Straddling the boundary between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the Columbia Icefield is the largest ice mass in North America, south of the Arctic Circle. Situated in the Canadian Rockies, this ice field covers an area of 130 square miles (365 sq. km.) and has a maximum depth of 1,200 feet (365 m), the height of the Empire State Building in New York City. The average elevation of the ice field is about 10,000 feet (3,000 m). It occupies a high, flat-lying plateau in the form of a huge massif. Its highest points are Mount Columbia at 12,284 feet (3745 m) and Mount Athabasca at 11,452 feet (3,491 m).The largest icefield south of Alaska, shimmering glacial ice and snow cover some 389 sq. km (233 sq. mi.).
The Columbia Icefield is a surviving remnant of the thick ice mass that once mantled most of Western Canada's mountains. Lying on a wide, elevated plateau, it is the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies. Nearly three-quarters of the park's highest peaks are located close to the icefield; ideally placed to catch much of the moisture that Pacific winds carry across the British Columbia interior. Most of this precipitation falls as snow; up to 7 metres a year!
