APRIL 2001 NEWSLETTER

Peakfinder Updates This month we have added our "Passes of the Canadian Rockies" database to the site. This feature provides information regarding 181 passes and compliments the mountains database and its 1478 peaks. Basic data for each pass includes location information, naming history, the names of the watersheds that meet at the pass, and the names of adjacent mountains. The mountains are in hypertext so clicking on their name takes you to information about them in the mountains section of Peakfinder. Like the entries for the mountains, many of the passes have an "Other Information" section that contains historical vignettes, photos, and other material related to the pass. Enter "Pipestone Pass" to see and example. We continue to accumulate photos of the peaks of the Canadian Rockies and now we are looking for photos of passes as well. If you have a favourite photo of a mountain or a pass and would like to have it placed on the site please let us know. The photos should be jpg's, ideally scanned at 72 dpi and with a width of 250 pixels. Attach them to an email and forward them to dave@peakfinder.com. You will, of course, be given credit for the photograph on the site. Peakfinder is now listed in the mountain resources sections of various websites including those of the Alpine Club of Canada, the Grant MacEwan Mountain Club, and the Rocky Mountain Ramblers. As well we are pleased to be "Recommended" on "Digital Banff" www.digitalbanff.com and referred to as "A wonderful source of information on the history and culture of the peaks of the Canadian Rockies."

April's Unusual Canadian Rockies name EX COELIS MOUNTAIN Referred to as the Kadoona Peaks by Mary Schaffer, the name was not formally adopted and the feature was officially named in 1994. Ex Coelis is Latin for "Out of the Clouds" and is the motto of the First Canadian Parachute Battalion, one of eight battalions which made up the Sixth British Airborne Division during World War II. When the mountain was named the battalion association’s president referred to it as, "A bold memory of jumpers buried on foreign soil." When the invasion of France began on D-Day members of the battalion were among the first Allied force on the ground, taking off from their base at 23:30 and landing in France shortly after 01:00 on June 6, 1944. The unit had orders to demolish a bridge over the Dives River, thus hampering any German advance to the invasion beaches, and then to cover British paratroopers attacking a coastal artillery battery which was thought to threaten the beaches. The mountain is made up of five peaks that carry the names Normandy, Ardennes, Elbe, Rhine, and Stan Waters. The traverse of the 5 peaks make for an interesting scrambling trip, with a rope being needed for a rapell. Start at the small south-western rock peak and traverse counter-clockwise. Enter "Ex Coelis Mountain" or the names of any of the peaks in the search box of the main page to learn more about this mountain and its peaks.

April's esoteric list THE HIGHEST TWENTY-FIVE PASSES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES The Passes of the Canadian Rockies Database allows the generation of various lists of possible interest to mountain enthusiasts. Please let me know if you've ever been to Halstead Pass. Abbot Pass, Halstead Pass, Emerald Pass, Duchesnay Pass, North Molar Pass, Hurd Pass, Grizzly Pass, Wenkchemna Pass, Opabin Pass, Sentinel Pass (Banff), Biddle Pass, Little Highwood Pass, Pass in the Clouds, Badger Pass, Paradise Pass, Wastach Pass, Coral Pass, Odaray Pass, Hector Pass, Molar Pass, Cataract Pass, Pipestone Pass, Packer Pass, Dolomite Pass, Deception Pass For information regarding any of these passes, enter their names in the Passes search box on the main page.

Look who's honoured in the Canadian Rockies Francis A. Harrison Pilot Officer Harrison DFC, a native of Cranbrook, BC,  was serving with 428 Squadron RCAF when he was killed during WW II. He was an air-gunner aboard a Lancaster bomber (KB780) which was attacking Duisburg when it was hit and crashed in Obermeiderich. Mount Harrison was the last of the 11,000 footers to be officially named and was not climbed until 1964. Enter Mount Harrison to learn more about this peak.

The Victoria Cross Instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856, the Victoria Cross is the highest award that may be given to a Canadian for gallantry in the face of the enemy. It is awarded in recognition of, "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy." The medal was first awarded during the Crimean war and among the recipients was a Canadian lieutenant, Alexander Roberts Dunn, who won the VC for heroism during the charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava. Over the years  93 Canadians have been awarded the Victoria Cross. Twelve of these men have been further honoured by having a mountain in the Canadian Rockies named after them.

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