OSTHEIMER LEADS PARTY TO ROCKIES

An expedition into the hitherto practically unexplored Clemenceau ice field region of the Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies will be made this summer by A. J. Ostheimer '29, who last year made the first ascent of Mt. Lyell, another peak in the same range, on which he collected much valuable data and many geological specimens of value. This expedition will have as its objective the ascent of Mt. Tsar, an unclimbed peak with an altitude between 11,000 and 12,000 feet, and the topographical and geological exploration of the Chaba and Whirlpool peaks which are in the same region. A general survey of as much of the entire district as is possible will also be made.

Except for the work of the Alberta-British Columbia Survey expedition and a party organized by H. S. Hall '19, Ostheimer will be the only man who has the made any sort of a comprehensive exploration in this region, and part of his work in fact, will involve the substantiation and elaboration of the reports made by these previous expeditions. The report of Hall, for example, in regard to the ice of Bruce Glacier which he traced into a canyon 20 by 100 feet will be followed up by Ostheimer and if possible he will make a more complete observation.

Trail To Be Blasted

His party, which will start the latter part of June to be gone two months, will include, besides himself, a Swiss guide, two Indians, and two cooks. They will have to make their way into the district which is to be the scene of their operations over rough and unexplored mountainous regions, and it is probable that the trail for the last 14 miles or so will have to be opened by blasting through the ice. This portion of the Jaspar National Park, which includes in its boundaries about 4000 square miles, includes 20 unclimbed peaks, all over 10,000 feet high and hundreds of square miles of still unexplored territory. Mt. Tsar the objective of the Ostheimer expedition is probably the highest of these unclimbed peaks and is one of the most difficult to approach.

Besides his attempt to scale Mt. Tsar, Ostheimer expects to make observations regarding the divide fluctuations of Fortress Pass. The Great Divide, which is only 8,000 feet high in this region, causes a variation in the direction of the flow of the glacial streams which makes all the water at times flow toward the Arctic and at other times toward the Pacific. Since these streams serve to distinguish the boundary lines between Alberta and British Columbia, observations, regarding them are desired by the Canadian government. At one time, in fact, the shifting of the courses of these streams was so erratic that one of the mountains of the range was sometimes included in the boundaries of British Columbia and sometimes was the property of Alberta.

Oatheimer also hopes to determine the exact altitude of Tsar Mountain and to make photographs of the creek south of Tsar for the Survey. He also intends to map Tsar Creek, which flower into the Columbia River, and to chart whatever other streams are found in the locality.

Although Ostheimer's expedition is in no way connected with the Department of Geology of the University, it is probably that any, or at least some, of the specimens and observations which he makes will be put at their disposal