, to in depth and receives up to of snowfall per year.

History

The Columbia Icefield was formed during the Great Glaciation, or Illinoisan period (238,000 to 126,000 BCE).Sandford 1993, p. 23. The initial advancement of the ice field ended during the latter millennia of the Early Wisconsinan period (73,000 to 62,000 BCE), around the time ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'' began to appear on the earth. The next major advance of the ice field occurred during the Late Wisconsinan period (18,000 to 9,000 BCE), which marked the end of the major intercontinental land mass bridges. During the Crowfoot Glacier advance (9,000 to 7,000 BCE), humans were beginning to learn farming along the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

, and

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

rivers. The last major period of advance occurred during the Little Ice Age, which lasted from about 1,200 to 1900 AD. Around 1800, the

Athabasca Glacier The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal 'toes' of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier currently loses depth at a rate of about per year and has receded more than and lost over half of its volume in ...

peaked, then went through a period of recession, and then advanced again until 1840, when it began receding until the present day. The Columbia Icefield was one of the last major geological features in western Canada to be visited and recorded by Europeans, due to its isolation and harsh weather conditions.Sandford 1993, p. 56. In April 1827, Scottish botanist David Douglas was crossing

Athabasca Pass Athabasca Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Canadian Rockies on the border between Alberta and British Columbia. In fur trade days it connected Jasper House on the Athabasca River with Boat Encampment on the Columbia River.Whittaker, Jo ...

—a major trading route located north of the Icefield—when he climbed one of the adjacent mountain peaks. He reported his first ascent in his journal, describing it to be in height. In the summer of 1884, geology professor

Arthur Philemon Coleman Arthur Philemon Coleman (April 4, 1852 – February 26, 1939) was a Canadian geologist and academic. Biography Born in Lachute, Quebec, the son of Rev. Francis Coleman and Emmeline Maria Adams, he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1876 and Maste ...

explored the Great Divide from Banff to

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

in search of Douglas' giant peak. While unsuccessful, he did discover the route that would become the Icefield Parkway. In July 1898, British explorer

J. Norman Collie Professor John Norman Collie FRSE FRS (10 September 1859 – 1 November 1942), commonly referred to as J. Norman Collie, was an English scientist, mountaineer and explorer. Life and work He was born in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, the second of ...

and his friends Hugh Stutfield and Herman Wooley set off in search of Douglas' giants, equipped by the famous Banff outfitter

Bill Peyto Ebenezer William Peyto ( ; 14 February 1869 – 23 March 1943) was an English-Canadian pioneer, mountain guide, and early park warden of Banff National Park. Life and career Peyto was born in Welling, Kent in 1869 and immigrated to Canada, settl ...

. On the morning of August 18, Collie and Wooley climbed the east side of

Mount Athabasca Mount Athabasca is located in the Columbia Icefield of Jasper National Park in Canada. The mountain was named in 1898 by J. Norman Collie, who made the first ascent on August 18 of that year. Athabasca is the Cree language name for "where there ...

, moved up the glacier when the ridge gave way to crumbling rock, and made their way to the summit, where they discovered an ice field that extended to almost every horizon. Collie later wrote: In 1900, former British clergyman James Outram came to the Canadian Rockies to recover his health after a nervous breakdown.Sandford 1993, p. 58. The following year he made the first ascent of

Mount Assiniboine Mount Assiniboine, also known as Assiniboine Mountain, is a pyramidal peak mountain located on the Great Divide, on the British Columbia/Alberta border in Canada. At , it is the highest peak in the Southern Continental Ranges of the Canadian Ro ...

(), then considered the "Matterhorn of the Rockies". In 1902, Outram made ten first ascents of peaks over and discovered four new mountain passes in the Columbia Icefield area. Two of his first ascents in 1902 were Mount Columbia () and

Mount Bryce Mount Bryce is a mountain at the southwestern corner of the Columbia Icefield, in British Columbia, Canada, near the border with Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada ...

(), one of the most dangerous and difficult summits in the Rocky Mountains. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, other mountaineering firsts occurred. In 1923, American climbers James Munroe Thorington and W. S. Ladd joined Austrian guide

Conrad Kain Conrad Kain (10 August 1883, Nasswald – 2 February 1934, Cranbrook, British Columbia) was an Austrian mountain guide who guided extensively in Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, and was responsible for the first ascents of more than 60 routes in ...

to summit the daunting

North Twin Peak North Twin (Peak) is one of the two main peaks that comprise The Twins massif located at the northeast corner of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The other lower peak is named South Twin (3,566 m). North Twin is t ...

(), Mount Columbia, and Mount Saskatchewan () in five days. The following year, another American expedition led by William O. Field and guide Edward Feuz climbed both the North Twin Peak and the

South Twin Peak South Twin (Peak) () is one of two main peaks that comprise The Twins massif located at the northeast corner of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The other higher main peak is named North Twin, with a height of . So ...

() in twenty-four hours—a combined distance of about . In 1927, A. J. Ostheimer discovered a new route to the North Peak Summit, made first ascents of

Stutfield Peak Stutfield Peak is a mountain in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. It is located at the northern end of the Columbia Icefield, north-west from Mount Kitchener, in the Winston Churchill Range of the Canadian Rockies. The peak has two summi ...

() and

Mount Kitchener Mount Kitchener is a mountain located within the Columbia Icefield of Jasper National Park, which is part of the Canadian Rockies. The mountain can be seen from the Icefields Parkway (highway 93) near Sunwapta Pass. Mt. Kitchener was originally ...

(), and became the first climber to traverse the Snow Dome () in 36 hours.Sandford 1993, pp. 58–59. During his 63-day visit to the Columbia Icefield, Ostheimer and his two companions walked over a and climbed thirty peaks—twenty-five of which were first ascents.Sandford 1993, p. 59. In March 1932, three men undertook a remarkable skiing journey from Jasper to Banff that covered about . When Cliff White, Joe Weiss, and Russell Bennet reached the Columbia Icefield, they climbed to the summit of Snow Dome, and then made a downhill run descent of almost which lasted for —the longest continuous ski run in Canadian history up to that point.Sandford 1993, p. 60. Their accomplishment played a major role in generating worldwide interest in the Canadian Rockies. Today, mountaineers and skiers from around the world come to the Columbia Icefield to explore some of the classic routes discovered by these early pioneers of mountaineering.

Glaciers

The icefield feeds six major

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s: *

* Castleguard Glacier * Columbia Glacier *

Dome Glacier Dome Glacier is in Snoqualmie National Forest in the U.S. state of Washington and is on the north slopes of Dome Peak. Dome Glacier flows generally west for a distance of approximately , maintaining a generally shallow gradient between at which p ...

* Stutfield Glacier * Saskatchewan Glacier Parts of the Columbia Icefield and part of other icefields and glaciers are visible from the

Icefields Parkway Highway 93 is a north–south highway in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as the Banff-Windermere Parkway south of the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) and the Icefields Parkway north of the Trans-Canada Highway. It travels through ...

. The icefield was first reported in 1898 by

and Hermann Woolley after they had completed the

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of Mount Athabasca. The

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is ...

and the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...

originate in the Columbia Icefield, as do tributary headwaters of the Columbia River. As the icefield is atop a triple Continental Divide these waters flow ultimately north to the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

, east to Hudson Bay (and thence to the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

), and south and west to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. Hudson Bay, in some watershed divisions, is considered to be in the Arctic watershed, in which case this would arguably not be a ''triple'' continental divide point.

Mountains

Some of the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

s in the Canadian Rockies are located around the edges: *

Mount Alberta Mount Alberta is a mountain located in the upper Athabasca River Valley of Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. J. Norman Collie named the mountain in 1898 after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. It is the most difficult of the 11,000ers from ...

() * Mount Andromeda () *

() *

() * Mount Castleguard () * Mount Columbia () *

Mount King Edward Mount King Edward is a mountain located at the head of the Athabasca River valley in Jasper National Park, Canada. Mt. King Edward is situated on the Continental Divide with Mt. Columbia 5 km (3.4 mi) east. The mountain was named in 1906 by Mar ...

() *

() * Snow Dome () *

()

References

Citations

Sources

* *

Gallery

File:Snow Dome and skiing the Columbia Icefield.jpg, Snow Dome and the Columbia Icefield File:Columbia Icefield; Mt. Bryce right, our tent left.jpg, Columbia Icefield; Mt. Bryce right, our tent left File:Skiing the Columbia Icefield, Doug.jpg, Skiing the Columbia Icefield File:Skiing the Columbia Icefield, Linda.jpg, Peaks to the West of the Icefield

External links

*
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure
(Brewster)
Columbia Icefield
(Bivouac)
Columbia Icefield
Flickr {{Authority control Canadian Rockies Ice fields of Alberta Ice fields of British Columbia Geology of the Rocky Mountains Tourist attractions in Alberta Tourist attractions in British Columbia Great Divide of North America