A prominent peak on the Continental Divide and the principal backdrop to Lake Louise and the Chateau Lake Louise. Mount Victoria (3,464 m South Peak; 3,388 m North Peak) is composed of Cambrian limestone, dolomite, and quartzite; shared stratigraphy with the Burgess Shale; uplifted during the Laramide orogeny and sculpted by Pleistocene glaciers.

Victoria Glacier and Lake Louise. The Victoria Glacier extends ~3 km along the eastern face of the mountain and is the largest of the six glaciers feeding the Lake Louise basin. Glacial abrasion produces “rock flour”; fine silt suspended in meltwater; which gives Lake Louise its turquoise colour. Serac collapses and ice avalanches from the Upper Victoria Glacier are the source of the “rumbling” often heard at the Chateau.

Indigenous and naming history. The Stoney Nakoda knew the lake at the mountain’s foot as Ho-run-num-nay (Lake of Little Fishes). Tom Wilson was guided there in 1882 by Edwin Hunter. The peak was initially called Mount Green for Reverend William Spotswood Green (1888); it was renamed Mount Victoria in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

First ascent and Swiss guides. The first ascent was made on 5 August 1897 by J. Norman Collie, Charles Fay, Arthur Michael, and Peter Sarbach; the first professional Swiss guide to work in the Canadian Rockies. Philip Abbott had died on neighbouring Mount Lefroy in 1896, the first mountaineering fatality in North America. Swiss guides built the Abbot Pass Hut (1922) in the col between Victoria and Lefroy; it was a National Historic Site until dismantled in June 2022 due to permafrost melt and slope erosion.

Routes and trails. The classic Southeast Ridge route gains the South Summit via the “Sickle,” a narrow snow spine; the approach from Lake O’Hara passes Lake Oesa. The North Peak is reached via the Northeast Ridge (IV 5.3). The Plain of Six Glaciers trail leads to the 1924 teahouse and an Abbot Pass viewpoint. The Lake O’Hara Alpine Circuit (Yoho) traverses Wiwaxy Peak and offers views of Victoria’s western aspect. The Victoria Glacier is retreating rapidly due to climate change, with implications for the lake’s colour and regional hydrology.