Mount Shadowfax 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 ...

in southwest

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

Description

Mount Shadowfax is located in the

Cadwallader Range The Cadwallader Range, originally named the Cadwallader Mountains, is a sub-range of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the Bridge River-Lillooet Country of the South-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located between the south ...

which is 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 ...

. It is situated north of Pemberton and northeast of

Mount Gandalf 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, British Columbia, Pemberton, west of Li ...

. Most precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from the peak drains south to

Birkenhead Lake Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located in the Lillooet Country region to the northeast of Pemberton, British Columbia, Pemberton and immediately northwest of Birkenhead Peak and Gates Lake (a.k.a ...

via Phelix Creek, however a portion of the north slope drains to Cadwallader Creek, which is a tributary of the

Hurley River The Hurley River is a major tributary of the Bridge River of west-central British Columbia that was earlier known as the South Fork of that larger river. It was for a while known as "Hamilton's River" after Danny Hamilton, an American who was amon ...

. Shadowfax is more notable for its steep rise above local terrain than for its absolute elevation as

topographic relief Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...

is significant with the summit rising over 800 meters (2,625 ft) above Phelix Creek in approximately .

History

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 the mountain was made May 7, 1972, by Peter Jordan and Fred Thiessen.UBC Varsity Outdoor Club Journal, vol 15, 1972, pp 52-55 This climbing party also made the first ascents of nearby Mount Gandalf and

Mount Aragorn Mount Aragorn is a mountain summit located in the Cadwallader Range in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is situated north of Pemberton, west of Lillooet, and immediately north of Mount Gandalf. Precipitation runoff from the peak drai ...

. The names Aragorn, Gandalf, and Shadowfax were taken from fictional characters in the novels ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

'' and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'' by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

, which were read while waiting out stormy weather during the 1972 outing. Shadowfax is

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of t ...

's very special horse. The mountain's toponym was originally proposed as Mount Gandalf in 1978 by Karl Ricker of the

Alpine Club of Canada The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is an amateur athletic association with its national office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler ...

and officially adopted January 23, 1979, but was officially changed to Shadowfax on 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 ...

in accordance with the first ascent party's intention. Older maps will show the two mountains (Gandalf and Shadowfax) with the names interchanged.

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 ...

, Mount Shadowfax 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. Most

weather front A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For in ...

s originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Coast Mountains where they are forced upward by the range (

Orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

), 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. Winter 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 Shadowfax.

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Mount Shadowfax
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadowfax Two-thousanders of British Columbia Pacific Ranges Lillooet Land District Coast Mountains

Description

History

Climate

See also

References

External links