2310m (7579ft.)
Located mmediately east of lower Moraine Lake. Banff Park, Alberta
Latitude 51; 19; 30 Longitude 116; 10; 10, Topo map 82N/08
Panorama viewpoint: Moraine Lake Road. Can be seen from Highway 1
Named by Walter D. Wilcox The shape of this small mountain made Wilcox think of the biblical Tower of Babel. Official name.
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| Photo: Mount Babel in the distance, above and beyond the Tower of Babel More photos |
Other Information
Tower of BabelMount Babel takes its name from the much lower "Tower of Babel," the top of which is over 700 metres below the summit of Mount Babel.Walter Wilcox named the Tower of Babel after it reminded him of the story in the bible in which the Tower of Babel reached to the heavens. It was a huge rockfall from the Tower of Babel which formed the dam which holds back Moraine Lake.Walter Wilcox had thought when he named the lake that the rocks were carried forward by an advance of the glacier in the valley and left as a terminal moraine.
| An easy scramble, mostly grovelling up a gully. The Tower of Babel is a quartzite monolith that has long been popular with rock climbers. It is a lesser outlier of Mount Babel, one of the Ten Peaks towering above world-famous Moraine Lake. Although considerably overshadowed by its larger neighbours, the top gives a wonderful perspective of the lake and more grandiose nearby peaks. The route described is actually the climbers' descent route, but if you can spare a few hours, the view justifies the trudge. You could even do it as an alternative to a rest day. Try from late June on, or whenever the gully is snowfree. The ascent gully is very confined; a helmet is recommended. Kane, Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies page 242 |