At 3,618 m (11,870 ft), it is the highest peak in the Southern Continental Ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Mount Assiniboine rises nearly 1,525 m (5,003 ft) above Lake Magog. Because of its resemblance to the Matterhorn in the Alps, it is nicknamed the "Matterhorn of the Rockies".[5]
Mount Assiniboine was named by George M. Dawson in 1885. When Dawson saw Mount Assiniboine from Copper Mountain, he saw a plume of clouds trailing away from the top. This reminded him of the plumes of smoke emanating from the teepees of the Assiniboine people.[1]
Mount Assiniboine lies on the border between Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, in British Columbia, and Banff National Park, in Alberta.[6] The mountain can be reached only by a six-hour hike or horse-pack 27 km (17 mi), three-hour bike ride (now disallowed to reduce human / grizzly encounters) or helicopter.
Climbing
Mt. Assiniboine was first climbed in the summer of 1901 by James Outram, Christian Bohren and Christian Hasler.[4] In 1925, Lawrence Grassi became the first person to make a solo ascent. On August 27, 2001, Bohren's granddaughter Lonnie along with three others made a successful ascent, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first ascent.[1]
There are no scrambling routes up Mt. Assiniboine. The easiest mountaineering routes are the North Ridge and North Face at YDS 5.5 which are reached from the Hind Hut.
