Mount Gandalf is a mountain summit located in the Cadwallader Range in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is situated at the northeast corner of Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park, north of Pemberton, west of Lillooet, north of

Tolkien Peak Tolkien Peak is a mountain summit located in the Cadwallader Range in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is situated in Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park, north of Pemberton, and south of Mount Gandalf, which is its nearest higher peak. ...

, and immediately south of Mount Aragorn, which is its nearest higher peak. Precipitation runoff from the peak drains into tributaries of the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

History

The first ascent of the mountain was made on May 8, 1972, by Peter Jordan, Fred Thiessen, and Eric White.UBC Varsity Outdoor Club Journal, vol 15, 1972, pp 52-55 This climbing party also made the first ascents of nearby Mount Aragorn and Mount Shadowfax. The names for Mounts Aragorn, Gandalf, and Shadowfax were taken from fictional characters in the novels '' The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings'' by J. R. R. Tolkien, which were read while waiting out stormy weather during the 1972 outing. However, Mount Gandalf became incorrectly identified on maps as Shadowfax, and vice versa, as originally proposed in 1978 by Karl Ricker of the Alpine Club of Canada. The mountains' names were corrected as recommended in March 2006 by Scott Nelson and endorsed by the BC Mountaineering Club. The correction was officially adopted December 4, 2006, 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, Mount Gandalf 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 ...

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

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 ...

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 can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. The months July through September offer the most favorable weather for climbing Mount Gandalf. Summit Mount Gandalf

Climbing Routes

Established climbing routes on Mount Gandalf: * South Face - * North Ridge - * ''Wizard of Choss'' (East Face) -

References

Gallery

External links