Snowpatch Spire

Snowpatch Spire, The Bugaboos
Snowpatch Spire, with Pigeon Spire in the background on the right, Hound's Tooth and Marmolata Spire on the left.
Highest point
Elevation	3,084 m (10,118 ft)^[1]
Prominence	284 m (932 ft)^[2]
Parent peak	Howser Spire (3,412 m)^[2]
Coordinates	50°44′11″N 116°46′56″W / 50.73639°N 116.78222°W / 50.73639; -116.78222^[3]
Geography
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
District	Kootenay Land District
Protected area	Bugaboo Provincial Park
Parent range	Purcell Mountains The Bugaboos
Topo map	NTS 82K10 Howser Creek
Geology
Age of rock	135 Million years ago^[4]
Type of rock	Granodiorite^[4]
Climbing
First ascent	August 1940 by Raffi Bedayan and Jack Arnold^[5]
Easiest route	class 5.8^[6]

Snowpatch Spire is a mountain peak in British Columbia, Canada. With its first ascent in 1940, it was the last of the Bugaboo Spires to be climbed.^[2] It is located southwest of the Conrad Kain hut, between Bugaboo, Vowell and Crescent Glaciers, at the south end of Bugaboo Provincial Park.^[7] The mountain's toponym was officially adopted October 29, 1962, by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.^[3]

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Snowpatch Spire is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers.^[8] Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C.

Routes

Climbing routes on Snowpatch Spire:^[9]

Wildflowers - class 5.9
Kraus-McCarthy - class 5.9
Sunshine - class 5.11
Surf's Up (aka Southwest Ridge) - class 5.9
Southeast Corner (aka Snowpatch Route) - class 5.8

Gallery

Northeast aspect
Snowpatch Spire seen from Bugaboo Spire
Howser Spire (upper left), Snowpatch Spire (left of center), Bugaboo Spire (upper right), Eastpost Spire (lower right). Camera pointed west.
Anniversary Peak (left), Hound's Tooth/Marmolata Spire (centered) in Bugaboo Glacier, and Snowpatch Spire (right). East aspect as viewed from Bugaboo Lodge.

References

^ "Snowpatch Spire, British Columbia". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Snowpatch Spire, Peakvisor.com". Retrieved 2023-02-05.
^ ^a ^b "Snowpatch Spire". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
^ ^a ^b Mary Caperton Morton (2017), Aerial Geology; A High-Altitude Tour of North America's Spectacular Volcanoes, Canyons, Glaciers, Lakes, Craters, and Peaks, Timber Press, ISBN 9781604698350, p. 42
^ Bedayan, Raffi (1941). A Bugaboo No Longer. American Alpine Journal Vol. 4, p. 219 (1941). Retrieved from http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12194121900/A-Bugaboo-No-Longer.
^ "Snowpatch Spire - 10,006' BC". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
^ "Snowpatch Spire". BC Geographical Names. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633–1644. ISSN 1027-5606.
^ "Snowpatch Spire Rock Climbing, Mountainproject.com". Retrieved 2023-02-05.