Mount Stephen
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Mount Stephen, Template:Convert, is a mountain located in the Kicking Horse River Valley of Yoho National Park, Template:Frac km east of Field, British Columbia, Canada. The mountain was named in 1886 for George Stephen, the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway.<ref name=cme/><ref name=crdb/> The mountain is mainly composed of shales and dolomites from the Cambrian Period, some 550 million years ago. The Stephen Formation, a stratigraphical unit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin was first described at the mountain and was named for it. Stephen has a subpeak known as Stephen SE1, at the end of a 1 km ridge, 132° from the main peak, visible from Lake O'Hara.
Climbing
The first ascent was made on September 9, 1887 by James. J. McArthur and his assistant T. Riley,<ref name=Thorington1966/> which was made even more difficult by the surveying equipment they also carried with them. Unfortunately for them, smoke from forest fires limited visibility from the top.<ref name=cme/><ref name=crdb/> Beginning at 4:30 am, it took them four hours to pierce dense forest to reach tree line. After another three hours, the final rocks were reached which bore the inscription "Hill, Whatley, Ross, September 6, 1886". Above the rocks, they had to navigate an ice couloir and a knife-edged arete before reaching the summit. Sometime between this ascent and one in 1892, an estimated Template:Convert of rock had fallen in the upper section of the mountain, making the climb notably easier.<ref name=Thorington1966/>
The main route (a scramble) ascends slopes on the southwest face but requires much route finding and the final section of Template:Convert to the top is rated difficult.<ref name=Kane1999/> A cornice on the summit may prevent parties from reaching the top so if in doubt of conditions, attempts should wait until August. The route also passes through a fossil bed and thus requires a special park permit to be in the area.<ref name=Kane1999/><ref name=BurgessShale/> The elevation gain is Template:Convert.
For rock climbers, a route on the north ridge is rated III 5.7 with generally good rock formations composed mainly of quartzite.<ref name=crdb/>
Climate
Based on the Köppen climate classification, Mount Stephen is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers.<ref name=KGcc2007>Template:Cite Köppen-Geiger cc 2007</ref> Temperatures can drop below -20 °C with wind chill factors below -30 °C. Weather conditions during winter make Mount Stephen one of the better places in the Rockies for ice climbing.<ref name=mtnproj/> Precipitation runoff from Mount Stephen drains into the Kicking Horse River.
Gallery
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Mount Stephen as seen from Field, British Columbia, Canada
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View from Yoho Valley Road
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Northwest face of Mt. Stephen from the top of Mt. Field, showing North Gully and Fossil Gully
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Hotel and Mount Stephen in 1908
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Mount Stephen and Field, British Columbia
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Stephen SE1 (Centre) from Odaray Prospect
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