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By Dave Birrell

Welcome to PeakFinder. This collection of databases presents comprehensive information about each of the over 1500 mountains in the Canadian Rockies. As well, information may be found regarding almost 200 passes and over sixty mountain ranges in the Rockies. Biographies of over 100 individuals who are part of the history of the Canadian Rockies are also available as is a chronology of the history of the Canadian Rockies.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 A geophysicist and teacher, Dave Birrell is the author of Calgary’s Mountain Panorama, 50 Roadside Panoramas in the Canadian Rockies, People and Planes, and Baz—The Biography of S/L Ian Bazalgette VC. A resident of Nanton, Alberta, Dave has enjoyed travelling in and learning about the Canadian Rockies for more than forty years. During the summer and fall of 2001 he was a regular contributor to CBC Radio's Daybreak Alberta show and has given presentations to numerous conferences and meetings. His has development content for a GPS-based Audio Tour Guide of the Canadian Rockies and for an iPhone application.  Dave has worked in the Rockies as an Interpretive Guide and is accredited as a Professional Interpreter by The Interpretive Guides Association.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
Although it is often thought that the Canadian Rockies include the entire area from the eastern foothills to the Pacific Ocean, this is not the case. Their eastern limit is the eastern foothills, but the Rockies are bounded on the west by the topographical feature known as the Rocky Mountain Trench, which stretches from the US border almost to the NWT border. This system of deep, broad valleys contains major rivers such as the Fraser, Columbia and Kootenay.

The United States border acts as the southern limit of the area covered by PeakFinder. The northern limit has been arbitrarily set at latitude 54 degrees 15 minutes. Peakfinder includes what are said to be the northernmost of the significant peaks of the Canadian Rockies, Mount Sir Alexander and Mount Ida.

A WORK IN PROGRESS
Visitors should appreciate that what is being offered here is not complete. In fact, a project such as this will never be complete.

 Additional features are being added as the project develops. As well, photographs of the peaks are continually being added. Over 4000 photos of mountains and passes are now available on the site. Archival photos of many of the individuals who played significant roles in the history of the Canadian Rockies have been added to the biographies in the "Mountain People" section.

Introductions to published climbing routes and scrambles on many of the mountains have been incorporated with the co-operation of authors Sean Dougherty and Alan Kane.

Of course not all of the sorting, filtering and querying power of a database is available through this website. However, future upgrades to the site will offer additional options to the visitor.

Basic information presented in this version of PeakFinder provides a foundation for its development in a number of ways. All comments regarding this initial version are welcome and if you have ideas for additional fields, links, etc., for the future evolution of the project please let us know.

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS
A work of this scope will inevitably contain errors. Visitors are encouraged to search for them and advise the author by email of any they find. Once the error is confirmed, it will be immediately corrected.

Visitors may also contribute by filling in some of PeakFinder's missing cells and adding to the information already presented. The author welcomes additional material and will be pleased to incorporate it into the databases and associated files.

Numerous visitors have forwarded biographical information regarding individuals who have peaks in the Rockies named after them. We have been pleased to incorporate this into the website.

A tremendous advantage of presenting information in this format and on a website is that it will always be current and easily corrected, updated and improved upon. Through the participation of individuals interested in the geography, history and other aspects of the Canadian Rockies, PeakFinder will grow in size and accuracy over the years.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
If you have specific information that you feel may be accessible through the sorting, filtering, and querying power of PeakFinder please feel free to ask.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Much of the information in this collection is based on the work of others. The following sources are gratefully acknowledged:

• Place Names of Alberta by Aphrodite Karamitsanis
• British Columbia Place Names by G.P.V. and Helen B. Akrigg
• Place Names of the Canadian Alps by Glen Boles, William Putnam, and Roger Laurilla
• Climbers Guides to the Rocky Mountain of Canada by William Putnam, Robert Kruszyna, Chris Jones, and Glen Boles
• Kananaskis Country Trail Guide by Gillean Daffern
• Canadian Rockies Trail Guide by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson
• Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
• Glenbow Museum
• Janet Mason, British Columbia Place Names Co-ordinator
• Merrily Aubrey, Alberta Place Names Co-ordinator
• Sean Dougherty, Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies
• Alan Kane, Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies
• Chic Scott
• Don Beers
• Ken Jones
• Glen Boles
• Tony Daffern
• Gillean Daffern
• Ben Gadd

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Rienk Lakeman, George Brindle, Alan Kane, Dr. John D. Birrell, Ken Jones, Dan Fox, Gillean Daffern, Tony Daffern, Gary Sargenia, Bennett Wong, Glen Boles, Vern Dewit, Larry Stanier, Steve Vachon, Greg Redies, Georgina Brown, Ed Michalski, David Wasserman, Dave Whiting, Steve Tober, Dave McRitchie, Rob Taerum, Rob Cowie, Ron Ellis, Denis Longuépée, Bill Cunes, Carl Potter, Marge McArthur, Ferdl Taxbock, Karl Staddon, Anne Beliveau, Bob St. John, Pat McDonald, Carol Evans, Allan Schierman, Tracey Preston-Hucik, Don Meredith, Brad Harrison,  Robert Boyko, Aaron Osicki, Ivan Pull, Mark Jobsis, Eric Macht, and through Eric Higgs, photos from the Morrison Bridgland Repeat Photography Project.

OTHER SOURCES
Some of the information presented in PeakFinder is taken directly from "Calgary’s Mountain Panorama" and "50 Roadside Panoramas in the Canadian Rockies." Both are published by Rocky Mountain Books.

COPYRIGHT
The databases, photographs, and other information presented on this website are subject to copyright. No part of the databases and associated files may be copied or re-transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, nor can any portion of the database and associated files be stored in any information storage or retrieval system except where expressly permitted in writing by the author.