| Mount Stephen | |
|---|---|
Mount Stephen as seen from Field, British Columbia, Canada. |
|
| Elevation | 3,199 m (10,495 ft) [1] |
| Prominence | 989 m (3,245 ft) [1] |
| Location | |
| Location | British Columbia, Canada |
| Range | Canadian Rockies |
| Topo map | NTS 82N/08 |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | 1887 by James J. McArthur, T. Riley |
| Easiest route | Scramble (difficult) |
Mount Stephen is a mountain located in the Kicking Horse River Valley of Yoho National Park, ½ km east of Field. The mountain was named in 1886 for George Stephen, the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[1][2]
The mountain is composed mainly of shales and dolomites from the Cambrian Period, some 550 million years ago. The Stephen Formation, a stratigraphical unit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin was first described at the mountain and was named for it.
The first ascent was made in September 1887 when James. J. McArthur and his assistant T. Riley, which was made even more difficult by the surveying equipment they also carried with them. Unfortunately for them, smoke from forest fires limited visibility from the top.[1][2]