Houdini Needles is a mountain 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
Houdini Needles is part of the
Adamant Range which is a subrange of the
Selkirk Mountains
The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mic ...
.
[ It is located northwest of Golden and north of Glacier National Park. Houdini Needles is glaciated with the Gothics Glacier to the south of the peaks. Precipitation runoff and glacial meltwater from the mountain drains to ]Kinbasket Lake
Kinbasket Lake (or Kinbasket Reservoir) is a reservoir on the Columbia River in southeast British Columbia, north of the city of Revelstoke and the town of Golden. The reservoir was created by the construction of the Mica Dam. The lake includes ...
via Smith Creek. 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 1,560 metres (5,418 ft) above Smith Creek in .
History
The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on March 4, 1965, 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 ...
.[ The mountain was named by ]William Lowell Putnam III
William Lowell Putnam III (October 25, 1924 – December 20, 2014) was an alpinist, author and retired broadcasting executive. He was Trustee Emeritus of the Lowell Observatory, a private astronomical research facility. He was the son of politicia ...
who explained "When we first saw them from the Echo Glacier they looked so impressive and impossible that we decided only Houdini
Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts.
Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...
could get them...."[ Putnam, along with Andrew Kauffman, Benjamin Ferris and Henry Pinkham, were the members of the party who made 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 peaks in 1948.[William Lowell Putnam, ''A Climber's Guide to the Interior Ranges of British Columbia – north'', American Alpine Club and the Alpine Club of Canada, 1975, p. 87.]
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 ...
, Houdini Needles 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.
See also
*
* Geography of British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, bordered by the Pacific Ocean. With an area of it is Canada's third-largest province. The province is almost four times the size of the United Kingdom and larger than every United Sta ...
References
External links
* Weather
Houdini Needles
{{Geographic Location 2
, Center = Houdini Needles
, North = Fairy Meadow
, Northeast = Smith Creek
, East = Kinbasket Lake
Kinbasket Lake (or Kinbasket Reservoir) is a reservoir on the Columbia River in southeast British Columbia, north of the city of Revelstoke and the town of Golden. The reservoir was created by the construction of the Mica Dam. The lake includes ...
, Southeast = Ygdrasil Mountain
, South = Gothics Glacier
, Southwest = Sentinel Peak
, West = Granite Glacier
, Northwest = Doubletop Mountain
Two-thousanders of British Columbia
Selkirk Mountains
Columbia Country
Kootenay Land District