Avalanche Mountain is a 2,861-metre (9,386-foot) summit in Glacier National Park in the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Macdonald, 2.2 km (1.4 mi) to the north. Mount Sir Donald is 3.83 km (2.38 mi) to the southeast, and Eagle Peak is 1.46 km (0.91 mi) to the south-southeast.[1] The Avalanche Glacier is situated on the east side of the peak, and the Connaught Tunnel lies partially beneath Avalanche Mountain.[4] The peak is visible from eastbound Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway approaching Rogers Pass. During winter and spring of each year the western slope, named Avalanche Crest,[5] generates avalanches which can threaten the highway.[6]
History
The mountain's name was applied by Major A.B. Rogers and stems from its history of avalanches from its western slopes onto Rogers Pass.[7] The 1910 Rogers Pass avalanche, the deadliest avalanche in Canadian history, resulted in the deaths of 62 Canadian Pacific Railway workers and was the impetus which forced the railway to build the Connaught Tunnel.[8]
In 1881, Rogers and some of his party climbed to the crest of the ridge between Avalanche and Mount Macdonald, and may have climbed Avalanche itself.[9] The first confirmed ascent of the mountain was made in 1885 by John Macoun and James M. Macoun.[1]