Pass Finder

Shovel Pass

  • 2320 m (7612ft)
  • Naming History
  • Peaks and Rivers
52.7791N 117.8291W
Province: Alberta
Park: Jasper
Year Named: 1911
Named by: Mary Schaffer
Named for: Other -Two crude shovels were fashioned from trees at the summit of the pass to remove drifts of snow. The shovels were left at the pass for many years.
Mountain (NW): Curator Mountain
Headwaters (NE): Maligne River
Headwaters (SW): Athabaca River

SHOVEL PASS

Jack Otto guided Mary Schaffer over this pass in 1911 when she returned to map the lake that she had reached from the north in 1908. It was found that the snow at the pass was too deep and soft for the horses so the men built a crude pair of shovels from a nearby tree and cleared the way through the deep drifts. After seeing the shovels at the top of the pass, Mary Schaffer named the pass. The shovels spent many years at the pass but are now located in the Yellowhead Museum in Jasper.