Mount Babel is a mountain peak of the

Bow Range The Bow Range is a mountain range of the Park Ranges in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. The range is named in association with the Bow River and was officially adopted on March 31, 1917 by the Geographic Board of Canada. It is a part of the ...

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

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 mountain can be seen from the

Valley of the Ten Peaks Valley of the Ten Peaks () is a valley in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, which is crowned by ten notable peaks and also includes Moraine Lake. The valley can be reached by following the Moraine Lake road near Lake Louise. The ten peaks ...

. Mount Babel was first climbed by A Hart,

Edward Oliver Wheeler Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler MC (April 18, 1890 – March 19, 1962) was a Canadian surveyor, mountain climber and soldier. Wheeler participated in the first topographical survey of Mount Everest in 1921. As a brigadier in the British Army he w ...

, L. Wilson, H. Worsfold and

Conrad Kain Conrad Kain (10 August 1883, Schwarzau im Gebirge, Nasswald – 2 February 1934, Cranbrook, British Columbia) was an Austrian mountain guide who guided extensively in Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, and was responsible for the first ascents of mo ...

on July 23, 1910. __NOTOC__

Geology

Like other mountains in Banff Park, Mount Babel is composed of

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

, Mount Babel 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 ...

with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C.

Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel is a conspicuous

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

monolith at the northern end of the mountain, and is apparent to park visitors at

Moraine Lake Moraine Lake is a snow and glacially fed alpine lake in Banff National Park, outside the village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It is situated in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, at an elevation of approximately . The lake has a surface area of ...

. It was named in 1899 by Walter D. Wilcox because its profile reminded him of the biblical

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...

. The first ascent of the tower was made in 1959 by G. Boles, B. Greenwood, and A. Washington. Mount Babel acquired its name from its outlier tower that rises above Moraine Lake.

References

;Notes

Gallery

File:On the way to Moraine Lake-July-2011.JPG, Mount Babel centered File:Cloudy mountain valley (Unsplash).jpg, Bident, Quadra, and Babel File:Road to Moraine Lake.jpg, Babel (left) seen from road to Moraine Lake File:Mount Babel from NW.jpg, Mt. Babel from the northwest File:Tower of Babel in Banff National Park, Canada.jpg, Tower of Babel

External links

* Parks Canada web site
Banff National Park
* Weather
Mount Babel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babel Three-thousanders of Alberta Mountains of Banff National Park Bow Range