Kananaskis 10,000+ ’ers

Imperial versus Metric

Canada was on target to be officially Metric in 1975, but ongoing politically pressure delayed and ultimately stopped the complete set of all laws and regulations going metric. Despite a few minor regulations still being in Imperial measures, Canada is now essentially a fully metric country.

I grew up being taught both Imperial and Metric measurement systems. When I started climbing about 20 years ago, most of my mentors and climbing partners used feet for mountaineering descriptions. Today, most of my climbing buddies are younger than me and exclusively use metres. In the end I created two lists for Kananaskis Country (10,000+ foot summits and 3000+ metre summits) to accommodate both perspectives on the tallest mountains in Kananaskis.

Kananaskis 10,000+ ’ers

Rank	Image	Mountain Name	Summit Elevation (m)	Summit Elevation (ft.)	Lowest Prominence (m)	Lowest Prominence (ft.)	Range
1		Mount Joffre	3450	11,319	530	1739	Joffre Group
2		Mount Sir Douglas	3406	11,174	446	1463	Spray
3		Mount French	3234	10,611	474	1555	Spray
4		Mount Rae	3218	10,558	292	958	Misty
5		Mount Petain	3196	10,486	316	1037	Joffre Group
6		Mount Robertson	3194	10,479	314	1030	Spray
7		Mount Foch	3194	10,479	234	768	Joffre Group
8		Mount Galatea	3185	10,449	465	1526	Kananaskis
9		Mount Sarrail	3174	10,413	214	702	Joffre Group
10		Mount Smith-Dorrien	3155	10,351	235	771	Spray
11		Wind Mountain	3153	10,345	273	896	Kananaskis
12		Mount Bogart	3144	10,315	264	866	Kananaskis
13		Mist Mountain	3140	10,302	245	802	Misty
14		Mount Sparrowhawk	3121	10,240	281	922	Kananaskis
15		”The Tower”	3117	10,226	437	1434	Kananaskis
16		Mount Lougheed	3105	10,188	225	738	Kananaskis
17		”Old Goat Mountain”	3100	10,170	460	1509	Goat
18		Tornado Mountain *	3099	10,167	447	1467	High Rock
19		Mount Birdwood	3097	10,161	577	1893	Spray
20		Mount Evan-Thomas	3097	10,161	217	712	Opal
21		Mount Storm	3095	10,155	322	1055	Misty
22		Mount Jellicoe	3085	10,121	245	804	Spray
23		Mount Mangin	3057	10,030	177	581	Joffre Group
24		Mount Chester	3054	10,020	254	834	Kananaskis
25		Fisher Peak	3053	10,017	373	1224	Fisher

* Tornado Mountain is technically outside of Kananaskis Country, but is within the High Rock Range. The Kananaskis Country southern boundary heads east from the Continental Divide and only includes the top northern third of the High Rock Range. I included Tornado since it is such an interesting peak. Tornado Mountain is the first summit to exceed 10,000 feet (3048m) in the Rocky Mountains north of the 49th parallel (USA border). The notable Mount Washburn 3039m (9,971 ft.) is more southerly, and the first to exceed 3000 metres, but less than the fabled 10,000 foot level and entirely in British Columbia, no where near Kananaskis Country. The next summit north of the 49th to exceed 10,000 feet is only slightly more north than Tornado, but entirely in British Columbia, Mount Mike 3300m (10,827 ft.); the next tall K-country peak north of Tornado is all the way north to Mist Mountain (3140m (10,302 ft.).

Kananaskis Country

Kananaskis Country is multi-use region just west of Calgary, south of Canmore, regulated by the Province of Alberta, with the primary use being recreation. Kananaskis Country has legally defined boundaries, mostly defined by compilation of provincial parks, provincial recreation areas and other designations. Generally, the region is south of the Trans-Canada Highway in the Bow River valley, south of the Town of Canmore, from the Continental Divide to the foothills, south to Highwood River drainage.

The region includes eleven official mountain subranges/groups, but there is some overlap between ranges and groups; the Joffre Group (French Military Group), the Spray Range (British Military Group), the Kananaskis Range, the Goat Range, the Opal Range, the Fisher Range, the Misty Range, the Elk Range, the Highwood Range, the High Rock Range and the Livingstone Range. There are only two summits over 11,000 feet (3353 metres) and 22 officially named summits over 10,000 feet (3048 metres); this excludes Tornado Mountain.

Images

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