Gap Mountain is a mountain summit located at the southern end of the Opal Range in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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 ...

. The nearest higher neighbor is Elpoca Mountain, to the east. Gap Mountain is situated south of

Mount Wintour Mount Wintour is a ridge-like mountain summit located in the Opal Range of the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. It is situated in the Kananaskis River Valley east of Lower Kananaskis Lake and Highway 40 in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. T ...

, within

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park Peter Lougheed Provincial Park is in Kananaskis Country about west of Calgary, along the Kananaskis Trail in Alberta, Canada. This park is within Alberta's Rocky Mountains. The park was originally named Kananaskis Provincial Park, but was ren ...

. Gap Mountain is a conspicuous peak seen from

Alberta Highway 40 Highway 40 is a south–north highway in western Alberta, Canada. It is also named Bighorn Highway and Kananaskis Trail in Kananaskis Country. Its segmented sections extend from Coleman, Alberta, Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Municipa ...

at Highwood Pass. It is a popular climbing destination because it offers exposed scrambling on its eastern flanks with excellent summit views of

Kananaskis Country Kananaskis Country (abbreviated: K-Country) is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the Rocky Mountain Foothills, foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Its western edge borders Banff National Park and the Alberta-Br ...

History

George Pocaterra named it for its location at the gap between the Opal Range and Elk Range. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1978 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 ...

Geology

Gap Mountain is composed of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

laid down during the

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

periods. Formed in shallow seas, this

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the

Laramide orogeny The Laramide orogeny was a time period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 80 to 70 million years ago, and ended 55 to 35 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the o ...

. Gap Mountain was created during the

Lewis Overthrust The Lewis Overthrust is a geologic thrust fault structure of the Rocky Mountains found within the bordering national parks of Glacier in Montana, United States and Waterton Lakes in Alberta, Canada. The structure was created due to the collision o ...

. The steeply tilted strata are virtually the same in each peak of the Opal Range, with softer layers sandwiched between harder layers.

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 ...

, Gap Mountain is located in a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Temperatures can drop below with wind chill factors below . June through September offer the most favorable weather to climb or view Gap Mountain. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into Pocaterra Creek, a tributary of the

Kananaskis River The Kananaskis River is a mountain river in western Alberta, Canada. It is a tributary of the Bow River, crossing the length of Kananaskis Country. The river was named by John Palliser in 1858 after a Cree. Course The Kananaskis originates in th ...

Gallery

File:Gap Mountain.jpg, Southwest aspect in winter File:Gap Mountain sw winter.jpg, Northwest aspect in winter File:Kananaskis Park…Highwood Pass Gap Mountain.jpg, Highwood Pass and Gap Mountain File:Elpoca Mountain and Gap Mountain.jpg, Gap Mountain (left) and Elpoca Mountain (right)

References

External links