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46-747: The riding spanned the southern Coast Mountains and included the Central Coast through Queen Charlotte Strait and Johnstone Strait to the Sunshine Coast and Howe Sound , as well as the Chilcotin Plateau and from the Cariboo down to Howe Sound via Lillooet . Coast Chilcotin was created in 1966 and incorporated components of these other ridings: The most significant components were those from Comox—Alberni (the Sunshine Coast ), Cariboo and Coast—Capilano . Coast Chilcotin

92-704: A large mass of igneous rock , creating a new continental margin. This large mass of igneous rock is the largest granite outcropping in North America. The final event began when the Farallon Plate continued to subduct under the new continental margin after the Insular Plate and Insular Islands collided with the old continental margin, supporting a new continental volcanic arc called the Coast Range Arc about 100 million years ago during

138-726: A large ski resort at the resort town of Whistler , most of the land in the range is completely undeveloped. Mount Waddington , the highest mountain of the Coast Mountains, lies in the Waddington Range of the Pacific Ranges. Just north of the Pacific Ranges lies the central subdivision known as the Kitimat Ranges. This subdivision extends from the Bella Coola River and Burke Channel in

184-1181: A larger mountain system called the Pacific Coast Ranges or the Pacific Mountain System, which includes the Cascade Range , the Insular Mountains , the Olympic Mountains , the Oregon Coast Range , the California Coast Ranges , the Saint Elias Mountains and the Chugach Mountains . The Coast Mountains are also part of the American Cordillera —a Spanish term for an extensive chain of mountain ranges—that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form

230-539: A pre-existing continental margin and coastline of North America. These volcanic islands, known as the Insular Islands by geoscientists, were formed on a pre-existing tectonic plate called the Insular Plate by subduction of the former Farallon Plate to the west during the early Paleozoic era. This subduction zone records another subduction zone to the east under an ancient ocean basin between

276-600: Is lower than Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams , which straddle the United States border between Alaska and British Columbia, Mount Waddington is the highest peak that lies entirely within British Columbia. It and the subrange which surround it, known as the Waddington Range , stand at the heart of the Pacific Ranges , a remote and extremely rugged set of mountains and river valleys. It

322-490: Is not as far north as its extreme Arctic-like conditions might indicate, and Mount Waddington and its attendant peaks pose some of the most serious expedition mountaineering to be had in North America — and some of the most extreme relief and spectacular mountain scenery. From Waddington's 4,019 m (13,186 ft) fang to sea level at the heads of Bute and Knight Inlets is only about 32 kilometers; across

368-712: The Coast of British Columbia south to the Fraser River . The mountain range's name derives from its proximity to the sea coast, and it is often referred to as the Coast Range . The range includes volcanic and non-volcanic mountains and the extensive ice fields of the Pacific and Boundary Ranges , and the northern end of the volcanic system known as the Cascade Volcanoes . The Coast Mountains are part of

414-577: The Dais Glacier . The group failed in two attempts on the south face due to stormy conditions, poor route conditions and falling ice. Two climbers succeeded in reaching the northwest summit (first climbed by the Mundays) on a third attempt but proceeded no further. On July 4, 1936, Fritz Wiessner , Bill House , Elizabeth Woolsey and Alan Willcox reached the head of the Knight Inlet . For

460-505: The Knight Inlet , taking up to three days. A shorter water approach from Port McNeill , British Columbia, a northern community of Vancouver Island accessible by scheduled daily air connections and/or road from Victoria, reducing the water journey to less than a day may be undertaken. Alternately trails and rough roads do exist from the Chilcotin side of the range, and may be accessed via BC Highway 20, from Williams Lake , departing from

506-617: The Late Cretaceous period. Magma rising from the Farallon Plate under the new continental margin ascended through the newly accreted Insular Belt, injecting huge quantities of granite into older igneous rocks of the Insular Belt. At the surface, new volcanoes were built along the continental margin. Named after the Coast Mountains, the basement of this arc was likely Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic intrusions from

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552-574: The Pacific Ranges , the Kitimat Ranges , and the Boundary Ranges . The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains, extending from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola . Included in this subdivision is four of the five major coastal icecaps in the southern Coast Mountains. These are the largest temperate-latitude icecaps in the world and fuel a number of major rivers . Other than logging and

598-715: The Skeena Mountains and Stikine Plateau . The Coast Mountains are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire —the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean —and contain some of British Columbia's highest mountains. Mount Waddington is the highest mountain of the Coast Mountains and the highest that lies entirely within British Columbia, located northeast of the head of Knight Inlet with an elevation of 4,019 metres (13,186 ft). The Coast Mountains consists of three subdivisions known as

644-723: The Yukon Ranges . The Boundary Ranges include several large icefields, including the Juneau Icefield between Juneau, Alaska and Atlin Lake in British Columbia, and the Stikine Icecap , which lies between the lower Stikine River and the Whiting River . Because the Coast Mountains are just east of the Pacific Ocean , they have a profound effect on British Columbia's climate by forcing moisture-laden air off

690-779: The 3,000-metre-deep (9,800 ft) gorges of the Homathko and the Klinaklini Rivers stand mountains almost as high, and icefields even vaster and whiter, only a few aerial miles away, with a maw deeper than the Grand Canyon , comparable in relief to the Himalayas (to which the terrain of British Columbia was compared by colonial-era travellers). Mount Waddington is the namesake of the Mount Waddington Regional District , which takes in

736-711: The Bridge River Ocean, the Insular Islands drew closer to the former continental margin and coastline of western North America, supporting a pre-existing volcanic arc on the former continental margin of North America called the Omineca Arc . As the North American Plate drifted west and the Insular Plate drifted east to the old continental margin of western North America, the Bridge River Ocean eventually closed by ongoing subduction under

782-544: The Bridge River Ocean. This subduction zone eventually jammed and shut down completely 115 million years ago, ending the Omineca Arc and the Insular Islands collided, forming the Insular Belt . Compression resulting from this collision crushed, fractured and folded rocks along the old continental margin. The Insular Belt then welded onto the pre-existing continental margin by magma that eventually cooled to create

828-513: The Coast Range Arc were then deformed under the heat and pressure of later intrusions, turning them into layered metamorphic rock known as gneiss . In some places, mixtures of older intrusive rocks and the original oceanic rocks have been distorted and warped under intense heat, weight and stress to create unusual swirled patterns known as migmatite , appearing to have been nearly melted in the procedure. Volcanism began to decline along

874-577: The Insular Islands and the former continental margin of North America called the Bridge River Ocean . This arrangement of two parallel subduction zones is unusual in that very few twin subduction zones exist on Earth; the Philippine Mobile Belt off the southeastern coast of Asia is an example of a modern twin subduction zone. As the Insular Plate drew closer to the pre-existing continental margin by ongoing subduction under

920-646: The Insular Islands. One of the major aspects that changed early during the Coast Range Arc was the status of the northern end of the Farallon Plate, a portion now known as the Kula Plate . About 85 million years ago, the Kula Plate broke off from the Farallon Plate to form a mid-ocean ridge known to geoscientists as the Kula-Farallon Ridge . This change apparently had some important ramifications for regional geologic evolution. When this change

966-538: The Interior Plateau. North of the Interior Plateau on the range's northeastern slopes lies a huge mountainous area known by geographers as the Interior Mountains , which includes the neighbouring Skeena , Cassiar and Hazelton Mountains . The Coast Mountains consist of deformed igneous and metamorphosed structurally complex pre- Tertiary rocks. These originated in diverse locations around

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1012-637: The Mundays. After crossing Tatlayoko Lake and making their way down the Homathko River, they then spent two days constructing a bridge over Nude Creek before reaching the Tiedemann Glacier on June 23. It took them three days to reach the shoulder of Mt. Waddington at 3,200 m (10,500 ft). They attempted the summit on June 28 but poor weather and route conditions on the final tower forced them to retreat, 180 m (590 ft) from

1058-633: The Pacific Ocean to rise, dropping heavy rainfalls on the western slopes where lush forests exist. This precipitation is among the heaviest in North America. The eastern slopes are relatively dry and less steep and protect the British Columbia Interior from the Pacific weather systems, resulting in dry warm summers and dry cold winters. Beyond the eastern slopes is a 154,635 km (59,705 sq mi) plateau occupying

1104-420: The alluring peak stood along a line passing a little east of Bute Inlet and perhaps 150 miles away, where blank spaces on the map left ample room for many nameless mountains." While there is debate as to whether the peak they saw was Mount Waddington (Don Munday observed that the feat is impossible), they almost certainly saw a peak in the Waddington Range , and this led the Mundays to explore that area. Over

1150-420: The early Eocene period. Volcanism along the entire length of the Coast Range Arc shut down about 50 million years ago and many of the volcanoes have disappeared from erosion. What remains of the Coast Range Arc to this day are outcrops of granite when magma intruded and cooled at depth beneath the volcanoes, forming the present Coast Mountains. During construction of intrusions 70 and 57 million years ago,

1196-480: The face they rested on a ledge just below the southeastern ridge, a full 9 hours since leaving the snow patch on the south face. After climbing a short chimney they finally reached the small snowy mass at the top, 13 hours after their start in base camp. They aborted their earlier plan of descending the shorter north face and retraced their ascent line, reaching their tent on the Dais Glacier at 2 am. The ascent to

1242-482: The globe: the area is built of several different terranes of different ages with a broad range of tectonic origins. In addition, oceanic crust under the Pacific Ocean is being subducted at the southern portion of the range to form a north–south line of volcanoes called the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt , a northern extension of the Cascade Volcanoes in the northwestern United States , and contains

1288-655: The length of the arc about 60 million years ago during the Albian and Aptian faunal stages of the Cretaceous period. This resulted from the changing geometry of the Kula Plate, which progressively developed a more northerly movement along the Pacific Northwest . Instead of subducting beneath the Pacific Northwest, the Kula Plate began subducting underneath southwestern Yukon and Alaska and during

1334-426: The line of a great couloir that comes directly down between the main summit tower and the northwest peak. It was an excellent line for quickly ascending but they were unable to traverse onto the south face proper due to poor rock conditions and were forced to retreat to base camp. By 3 am the next morning they were already climbing up a couloir to the right of the face. Good weather the past few days had cleared most of

1380-575: The most explosive young volcanoes in Canada. Further north the northwesterly structural trend of the Coast Mountains lies partly in a large continental rift responsible for the creation of several volcanoes. These volcanoes form part of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province , the most volcanically active area in Canada. The first event began 130 million years ago when a group of active volcanic islands approached

1426-503: The next decade, the Mundays mounted several expeditions into the area in an attempt to climb it. Known to them as "The Mystery Mountain", in 1927 the height was measured at 13,260 feet by triangulation; they reached the lower, north-west, summit on 8 July 1928, deeming the main summit too risky. On their recommendation the Geographical Names Board of Canada named the peak Mount Waddington after Alfred Waddington who

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1472-574: The next twelve days they ferried loads to their base camp at Icefall Point on the Dais Glacier. While on the glacier, they were joined by another expedition led by members of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club and the Sierra Club . Wiessner and House agreed to allow the others a first chance at the summit but this group failed to find a route up the south face. On July 20, Wiessner and House first attempted

1518-622: The north end of the Alaska Panhandle, beyond which are the Saint Elias Mountains, and by Champagne Pass in the Yukon Territory . Covered in dense temperate rainforest on its western exposures, the range rises to heavily glaciated peaks, including the largest temperate-latitude ice fields in the world. On its eastern flanks, the range tapers to the dry Interior Plateau and the subarctic boreal forests of

1564-509: The northern motion of the Kula Plate might have been between 140 mm (6 in) and 110 mm (4 in) per year. However, other geologic studies determined the Kula Plate moved at a rate as fast as 200 mm (8 in) per year. Download coordinates as: Mount Waddington Mount Waddington , once known as Mystery Mountain , is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia , Canada . Although it

1610-468: The saddle between Mt. Waddington and Combatant Mountain , to obtain a climate and environmental record from the ice covering the last few hundred years. The 2023 core reached 219 meters in depth, at or near the base of the ice. To reach Mount Waddington, one could take a long approach originating from Vancouver , with the bulk of the journey consisting of a long boat ride through the Strait of Georgia and

1656-559: The seaward slope of the Waddington Range and the adjoining coastline and parts of northern Vancouver Island adjacent to Queen Charlotte Strait . In 1925, while on a trip to Mount Arrowsmith , Vancouver Island , Don and Phyllis Munday spotted what they believed to be a peak taller than Mount Robson , the then accepted tallest peak entirely within British Columbia . In the words of Don Munday, "The compass showed

1702-552: The snow away from the ledges making for good climbing conditions. Following the left branch of the couloir, they reached a snow patch in the middle of the face. The final 1,000 ft (300 m) of the south face then presented a fierce hurdle of "sheer forbidding-looking rocks" as noted by Wiessner. While Wiessner initially started in boots, he quickly changed to rope-soled shoes and gave his ice axe and extra rope to House. Wiessner led several pitches up technically difficult rock including several overhangs. After traversing east across

1748-760: The south to the Nass River in the north. The third and northernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains is the Boundary Ranges , extending from the Nass River in the south to the Kelsall River in the north. It is also the largest subdivision of the Coast Mountains, spanning the British Columbia-Alaska border and northwards into Yukon flanking the west side of the Yukon River drainage as far as Champagne Pass , north of which being

1794-485: The southern and central portions of British Columbia called the Interior Plateau . Included within the Interior Plateau is a coalescing series of layered flood basalt lava flows. These sequences of fluid volcanic rock cover about 25,000 km (9,700 sq mi) of the Interior Plateau and have a volume of about 1,800 km (430 cu mi), forming a large volcanic plateau constructed atop of

1840-496: The summit and back to base camp had taken over 23 hours. The Waddington Range massif is known for fierce as well as unpredictable weather, located as it is at the brunt of the warm, wet winds that soak the British Columbia Coast, of which it is the highest point. Precipitation levels in the area of the peak are among the highest in the Coast Mountains . The peak has an ice cap climate ( EF ). In 2010 and again in 2023, scientists successfully drilled ice cores at Combatant Col,

1886-466: The top. The second expedition, consisting of climbers Neal Carter , Alan Lambert, Alec Dalgleish and Eric Brooks from British Columbia, made their attempt from the southeast. On June 23, they established their base camp on the Franklin Glacier . The ascent abruptly ended three days later when Dalgleish fell to his death from the southeast ridge. In 1935, a group of climbers from the Sierra Club of California made three attempts from their base camp at

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1932-427: The western backbone of North America , Central America , South America and Antarctica . The Coast Mountains are approximately 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and average 300 kilometres (190 mi) in width. The range's southern and southeastern boundaries are surrounded by the Fraser River and the Interior Plateau while its far northwestern edge is delimited by the Kelsall and Tatshenshini Rivers at

1978-431: The zone of Cretaceous dextral thrust faulting appears to have been widespread. It was also during this period when massive amounts of molten granite intruded highly deformed ocean rocks and assorted fragments from pre-existing island arcs, largely remnants of the Bridge River Ocean. This molten granite burned the old oceanic sediments into a glittering medium-grade metamorphic rock called schist . The older intrusions of

2024-426: Was a proponent of a road route, known as Waddington's Road , and again later the same for a railway , via the Homathko River valley and Bute Inlet , which would connect to Vancouver Island via Seymour Narrows . In the summer of 1934, two expeditions attempted to climb the mountain. The first expedition, made up of climbers from Winnipeg , made their attempt on the northwestern flank which had not been explored by

2070-475: Was completed, Coast Range Arc volcanism returned and sections of the arc were uplifted considerably in latest Cretaceous time. This started a period of mountain building that affected much of western North America called the Laramide orogeny . In particular a large area of dextral transpression and southwest-directed thrust faulting was active from 75 to 66 million years ago. Much of the record of this deformation has been overridden by Tertiary age structures and

2116-428: Was first used in the Canadian federal election of 1968. It was abolished in 1976 when it was redistributed between: Elections Canada webpage on Coast Chilcotin Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains ( French : La chaîne Côtière ) 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

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