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Travel & Adventure Guides

Past stories ------ Summer 2006 ------ Table of Contents Canadian Winery Destinations Otters of Kyuquot Sound Fishing in the Prairies Moncton - 3 Great Day Trips Sylvia Forest - Mountain Guide Yukon River Quest Path to Paradise A Century of Summits Mina Hubbard's Journey Tent Buyer's Guide Climbing Della Falls ------ Winter 2005 ------ Table of Contents 10 Best Mountain Destinations Affordable Adventures Spa Holidays Snow Shelters David Marra - The Ice Man Adventure Travel Insurance Tempest in Tofino ------ Summer 2005 ------ Table of Contents Dealing With Mosquitos Search for the Freshwater Sea Girls On Top Journal Astronomy Ottawa - 3 Great Day Trips Seabound Grasslands National Park Sugar Bush Country Hallowed Home of the Haida ------ Winter 2004 ------ Table of Contents Cross Country Skiing Snowshoeing Dogsledding in the Yukon Snowmobiling Winter Photography Mountains as Water Towers Knapsacks Explained Contributors ------ Summer 2004 ------ Table of Contents Thor Peak Rocky Mountain Teahouses Canoeing in Northern Sask. Fantastic Fundy Destinations Summer Stargazing Kayaking the Great Lakes Adele Frizzell - Adventure Racer BC Mountaineering Hiking Shoes Explained Exploring Nootka Sound

PHOTO: MIKE BEEDELL

Viewed from afar, a mountain's profile captures our imagination, pulling us ever upward, inspiring our highest ideals. The essence of mountain wilderness is found within its open spaces, in the silence and diversity of its pristine landscape and in the ominous risks it represents to the uninitiated or unwary.

As unlikely as it may seem, the world's longest uninterrupted cliff face is not found on some storied mountain in the high Himalayas, nor is it among the icy granitic spires of Patagonia in southern Chile. Rather, Thor Peak, a magnificent but little-known mountain, lies deep within the periglacial world of Nunavut's Auyuittuq National Park, "the land that never melts."

Named for the Norse god of thunder, Thor Peak is seen by only a handful of adventurous hikers and determined climbers each year. It is a tooth-shaped massif of unusual proportions. It soars steeply up from the valley floor into a featureless face that stretches skyward for more than 1,000 metres. Thor Peak, principally made up of Precambrian garnet-bearing gneisses and granitic intrusions such as coarse-grained charnockite, guards the east side of the Weasel River Valley, 18 kilometres south of the top of Akshayuk Pass.

As do most of the world's great mountains, Thor Peak, once seen and experienced, speaks silently to the human soul. And its renowned west face remains an irresistible prize for many of the world's elite big-wall specialists.