Shudder Mountain is a summit 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
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 ...
.
Description
Shudder Mountain is the third-highest peak in the
Spearhead Range which is a subrange of the
Garibaldi Ranges of the
Coast Mountains
The Coast Mountains () are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...
.
The glaciated peak is located southeast of
Whistler in
Garibaldi Provincial Park, and east of
Tremor Mountain which is the nearest higher neighbor.
Precipitation
runoff from the south side of the peak as well as
meltwater
Meltwater (or melt water) is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glaciers, glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelf, ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found during early spring (season), spring when snow packs a ...
from the Platform Glacier drains into headwaters of Fitzsimmons Creek which is a tributary of the
Green River. Meltwater from the Shudder Glacier on the north slope and Shatter Glacier on the east slope drains to
Lillooet River
The Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of W ...
via Billygoat Creek.
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 1,170 metres (3,838 ft) above Fitzsimmons Creek in . The mountain was named in association with Tremor Mountain as submitted in 1964 by Dick Culbert, and the toponym was officially adopted on August 27, 1965, 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 ...
.
Tremor Mountain's name origin refers to unexplained earth tremors when the first ascent party was on the summit.
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 ...
, Shudder Mountain is located in the
marine west coast climate zone of western North America.
Most
weather front
A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For ins ...
s originate in the Pacific Ocean] and travel east toward the Coast Mountains where they are forced upward by the range (
orographic lift
Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...
), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall. As a result, the Coast Mountains experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. This climate supports the Tremor, Shudder, Shatter, and Platform glaciers surrounding the peak. The months of July and August offer the most favorable weather for climbing Shudder Mountain.
See also
*
Geography of British Columbia
*
Geology of British Columbia
The geology of British Columbia is a function of its location on the leading edge of the North American continent. The mountainous physiography and the diversity of the different types and ages of rock hint at the complex geology, which is st ...
References
External links
* Weather forecast
Shudder Mountain
{{Pacific Ranges
Spearhead Range
Two-thousanders of British Columbia
Sea-to-Sky Corridor
New Westminster Land District