Mount Coulthard is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

straddling the border between

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 ...

and

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 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 ...

. It is part of the

Flathead Range The Flathead Range is a mountain range of the Northern Rocky Mountains located southeast of Whitefish, Montana in the Great Bear Wilderness, part of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. It is west of the Rocky Mountain Front, east of the Swan Ra ...

which is a subset of 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 ...

. The mountain is set on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

, in

Castle Wildland Provincial Park Castle Wildland Provincial Park is a wildland provincial park in southern Alberta, Canada. The designation of the park was established on 20 January 2017, with an effective date of 16 February 2017. The designation involved the protection of o ...

. It is situated in the

Crowsnest Pass Crowsnest Pass (sometimes referred to as Crow's Nest Pass, ) is a low mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border. Geography The pass is located in southeast British Columbia an ...

area and can be seen from

Highway 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3 (disambiguation)#Roads, M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3 (disambiguation)#Roads, N3. For roads numbered 3A, see ...

, the

Crowsnest Highway The Crowsnest Highway is an east-west highway in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It stretches across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection ...

. Mount Coulthard is named after Major Robert Wilson Coulthard (born December 6, 1875), a prominent Canadian mining engineer. He was general manager of the West Canadian Coal Company, engineer at Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company from 1901 to 1908, and a Major with the

2nd Canadian Tunnelling Company The 2nd Canadian Tunnelling Company was one of the Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers, tunnelling companies of the Canadian Military Engineers during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involvi ...

. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1928 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

Mount Coulthard 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) ...

, a

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

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period 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 ...

. Mount Coulthard contains a long and deep

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

on its northern face called Coulthard Cave. It was discovered in 1968 by Monica and Tammy Morris and has a in diameter entrance.

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 Coulthard has an alpine

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. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C.

Gallery

File:Flathead Range Crowsnest Pass area.jpg, Flathead Range
L→Rː Mt. Coulthard, Mt. McLaren, Andy Good Peak, Mt. Parrish,

Chinook Peak Chinook Peak is a summit located on the eastern border of Mount Rainier National Park. It is also on the shared border of Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County and Yakima County, Washington, Yakima County in Washington (U.S. state), Washing ...

File:Mount Coulthard.jpg, Mt. Coulthard, northeast aspect

References

External links

* Robert Wilson Coulthard
Google books
* Mount Coulthard
weather forecast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulthard Two-thousanders of Alberta Two-thousanders of British Columbia Flathead Range (Canada)