The Pemberton Icefield or Pemberton Icecap, is the southernmost of the series of very large icefields studding the Pacific Ranges of the southern

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 ...

in British Columbia, Canada.

Physical Details

Approximately in area, the icefield's shape is roughly triangular, with an apex on its northern side, where a short gap separates the ice-mass from that of the smaller Overseer Icefield. Some reckonings include the icemasses of the Overseer massif, in which case the Pemberton Icefield's area may be considered to be ~ larger in area. Overseer Mountain is the highest summit in the region lying in the triangle between the basins of the Lillooet, Squamish-Elaho and Cheakamus-Green valleys, although the highest named summit in the Pemberton Icefield proper is Longspur Peak, on the main icefield's northwest flank above the

Ryan River The Ryan River is a short but major tributary of the Lillooet River, running largely eastward approximately 42 km from its source on the eastern flank of the Pemberton Icefield before joining the Lillooet River in the area of Pemberton Meadows Pe ...

, although a higher, unnamed summit lies in between them, at the northernmost edge of the icefield. Just east of Longspur are Kwtamts Peak and Sisqa Peak (names from St'at'imcets language of Lil'wat people, whose traditional territory includes the eastern reaches and related valleys of the icefield). The southernmost summit of the icefield is Exodus Peak, which lies in the angle between the uppermost reaches of the Squamish River and the valley of the Elaho River, a tributary of the Squamish.

Streams

Streams having their origin in the icecap include the Squamish River and

Soo River The Soo River is a tributary of the Green River in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, joining that river just north of the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Approximately long, it begins on the south flank of ...

on its southern edge,

Rutherford Creek Rutherford Creek is a tributary of the Green River, British Columbia, Canada, entering that river a few miles above Nairn Falls Provincial Park, near the village of Pemberton. The creek's headwaters are on the eastern side of the Pemberton Icefield ...

of its eastern point, the

off its northeast side, and tributary streams to the Elaho River, a tributary of the Squamish, on the west, and the south fork of Meager Creek, on its north side, another tributary of the Lillooet. Other smaller icefields nearby are the Ipsoot Glacier (also known as the Ipsoot Icefield) to the east, on the north side of Rutherford Creek, and the Powder Mountain Icefield to the south, beyond the divide separating the headwaters of the Squamish and Soo Rivers.

Popular Use

Nearby the

Resort Municipality of Whistler Whistler ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Cwitima, ; Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Sḵwiḵw, ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mount ...

, the icefield is popular with back-country skiers heli-skiing operations, summer heli-hiking, and onscreen entertainment. Pemberton stands in for Antarctica or the Arctic in films and TV, including the '' X-Files'' movie and '' Stargate: SG-1'', "Solitudes" episode,

Stargate SG-1 (season 1) The first season of the military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'' commenced airing on the Showtime channel in the United States on July 27, 1997, concluded on the Sci Fi channel on March 6, 1998, and contained 22 episodes. The s ...

and '' Stargate: Atlantis'' long-running ''

Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...

'' set of series.

References

Official Website "Pemberton Icefield"
Glaciers of the Pacific Ranges Sea-to-Sky Corridor Ice fields of British Columbia {{canada-glacier-stub