Alpha Mountain is a summit located in 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, British Columbia, Squamish and W ...

, in Tantalus Provincial Park, in southwestern

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is situated northwest of Squamish, and southeast of Mount Tantalus, which is the highest peak in the Tantalus Range. Its nearest higher peak is Serratus Mountain, to the west. The Serratus Glacier lies to the west of Alpha, unnamed glaciers lie on the northern and eastern slopes, and Lake Lovely Water lies below the south slope. Precipitation runoff from the peak drains into tributaries of the

Squamish River The Squamish River is a short but very large river in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its drainage basin is in size. The total length of the Squamish River is approximately . Course The Squamish River drains a complex of basins in the ...

History

The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of the mountain was made in 1914 by Basil Darling and Alan Morkill via the southwest ridge. These two named the peak shortly after they made the ascent, alluding to

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

, which is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, because the peak is the first (southeast) summit of the Alpha-Serratus-Tantalus-Zenith Ridge, and also because of its form. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on June 6, 1957, 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 Canad ...

Climate

Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Alpha Mountain is located in the

marine west coast An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

climate zone of western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Most

weather front A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For ins ...

s originate in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, and travel east toward the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains () 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 British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...

where they are forced upward by the range (

Orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall. As a result, the Coast Mountains experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. The months July through September offer the most favorable weather for climbing Alpha.

Climbing Routes

Established rock-climbing routes on Alpha Mountain: * Southwest Ridge - First Ascent 1914 * East Ridge - FA 1916 * Northeast Ridge - FA 1968 * Northwest Ridge - FA 1969 * North Buttress - FA 1981 * South Face -

Gallery

File:Alpha and Serratus from Black Tusk Meadows.jpg, Alpha Mountain (left) and Serratus Mountain (right). File:Alpha Mountain in white.jpg, Alpha Mountain seen from the shoulder of Pelion Mountain File:Alpha Mountain, Tantalus Range.jpg, Alpha Mountain, northeast aspect, as seen from the Sea to Sky Highway File:Alpha and Tantalus.jpg, Alpha (left) and Mt. Tantalus, east aspect File:Alpha Mountain, northeast aspect.jpg, Northeast aspect File:Alpha Mountain.jpg, Southeast aspect

References

External links