Diadem Peak is a

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...

located in the

Sunwapta River The Sunwapta River is a major tributary of the Athabasca River in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. Course The headwaters of the Sunwapta River are near the Columbia Icefield in the valley west-northwest of Sunwapta Pass, which divides Ja ...

Valley 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 ...

, Canada. Diadem Peak is essentially the high point of a ridge leading down from the slightly higher

Mount Woolley Mount Woolley is a mountain in Alberta, Canada, located in the Sunwapta River Valley of Jasper National Park, 1½ km south of Diadem Peak and is part of Winston Churchill Range of the Canadian Rockies. History The mountain was named in 1898 by ...

(). This peak was the first 11,000er north of the

Columbia Icefield The Columbia Icefield is the largest ice field in North America's Rocky Mountains. Located within the Canadian Rocky Mountains astride the Continental Divide along the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, the ice field lies partly ...

to be climbed and one of the few peaks in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

to be climbed before 1900. The mountain was named in 1898 by the first ascent team of

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 ...

, Hugh Stutfield and Hermann Woolley. Upon reaching the summit, they discovered a crown (

diadem A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. Overview The word derives from the Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", from διαδέω ''diadéō'', "I ...

) of snow about high covering the almost flat layer of rocks on top.

Climbing history

In the summer of 1898, J. Norman Collie, Hugh Stutfield and Herman Woolley, had made their way up Woolley Creek and initially had their sights on reaching the top of Mount Woolley by climbing the icefield that separates Mt. Woolley from Diadem Peak. However, after a brief downpour which forced them to seek shelter among some rocks, they had just begun preparing the rope for ascending the icefield when a large collapse of ice from the summit made them switch their objective to Diadem Peak. The party ascended the southeast ridge along loose

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

and ice, eventually finding a small rock rib that took them to the summit on August 25. Collie recorded an initial elevation of using a mercurial

barometer A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...

. With the use of

crampons A crampon is a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and ice ...

, the difficulties of the southeast ridge route are reduced by following a shallow snow gully up much of the way.Corbett, pp. 52-53 In 1962, William Buckingham and Bill Hooker, ascended Diadem Peak by what is now known as the South Ridge route. This route initially traverses loose rock ledges to reach a snow/ice

couloir A ''couloir'' (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. . Geology A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissur ...

which is followed until the glacier levels off and is no longer fractured. Traversing left across rock to the glacier, the route follows the glacier up to the Woolley-Diadem col where Diadem's summit is reached after an easy ascent up the ridge. Jim Elzinga and Jeff Marshall made the first ascent up a mixed route on the North face of Diadem in July 1981. This route is known as "Humble Horse" (IV, 5.7, W4).

Geology

Diadem Peak is composed of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

laid down from the

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

periods. Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the

Laramide orogeny The Laramide orogeny was a time period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 70 to 80 million years ago, and ended 35 to 55 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the o ...

Climate

Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Diadem Peak is located in a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Temperatures can drop below -20 °C with wind chill factors below -30 °C.

References

;Sources * {{Canadian Rockies, state=collapsed Three-thousanders of Alberta Winston Churchill Range Alberta's Rockies Mountains of Jasper National Park