Neal Marshall Carter (December 12, 1902 – March 3, 1978) was a Canadian

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

, photographer,

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

. He is most famous for his explorations in

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, ...

, especially in 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 he made several

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 ...

Biography

Carter was born on December 14, 1902, in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia. He was educated at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

and then at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

where he earned a PhD in organic chemistry. Carter was a marine biologist in his professional life, having worked in fisheries research from 1930 to 1962. He was introduced to mountaineering and to the

British Columbia Mountaineering Club The British Columbia Mountaineering Club (BCMC) is a mountaineering organization, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded on October 28, 1907 as the Vancouver Mountaineering Club, it became one of the centres of Canadian Mountaineering, part ...

by Tom Fyles. Carter remained as a member of that organization from 1920 until 1926 when he left to become a member 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 ...

. The Coast Mountains of British Columbia were Carter's first favorite place for climbing mountains. Here, he explored new peaks and made several first ascents in what is now

Garibaldi Provincial Park Garibaldi Provincial Park, also called Garibaldi Park, is a wilderness park located on the coastal mainland of British Columbia, Canada, 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) north of Vancouver. It was established in 1920 and named a Class A Provincial ...

. Carter was a skilled surveyor, photographer and cartographer, having created the first

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

s of Garibaldi Provincial Park and of the

Tantalus Range The Tantalus Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southern British Columbia, Canada. The range is easily viewed from the " Sea to Sky Highway" that travels from Vancouver to Squamish and Whistler. To Squamish peopl ...

in the 1920s. In the 1930s, Carter explored peaks at the head of the

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abou ...

and

Toba Toba may refer to: Languages * Toba Sur language, spoken in South America * Batak Toba, spoken in Indonesia People * Toba people, indigenous peoples of the Gran Chaco in South America * Toba Batak people, a sub-ethnic group of Batak people from ...

rivers. Carter along with mountaineers Alec Dalgleish, Alan Lambert and Eric Brooks attempted a first ascent of

Mount Waddington Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although it is lower than Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the United States border between Alaska ...

in 1934. Their attempt ended in tragedy on June 26, 1934, when Dalgleish fell to his death as a result of his climbing rope having been severed by a sharp-edged rock. In the early 1940s, Carter surveyed the

Seven Sisters Peaks Seven Sisters Peaks is a multi-summit massif located in the Bulkley Ranges of the Interior Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. The massif is situated within Seven Sisters Provincial Park and Protected Area, southeast of Cedarvale, south o ...

, a multi-summit

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

near

Smithers Smithers is a surname of English origin. It derives from the Middle English term "smyther", referring to a metalsmith, and is thus related to the common occupational surname Smith. The name Smither is related. People *Alan Smithers (born 1938 ...

in the

Bulkley Ranges The Bulkley Ranges is mountain range in northern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Skeena River, Skeena and Bulkley Rivers south of Hazelton, British Columbia, Hazelton, north of the Morice River and Zymoetz River. It has an area of 78 ...

of the

Interior Mountains The Interior Mountains or Northern Interior Mountains are the semi-official names for an expansive collection of mountain ranges that comprises much of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia and a large area of southern Yu ...

. He was the first to climb Weeskinisht Peak, the highest point of the Seven Sisters Peaks. The first ascents of Monmouth Mountain and Mount Gilbert, two peaks situated in the Coast Mountains, were made by Carter in the 1950s. In 1974, Carter was made an honorary member of the Alpine Club of Canada. He was also named a fellow of the

Royal Canadian Geographical Society The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS; French: ''Société géographique royale du Canada'') is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people ...

for his mapping work. Carter died on March 15, 1978, while vacationing in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

of the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and engaging in recreational diving among

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s. Mount Neal and Carter Glacier at the north end of Garibaldi Provincial Park were named in honour of him.

First ascents

*1921 Grizzly Mountain north ridge *1922 Isosceles Peak *1923 Wedge Mountain *1923 Diavolo Peak *1923 Angelo Peak *1923 Mount James Turner *1929 Mount Davidson *1931

Mount Job Mount Job is one of six named volcanic peaks of the Mount Meager massif in British Columbia, Canada. It is a pile of rubble held together by volcanic ash and sand. The main summit of Mount Job is hard to climb because of difficult access and its ...

*1931

Capricorn Mountain Capricorn Mountain is one of the several volcanic peaks of the Mount Meager massif in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The slopes of Capricorn Mountain appear to be more gentle than other volcanic peaks of the massif. The mountain consists o ...

*1931

Devastator Peak Devastator Peak, also known as The Devastator, is the lowest and southernmost of the six subsidiary peaks that form the Mount Meager massif in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located west of Bralorne. Geology Devastator Peak is a d ...

*1931 Mount Meager *1931

Plinth Peak Plinth Peak, sometimes called Plinth Mountain, is the highest satellite cone of the Mount Meager massif, and one of four overlapping volcanic cones which together form a large volcanic complex in the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt of the Canadian Cascad ...

*1931 Pylon Peak *1941 Weeskinisht Peak *1951 Monmouth Mountain *1954 Mount Gilbert

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Neal 1902 births 1978 deaths Artists from Vancouver Canadian marine biologists Canadian mountain climbers Canadian cartographers Canadian surveyors Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows University of British Columbia alumni McGill University alumni Deaths in Barbados Sportspeople from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian photographers 20th-century cartographers