Photo #N10-26

Frank Slide - Crowsnest Pass, Alberta

On April 29, 1903, at 4:10 am, 30 million cubic metres of limestone broke loose from the summit of Turtle Mountain and crushed the sleeping town of Frank. They say the slide covered an area of more than a square mile in about a minute and a half. Even a century later, this place has the look of an alien landscape. Part of the town survived and still exists to the west of the slide. I would have shot some more here but this photo was taken during my frigid December 2000 road trip. It was unseasonably cold even for the middle of winter, with a stiff wind that forced the windchill off the scale. I left my vehicle running while I hiked out onto the slide to take these photos. When I returned, an icicle had formed on the exhaust pipe! I took that as a hint to call it a night before I ended up with a bad case of frostbite.

 


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