Darling Peak is a mountain summit located in

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.

Description

Darling Peak is set within

Garibaldi Provincial Park Garibaldi Provincial Park, also called Garibaldi Park, is a wilderness park located on the coastal mainland of British Columbia, Canada, 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) north of Vancouver. It was established in 1920 and named a Class A Provincial ...

and is part of the

Garibaldi Ranges The Garibaldi Ranges are the next-to-southwesternmost subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains; only the North Shore Mountains are farther southwest. They lie between the valley formed by the pass between the Cheakamus River and ...

of 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 ...

. It is situated along the western edge of the

Mamquam Icefield The Mamquam Icefield is an icefield in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located at the headwaters of Skookum Creek. It lies at the southern end of Garibaldi Provincial Park and is one of the southernmost icefields in the Pacific Ranges of th ...

, north of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and northwest of

line parent A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with pass, gap, saddle and notch. The highest col ...

Mamquam Mountain Mamquam Mountain is a mountain in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located southeast of Eanastick Meadows and east of Brackendale, British Columbia, Brackendale. It represents the highest summi ...

. Precipitation runoff from the peak drains to Skookum Creek, thence Mamquam River.

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises over 900 meters (2,953 feet) above Skookum Creek in four kilometers (2.5 miles).

Etymology

The landform was named by the Garibaldi Park Board (circa 1928) after Basil S. Darling (1885–1962), a pioneering climber in the area. He was born in Toronto; went to Vancouver in 1908; relocated to Toronto in 1916; and retired to Victoria in 1926. Basil Darling is credited with 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 ...

s of Cathedral Mountain (1908), Sky Pilot Mountain (1910),

Mount Tantalus Mount Tantalus is a mountain in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located southeast of Falk Lake and south of Monmouth Mountain. It is the highest mountain in the Tantalus Range of the Pacific Ranges and is famous for its snow-covered fa ...

(1911),

Atwell Peak Atwell Peak is a dramatic pyramid-shaped volcanic peak located at the southern edge of Mount Garibaldi, British Columbia, Canada. Atwell Peak was the source of many pyroclastic flows during Garibaldi's development. Frequent landslides on its wes ...

(1911), Serratus Mountain (1911), Golden Ears (1911),

Alpha Mountain Alpha Mountain is a summit located in the Tantalus Range, in Tantalus Provincial Park, in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is situated northwest of Squamish, and southeast of Mount Tantalus, which is the highest peak in the Tantalu ...

(1914),

Lydia Mountain Lydia Mountain is a summit located in the Tantalus Range, in Tantalus Provincial Park, in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is situated northwest of Squamish, and south-southeast of Mount Tantalus, which is the highest peak in the Ta ...

(1914), and The Red Tusk (1914).Chic Scott (2000), ''Pushing the Limits, The Story of Canadian Mountaineering'', Rocky Mountain Books, , p. 79. The landform's toponym was officially adopted September 2, 1930, 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 ...

, Darling Peak 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. 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, and travel east toward the Coast Mountains 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. This climate supports the Tyee Glacier on the north slope and the Mamquam Icefield on the east side.

Gallery

File:Darling Peak in British Columbia.jpg, Below the south side of Darling Peak File:Darling and Mamquam.jpg, Darling Peak (left) and Delusion Peak/Mamquam Mountain (right) File:Darling Peak and Delusion SW1.jpg, Darling Peak (left) and Delusion SW1 (right) seen from Elfin Lakes

References

External links