Ball Range

Ball Range (82N; 82O)

The Ball Range forms the Continental Divide between Vermilion Pass and Red Earth Pass.

John Ball was Under-secretary of State for the Colonies and was influential in obtaining funding for the Palliser Expedition. He was also the first president of the Alpine Club (London).

James Hector's journal entry written near the summit of Vermilion Pass reads as follows: "The source of the stream flowing to the east [Altrude Creek] is from a deep lake with rocky margins...A stream of muddy water, about 12 feet broad, descends from the north-west, and when within 300 yards of this lake turns off to the south-west, forming the first water we had seen flowing to the Pacific. We encamped beside this stream...I then ascended the mountain to the east for 1,000 feet above our camp, reaching the limit of the woods after 500 feet. The mountain...is a mere spur from a large central mass of snow-capped mountains to the south-east, which I named Mount Ball.