Hope Slide - Hope, British Columbia, Canada
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T0SHEA
N 49° 17.888 W 121° 15.795
10U E 626267 N 5462049
Hope Slide is located 12 kilometres southeast of Hope on the Crowsnest Highway. There is a parking area for viewing the slide.
Waymark Code: WMFX0N
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 12/10/2012
Views: 6
“The Hope Slide was the largest landslide ever recorded in Canada.”
The Hope landslide occurred on Johnson Peak 12 miles southeast of Hope.
The first earthquake occurred at 3:56 am on January 9, 1965. Some scientists believe it was not an earthquake, but a landslide at the top of Johnson Peak that caused the collapse.
Approximately 45 million cubic yards of rock, snow, mud and trees tumbled 6000 feet into the valley below.
Outram Lake, located at the bottom of Johnson Peak, was totally obliterated. Two miles of highway was covered with debris and the valley floor was over 250 feet deep.
"The slide buried a Chevrolet Sedan with two occupants, another car and driver, and a tanker truck and its driver under a torrent of 47 million cubic meters of pulverized rock, mud, and debris..."
"Rescue crews only found two of the four bodies—the others have remained entombed under the rock since 1965. A Greyhound bus traveling to Hope was stopped just before the slide. The driver turned back and was credited with saving his passengers from a tragedy."
Due to the massive amount of rocks and debris, the highway was rerouted south and now skirts along the edge of the Hope Slide.
*Landslides are common in the mountain areas of British Columbia due to hundreds of years of erosion and seismic activity occurring along fault lines. Water and loose rock fill the fissures and eventually cause an unstable base.
There is a viewing area for visitors to stop and visit the site and read the commemorative plaque.
At the visitor’s center, in Hope, they sell commemorative newspapers and other souvenirs.
Sources: Wikipedia
Government of British Columbia
Geological Survey of Canada
We stopped by Hope Slide on our way home, and were amazed at the amount of rock that still remains.