Pigeon Mountain was, for a few years, the site of an attempt to establish a downhill ski resort in the Bow Valley. However a combination of little snow, warm chinook winds, and exposure to the sun forced it to close. The old ski runs can be seen as you approach the mountain from the west on the Trans Canada Highway. It was named "Pic de Pigeons" by Eugene Bourgeau, the French-born botanist on the Palliser Expedition. As common pigeons are a species that has been introduced and would not have been present in the Bow Valley in 1858 it is not clear what the bird were that Eugene Bourgeau saw. *A hiking route to the summit is described in Gillean Daffern's Kananaskis Country Trail Guide.