Nicknamed the "Matterhorn of the Rockies", Mount Assiniboine towers over its neighbouring mountains being the tallest mountain in Canada south of the Bow Valley. Standing tall with an elevation of 3,618 metres (11,870 ft.) Assiniboine was first summited in 1901 by James Outram, together with Swiss guides Christian Bohren & Christian Hasler Sr., who describes the behemoth best as "like a monster tooth, from an entourage of dark cliff and gleaming glacier, 5,000 ft. above the valley of approach... its massive pyramid forms a conspicuous landmark from almost every considerable eminence for scores of miles around." Not too shabby for a pile of rocks.
Today, Mount Assiniboine can be viewed from the lifts of Sunshine Village to the winding Highway 93 in Kootenay National Park, but getting there is a different story. No roads penetrate the unspoiled wilderness of Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, with trails providing the only land access to the spectacular campgrounds littered around Magog Lake. Oh yes, to get up close and personal to this bad boy you're going to have to use your own two feet just like our pal Jimmy Outram did in the 1900s. That, or you could use a helicopter... but doesn't that kind of feel like cheating?
