Mount Sparrowhawk is a mountain summit located in
Kananaskis Country
Kananaskis Country is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the Rocky Mountain Foothills, foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The area is named for the Kananaskis River, which was named by John Palliser in 1858 after ...
in the
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) 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 par ...
of
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
. Mount Sparrowhawk's nearest higher peak is
Mount Bogart
Mount Bogart is a summit located in Kananaskis Country in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Mount Bogart's nearest higher peak is Wind Mountain, to the north. Mount Bogart is situated northwest of Mount Kidd, and both can be seen from Hi ...
, to the southeast.
[ Sparrowhawk's south slope was a candidate to be used as a ski hill for the alpine events at the ]1988 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 57
, athletes = 1,423 (1,122 men, 301 women)
, events = 46 in 6 sports (10 disciplines)
, opening = February 13, 1988
, closing = February 28, 1988
, opened_by = Governor General Jeanne Sauvé
, cauldron ...
, but nearby Mount Allan's Nakiska
Nakiska is a ski resort in western Canada, in the Kananaskis Country region of the province of Alberta. It is located from Calgary, west on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and south on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail). "Nakiska" is a Cree word me ...
was selected instead.[
]
History
Mount Sparrowhawk was named in 1917 for , a British destroyer that sank during the Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vic ...
in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. This mountain's name was officially adopted in 1922 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 Can ...
.[
The ]first ascent
In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they e ...
of the peak was made in 1947 by R.C. Hind, L. Parker, Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Rans.
Mount Shark
Mount Shark is a mountain summit located in the Spray Valley of Kananaskis Country at the northern tip of the Spray Mountains range. It is situated on the southern boundary of Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Mou ...
and Mount Sparrowhawk were designated as sites to host alpine skiing events in Calgary's bid for the 1988 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 57
, athletes = 1,423 (1,122 men, 301 women)
, events = 46 in 6 sports (10 disciplines)
, opening = February 13, 1988
, closing = February 28, 1988
, opened_by = Governor General Jeanne Sauvé
, cauldron ...
, however, the venue for the alpine skiing events moved to Nakiska
Nakiska is a ski resort in western Canada, in the Kananaskis Country region of the province of Alberta. It is located from Calgary, west on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and south on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail). "Nakiska" is a Cree word me ...
shortly after Calgary was awarded the Games.
Geology
Mount Sparrowhawk is composed of sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particle ...
laid down during the Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, 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 th ...
to 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 Mya. The J ...
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, 70 to 80 million years ago, and ended 35 to 55 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 is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
, Mount Sparrowhawk is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers. Winter temperatures can drop below with wind chill factors below . Precipitation runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
from the mountain drains east into 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 ...
and west into Spray Lakes Reservoir
Spray Lakes Reservoir is a reservoir in Alberta, Canada. The Spray Lakes were a string of lakes formed along the Spray River, a tributary of the Bow River. With the damming of the river, the lakes were united in the Spray Lakes Reservoir.
It lies ...
, both of which empty to the Bow River
The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These ...
.
See also
* Mountains of Alberta
Most of Alberta's mountains are found on the western edge of the province of Alberta, consisting of the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies, which run through the province from Alberta's mid-point to its southern border with the United S ...
* Geography of Alberta
Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. Located in Western Canada, the province has an area of and is bounded to the south by the United States state of Montana along 49° north for ; to the east at 110° west by t ...

References
External links
* Mount Sparrowhawk weather
Mountain Forecast
{{Canadian Rockies, state=collapsed
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...