Candidate: #29
Location: Banff National Park, Alberta; Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Elevation: 3,423
Range: Canadian Rockies
Most visitors to Lake Louise stand at the lakeshore in front of the Chateau Lake Louise and marvel at the glaciated cliffs of Mount Victoria at the opposite end of the lake. To the left of Victoria there is an arm of rock extending to the lake shore, the spur of another high peak that is out of view unless one takes the trail around the lake on the north side. Only then can one observe the marvellous cliffs overhung by a glacier that reaches up to the summit of Mount LeFroy.
The mountain sits on the continental divide and can be accessed from either the Banff side or the Yoho side in British Columbia at Lake O’Hara. The source of its name is not exactly clear. James Hector’s journal from 1858 records a Mount LeFroy but it is marked on the map presented to parliament in 1863 at the location of today’s Mount Whymper. William Spotswood Green mentions a Mount LeFroy and even captions an accompanying drawing with the name, however, it is clear that he mistook Mount Victoria for Mount LeFroy. A map made by Gearge Dawson in 1886 identifies Mount LeFroy correctly. It is supposed that he was most likely the one who chose the name as, being a prominent scientist, he would have respected General Sir John Henry LeFroy, an astronomer who traveled over 8,800km in Canada’s north and who visited the site of the magnetic north pole. LeFroy was eventually made the head of the Toronto Observatory.
In 1896, Philip S. Abbot attempted to climb LeFroy along with companions Charles Fay, Charles S. Thompson and George Little. After reaching rock above the ice, Abbot, who was in the lead, un-roped and began climbing up the rock. However, he slipped and fell past Little, striking an ice ledge before rolling swiftly down the slope. His companions carefully descended to him but he died shortly after. Abbot was an experienced climber, having climbed in the Alps as well. Abbot Pass was named after Philip S. Abbot, whose death was also the first recorded mountaineering-related death in North America. A year later, by the request of Abbot’s father, a memorial climb was arranged that included Fay, Norman Collie and H.B. Dixon, as well as several other members. They reached the summit on August 3rd, 1897.
Mount LeFroy can be climbed from the Alberta side by either using the well-named “Death Trap” route or the somewhat safer “Furhmann Ledges” route. It is rated as a technical climb. A safer route is from Lake O’Hara on the British Columbia side. There is a long hike to the start of the climb but after that ascending a scree slope is said to be the most difficult part.
Sources:
Photos:
Flickr Group: 100 Famous Mountains of Canada
Next: Valley of the Ten Peaks
