Peak Finder

Photo: Ernest Peak (left) and Edward Peak from Rudolph Peak (courtesy Brad Harrison)

Edward Peak

  • 3514 m (11,528ft)
  • First Ascent
  • Naming History
51.9597N -117.095W
Located at the head of Arctomys Creek above the Lyell Icefield

Province: Alberta
Park: Banff
Headwater: Saskatchewan
Ascent Date: 1902
Ascent Party: James Outram
Ascent Guide: Christian Kaufmann
Year Named: 1972
Named by: Sydney R. Vallance
Named for: Feuz, Edward sr. (Edward Feuz was an early guide in the Rockies and Selkirks.(see biog.)

"There are five peaks in the Lyell group (Mount Lyell) that rise in a semi-circle above the Lyell Icefield. Although the summits are relatively high in elevation, the peaks present only a modest rise above the surrounding glaciers." -courtesy Chic Scott The five peaks of Mount Lyell were named, at the suggestion of Sydney Vallance, after prominent mountaineering guides originally brought to Canada by the CPR and who became residents of Canada. The five were Edward Feuz jr., Ernest Feuz, and Walter Feuz, Rudolph Aemmer, and Christian Hasler jr. and they took up permanent residence in Golden in 1912. They are part of what was called the "Swiss Guide Group." The five peaks form an arc which opens to the east on the Alberta side of the Lyell Icefield, Ernest Peak being at the centre. Rudolph Peak is at the northeast end of the arc with Edward Peak lying midway between Ernest Peak and Rudolph Peak. Rudolph Peak and Edward Peak are not on the Continental Divide. The other three peaks are. The southeast end of the arc is Christian Peak with Walter Peak lying between Christian Peak and Ernest Peak. Edward Feuz jr was the son of Edward Feuz sr. Together with Christian Hasler, Edward sr. was the first of the Swiss Guides to be brought to Canada by the Canadian Pacific Railway. William Van Horne, the president of the railway, was attempting to promote a program of attracting tourists to the Rockies and the CPR's hotels. One of his ideas was to supply guides for the mountaineering parties. Edward Feuz jr arrived in Canada in 1903 to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His father, Edward sr., had done the same thing in 1899 and Edward jr. was to apprentice under his father. Edward jr. began work at Glacier House near Roger's Pass and continued to be employed by the railway until his retirement in 1949. He guided privately until 1953, completing a fifty year career as a mountain guide. Credited with being the first person to stand upon the summit of 78 peaks and with leading 102 new climbing routes, he was never involved with a fatal accident. In 1922, while based at Lake Louise, he was instrumental in the building of the "Swiss style" alpine hut on Abbot's Pass (between Mount Lefroy and Mount Victoria) at an elevation approaching 3000 metres. The "Climber's Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada" is a listing of the first ascents of all the mountains and important routes in the Rockies. The name of Edward Feuz Jr. seems to be on every page. He climbed virtually all of the significant peaks in the Rockies and many in the Selkirks as well. Edward Feuz climbed Mount Victoria on numerous occasions, the last time being when he was eighty-five years old, eleven years before his death in 1981.

Photo: Edward Peak (left) and Rudolph Peak from the south (courtesy Reink Lakeman)