Pioneer Peak is a mountain 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, ...

, Canada.

Description

Pioneer Peak is part of the Adamant Range which is a subrange of the

Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mica Pe ...

. It is located northwest of

Golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

and north of Glacier National Park. Pioneer Peak is highly glaciated with the Granite Glacier to the north, Gothics Glacier to the east, and the Adamant Glacier to the south. Precipitation runoff and glacial meltwater from the mountain's slopes drains north to Swan Creek, east to Smith Creek, south to Palmer Creek, and each are tributaries of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises approximately 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above

Kinbasket Lake Kinbasket Lake (or Kinbasket Reservoir) is a reservoir on the Columbia River in southeast British Columbia, north of the city of Revelstoke and the town of Golden. The reservoir was created by the construction of the Mica Dam. The lake includes tw ...

in . Pioneer is located south of the Bill Putnam hut which makes the peak an excellent

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

destination.Chic Scott, ''Summits and Icefields: Columbia Mountains'', Rocky Mountain Books Ltd, 2003, , p. 54.

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 summit was made in 1911 by Howard Palmer, Edward Holway, and Frederic King Butters.''Appalachia, Volume 13''
Appalachian Mountain Club, 1915, p. 397. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on March 4, 1965, 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 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 ...

, Pioneer 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 ...

zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. This climate supports several glaciers surrounding the peak.

Gallery

File:Pioneer and Adamant.jpg, Pioneer Peak (left) and Adamant Mountain (right).
"The Stickle" is the pinnacle between them. File:Pioneer Peak, BC.jpg, North aspect File:Pioneer adamants.jpg, Northeast aspect centered

References

External links