Cathedral Mountain is a mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

located in British Columbia, Canada.

Description

Cathedral Mountain is a 1,737-meter-elevation (5,699-foot) peak situated 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Vancouver, in the North Shore Mountains which are a subrange of the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

. Precipitation runoff from Cathedral Mountain drains east to the Seymour River, and west to the Capilano River via Eastcap Creek. Cathedral is more notable for its steep rise above local terrain than for its absolute elevation. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,500 meters (4,920 feet) above Seymour Valley in three kilometers (1.9 mile). Access to the peak is off-limits because the mountain lies within the

Metro Vancouver watersheds The Metro Vancouver watersheds, also known as the Greater Vancouver watersheds, supply potable water to approximately 2.7 million residents in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. They provide tap water to a land area covering more than 2,600&n ...

which provide clean drinking water to the city. There are radio repeater towers on the summit.

History

The first ascent of the summit was made 11 October 1908 by Basil S. Darling and H. Hewton. The landform was named for its cathedral-like appearance when viewed from the northeast by a British Columbia Mountaineering Club party who were climbing Mount Dickens in 1908. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted May 6, 1924, by the

Geographical Names Board of Canada The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) is a national committee with a secretariat in Natural Resources Canada, part of the Government of Canada, which authorizes the names used and name changes on official federal government maps of Canada ...

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Cathedral Mountain is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the

where they are forced upward by the range ( Orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall. As a result, the Coast Mountains experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Temperatures in winter can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C.

Gallery

File:Cathedral Mountain in winter.jpg, South aspect in winter, seen from Coliseum Mountain File:Cathedral Mountain in BC Canada.jpg, Cathedral Mountain

References

External links