FOR
THE LOVE OF A GOOD MOUNTAIN
BY JACKIE GOLD BANFF CRAG & CANYON
STAFF
The Rockies have seduced many a climber over the past century.
Scholars, athletes, artists and many other types of individuals
have all felt their call and heeded it.
Samuel E.S. Allen was one of many such individuals to become
enchanted with the snow-covered peaks of the mountains that
surround Banff and Lake Louise when he first visited the
Canadian Rockies in 1891. After exploring Illecillewaet
Neve, Emerald Lake and Lake Louise, where he named and climbed
the Devil's Thumb, Allen returned to Yale, only to return again
in 1893 to climb Mount Rundle , Fairview Mountain and attempt
Mount Victoria . He was unsuccessful in his two tries
at Victoria, having been set back by avalanches.
A year later Allen, bit by the climbing bug, returned with
other Yale University students wanting to see what all the
fuss was about. Allen, along with three friends and Walter
Wilcox, paid $12 each week for accommodations, meals and transportation.
Wilcox and Allen, having both made failed attempts on Mount
Temple and Mount Victoria , had come more prepared this time,
bringing more equipment to help ease the climb before them.
Calling themselves the Lake Louise Club, they were dead set
on mapping and climbing what was then uncharted wilderness.
While the group was inexperienced, they were extremely
enthusiastic, and set out to conquer Mount Lefroy , which
can be viewed from the Chateau at Lake Louise together
with Mount Victoria. Walter Wilcox commented that Mount Lefroy
'looms in the distance, crowned with a helmet of perpetual
snow and hanging glacier!' It is no wonder that a mountain
so described would tempt the young bucks into attempting an
ascent.
It was not to be, however, as while making the climb a large
boulder was dislodged and plummeted to the ground, striking
Louis Frissel along the way. Seriously injured by the blow,
the climb was halted and Frissel was taken to the hospital,
where he later recovered.
From the accident the Lake Louise Club gained a greater appreciation
for the dangers involved in climbing. They decided to focus
on smaller, more modest targets, and set about exploring Paradise
Valley and Wenkchemna Valley , which was known originally as
the Valley of the Ten Peaks.
In addition to these more conservative climbs they also
ascended Mount Temple , which had been a goal of both Wilcox
and Allen.
"Many a hearty cheer rent the thin air as our little
party of three reached the summit, for we were standing where
no man had ever stood before, and ... at the highest altitude
yet reached in North America north of the United States
boundary.”
Indeed they were the first group to ascend both peaks, though
not without some near disasters. Despite their successful
ascent of Mount Temple , their limited knowledge of glacier
travel and lack of outdoor cooking skills were the cause of
many a lamentation.
When the club finally disbanded and the climbers returned
to their homes in the eastern United States, they had managed
to explore over 100 square kilometres around Lake Louise, and
even named a number of the mountains and lakes in the area,
measured the depth of Lake Louise and made a detailed map of
the area.
Wilcox went on to make a major contribution to Camping in
the Canadian Rockies, which was the first book about the Rockies.
It would later inspire a number of other climbers and tourists
to visit the Canadian Rockies.
Of the Valley of the Ten Peaks, Wilcox said that, “no scene
has ever given me an equal impression of inspiring solitude
and rugged grandeur." The Valley of the Ten Peaks was
so named for the group because Allen had chosen to name them
after the Stoney Indian words for numbers after the natives
that had been hired to look after the horses taught Allen the
words.
The peaks, called: Heejee, Nom, Yamnee, Tonsa, Sata, Shappee,
Sagowa, Saknowa, Neptuak and Wenkchemna were all later renamed,
except for two which retained their original Stoney names.
When the other members of the Lake Louise Club returned to
their homes Allen decided to make a solo trip, and in September
of 1894 he visited Eagle Eyrie through Wenkchemna Pass, and
then went on to explore Opabin Pass, where he named Mount Biddle,
after a friend from Philadelphia who was reputed to be an extensive
traveller himself; Mount Huber, after Emil Huber a Swiss climber;
and Ringrose Peak, an acquaintance from London who Allen had
met while exploring the Rockies.
Later in 1894 Allen visited Lake O'Hara and explored the area
together with Yuel Carryer, a native student enrolled
at the University of Toronto . They became the first to reach
Abbot Pass and the following day climbed to what is now known
as Wiwaxy Gap. Allen described the climb as, "the most
consummate view, from an artistic view, that I have ever seen
in the Rockies ."
Allen's last visit was in 1895, when he visited the Mount
Assiniboine area. After his final visit Allen had a mental
breakdown, and was ultimately confined to an institution
for the rest of his life.
Jon Whyte wrote that Allen was, “a haunting figure. Brightly
intelligent, active and alert, alive to the nuances of
language, a scholar, and the finest namer of places the Rockies
have ever hosted!”
Perhaps that is why in 1924 one of the 10 mountains in the
Valley of the Ten Peaks was renamed after Allen, one of the
first visitors to the Lake Louise area and a lover of mountains
big and small.
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