Mount Sarrail is a mountain summit located in

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 ...

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 ...

. Mount Sarrail is situated 1.0 kilometre north of 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 ...

, 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 ...

. Its nearest higher peak is

Mount Foch Mount Foch is a mountain summit located at the Northern end of Elk Lakes Provincial Park, and straddles the Continental Divide marking the Alberta-British Columbia border in Canada. It was named in 1918 after Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch. ...

, to the southeast. Mount Sarrail can be seen from

Upper Kananaskis Lake Upper Kananaskis Lake is a natural lake that was turned into a reservoir in Kananaskis Country in Alberta, Canada. Upper Kananaskis Lake, along with the Lower Kananaskis Lake, is located in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park . The lake is part of a ...

and Alberta Highway 40.

History

The mountain was named in 1918 for General

Maurice Sarrail Maurice Paul Emmanuel Sarrail (6 April 1856 – 23 March 1929) was a French general of the First World War. Sarrail's openly socialist political connections made him a rarity amongst the Catholics, conservatives and monarchists who dominated the ...

(1856-1929), the commander of the French Third Army in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1924 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 first ascent of the mountain was made in 1930 by Kate (Katie) Gardiner and Walter Feuz. The duo also made the first ascents of nearby Mount Foch and

Mount Lyautey Mount Lyautey is a mountain summit located in Kananaskis Country in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Mount Lyautey is situated 2.0 kilometres east of the Continental Divide, within Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Its nearest higher peak ...

that same year.

Geology

Mount Sarrail 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 Sarrail 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. In terms of favorable weather, June through September are the best months to climb Mount Sarrail. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries 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:Upper Kananaskis with Mount Sarrail.jpg, Upper Kananaski Lake with Mount Sarrail to right File:Kananaskis Lakes aerial view of Mount Sarrail.jpg, Aerial view of Foch and Sarrail with the Kananaskis Lakes File:Upper Kananaskis Lake winter 2017.jpg, Mount Sarrail in winter File:Upper Kananaskis Lake Mount Sarrail.jpg, Mount Sarrail File:A Fall trip to Rawson Lake Alberta Canada (30349802816).jpg, Mount Sarrail seen from Rawson Lake

References

External links