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Conrad Kain (10 August 1883, Nasswald – 2 February 1934,
Cranbrook, British Columbia Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2016, Cra ...
) was an Austrian mountain guide who guided extensively in Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, and was responsible for the first ascents of more than 60 routes in British Columbia. He is particularly known for pioneering climbs in the Purcell Mountains and the first ascents of Mount Robson (1913), Mount Louis (1916) and Bugaboo Spire (1916).


Life

Kain was born in poverty in a small village in
Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt ...
. His father was a miner who died when Kain was 8. In his youth he worked as a goatherd in the Rax Alps and from 1898 to 1904 he worked at stone quarries in
Veitsch Veitsch is a former municipality in the district of Bruck-Mürzzuschlag in Styria, Austria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform The Styria municipal structural reform (German: ''Steiermärkische Gemeindestrukturreform'') was a lo ...
and Hirschwang. His free time he spent climbing, and by 1904 he guided his first clients, becoming an officially recognized professional guide in 1906. He guided his clients not only in Austria (including the
Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...
), but also in Switzerland and France, including the
Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of th ...
, La Meije and several first ascents.Timetable of Kain's life
at www.conradkain.com.
Dissatisfied with his life in Austria, he planned to emigrate and in 1908 he took lessons in English in Vienna for that purpose. In June 1909 he moved to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
with the promise of employment as the Alpine Club of Canada's first professional guide, changing his name from Konrad to Conrad. In the summer of 1910 he surveyed the Purcell Mountains and in 1911 he explored the Banff area, making a number of first ascents already. In 1912 he joined an exploration in
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...
's Altai mountains, after which he returned to Austria where he spent several months with his mother. He then traveled to
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
where he was a guide in the winter of 1913. He was encouraged to return to Canada again to be a guide for two mountaineering camps, one based at Lake O'Hara camp and another at Robson Pass. The next three years he would guide respective summers in both Canada and New Zealand, completing many first ascents in both countries. Conrad Kain is credited with 69 first ascents in Canada alone, including Resplendent Mountain and Whitehorn Mountain (1911), Nasswald Peak (named after his hometown) and Mount Robson (1913), Mount Farnham (1915), Mount Louis, Howser Spire and Bugaboo Spire (1916), North Twin Peak and Mount Saskatchewan (1923), Mount Hooker and Mount Fraser (1924) and Peyto Peak and Trapper Peak (1933). Between 1914 and 1916 he made about 30 first ascents in New Zealand as well. While he considered his climb of Bugaboo Spire the most challenging, and it was considered the most difficult alpine climb in Canada until the 1940s, his most notable first ascent was that of Mount Robson in July 1913. He guided :de:Albert MacCarthy and William Wasbrough Foster over the northeast face by hacking hundreds of steps and famously told his clients at the top "Gentlemen, that's so far as I can take you." During the ascent, Kain was under the assumption that Mount Robson had been climbed in 1909 by
George Kinney George Kinney was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1883 Belmont Stakes. Background George Kinney was bred in Tennessee by Captain James Franklin at Kennesaw Stud. His dam was Kathleen, a daughter of the great sire ...
and Curly Phillips, but on their return to the campsite at Robson Pass, Phillips, who was outfitter of the expedition, revealed that he and Kinney had actually fallen short of reaching the summit in their heroic effort over the west face four years before. Conrad Kain climbed Mount Louis for the last time on his 50th birthday. He fell ill in October of that year in
Wilmer, British Columbia Wilmer is a small settlement near Invermere, 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 ...
, and died six months later of
encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hal ...
in a hospital in Cranbrook. The marker on his grave in Cranbrook reads "A guide of great spirit".


Legacy

Kain wrote an
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...
titled ''Where the Clouds Can Go'' where he describes his tough years while growing up in Austria as well as his 25 years working variously as a guide for The Alpine Club of Canada, a hunter outfitter, and an assistant to
Arthur O. Wheeler Arthur Oliver Wheeler (May 1, 1860 – May 20, 1945) was born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1876 at the age of 16. He became a land surveyor and surveyed large areas of western Canada, including photo-topographical surveys of the Selkir ...
for the Geographic Survey of Canada. In 1911, A. O. Wheeler named
Mount Kain Mount Kain is a mountain located in the Fraser River Valley of Mount Robson Provincial Park, Canada. Mt. Kain was named during a survey of the Mt. Robson region conducted by the Alpine Club of Canada during the summer of 1911. While surveying fr ...
after him, when Kain had pointed at the mountain and exclaimed "Ach, that is my peak!" a few days after he had come to Wheeler's rescue after slipping on a descent from
Lynx Mountain Lynx Mountain is a mountain peak in the Canadian Rockies. It is located on the Continental Divide of the Americas, Continental Divide between the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, in the Cushina Ridge of the Continental Ranges. It was nam ...
. Near the Bugaboos there is the Conrad Group, with the
Conrad Icefield Conrad may refer to: People * Conrad (name) Places United States * Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Iowa, a city * Conrad, Montana, a city * Conrad Glacier, Washington ...
, Conrad Glacier and with Mount Conrad (3271 m

as highest point. The latter previously unclimbed peak was the last mountain Kain climbed (in September 1933). Since 1970, the Alpine Club of Canada maintains an Mountain hut, alpine hut named Conrad Kain hut centrally located in the Bugaboos, where Kain made many first ascents. In New Zealand there is also a Mount Conrad (2,598 m) named after him, lying in the Liebig Range above the
Murchison Glacier The Murchison Glacier is an long glacier flowing through Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park in the South Island of New Zealand. Lying to the east of the Malte Brun range and west of the Liebig Range, high in the Southern Alps, it flows from the T ...
in the
Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Souther ...
.J.M.T.
Conrad Kain, 1833-1934 In Memoriam
American Alpine Journal Vol 2, p.236 (1934)
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Kain's arrival in Canada, the Conrad Kain Centennial Society was formed in the upper Columbia Valley in 2007 to celebrate his achievements and to develop legacy projects in his memory.


References


External links


Conrad Kain Centennial Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kain, Conrad 1883 births 1934 deaths Alpine guides Austrian mountain climbers Canadian mountain climbers People from Neunkirchen District, Austria Sportspeople from Lower Austria Austro-Hungarian emigrants to Canada