Serendipity Spire 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
Serendipity Spire is located northwest of
Golden in 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 ...
.
[ Serendipity Spire is surrounded by glaciers, the largest of which is the OK Glacier to the northwest. Precipitation runoff and glacial meltwater from the peak's slopes drains into tributaries of the ]Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
. 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 1,457 metres (4,780 ft) above Austerity Creek in approximately . The peak was so named by American mountaineer 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 ...
"...because the mountain was inspiring to look at," which was a Putnam malapropism since serendipity
Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery. The term was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754.
The concept is often associated with scientific and technological breakthroughs, where accidental discoveries led to new insights or inventions. Ma ...
is finding something valuable or agreeable, that hadn't been sought.[ The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on January 23, 1973, 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 ...
.[
]
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 ...
, Serendipity Spire 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
Serendipity Spire
{{Geographic Location 2
, Center = Serendipity Spire
, North = Austerity Creek
, Northeast = Austerity Creek
, East = Unicorn Mountain
, Southeast = Austerity Mountain
, South = Whiteface Tower
, Southwest = Remillard Peak
, West = Windy Creek
, Northwest = OK Glacier
Two-thousanders of British Columbia
Selkirk Mountains
Columbia Country
Kootenay Land District