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Surrey, BC
Canada
184 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 3:01 PM
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| It is said that Shannon Falls is the third highest in B.C. ANyone been to #1 and #2? |
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 | Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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 Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 3:46 PM
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There are much higher falls than the official #1 and #2 which are Della and Takkakaw IIRC.
I've seen falls in Kingcome Valley over 1,000m high by the map which is 2x higher than official #1 (Della). |
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Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
847 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 8:39 PM
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| I've read Della is the fifth highest waterfall in the world. It would have to be the highest in B.C. |
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:04 PM
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This one is 100m higher than Della and there are falls in the same valley that are twice as high as this one.
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 Terminator shade wearing, summit questing, double Grinding, Gordo voting self annointed 'dumb ass' and Aconcagua Bagga who dreams of Robson, Teton, The Judge, and.....and....
Mission B.C, B.C
Canada
1856 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:08 PM
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| How does nobody know about these falls, or are you counting Della as 3 seperate smaller water falls as it doesn't drop vertically from top to bottom? |
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:24 PM
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Here's the map
Note Lat-Long coordinates at bottom
Della is 460m top to bottom, according to the Gov.ca and Wikipedia. This is 100m higher, depending on where you draw the cutoff, its more than 500m by any measure.
I figure it is like the bogus statistics about the Chief being the "second largest granite monolith in the British Commonwealth". Falls like Takkakaw and Della are tourist traps. Whereas only about 300 Natives, 50 loggers and 30 mountaineers have ever been up the back end of Kingcome Valley. The tourist traps need bogus statistics to keep the tourists coming....
Maybe I should write an article for Canadian Geographic or something.  |
Edited by - Dru on 10/17/2005 10:25 PM |
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Terminator shade wearing, summit questing, double Grinding, Gordo voting self annointed 'dumb ass' and Aconcagua Bagga who dreams of Robson, Teton, The Judge, and.....and....
Mission B.C, B.C
Canada
1856 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:31 PM
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| How hard was it to travel up through that valley? Do you have any pic's of this 1000M water fall and finaly tell Canadian Geographic and send them a pic. Get the truth out man! |
Edited by - Jeffster on 10/17/2005 10:32 PM |
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:31 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by laneskimmer
I've read Della is the fifth highest waterfall in the world. It would have to be the highest in B.C.
On the "official list" it comes in around 22nd. Here are the "official" top 10.
Angel Falls, Venezuela 3,212 ft (979 m)
Tugela, South Africa 2,800 ft (850 m)
Utigord, Norway 2,625 ft (800 m)
Monge, Norway 2,540 ft (774 m)
Mutarazi, Zimbabwe 2,499 ft (762 m)
Yosemite, United States 2,425 ft (739 m)
Espelands, Norway 2,307 ft (703m)
Lower Mar Valley, Norway 2,151 ft (655 m)
Tyssestrengene, Norway 2,123 ft (647 m)
Cuquenan, Venezuela 2,000 ft (610 m)
Except, like I said, I've seen 1,000m high waterfalls in the Kingcome. Not quite as steep as the one in the photo, but at least as steep as Shannon Falls. |
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:33 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Jeffster
How hard was it to travel up through that valley?
I took the photo from a logging road...soooo, not too hard |
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:36 PM
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here's a much better photo of the same waterfall
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Edited by - Dru on 10/17/2005 10:36 PM |
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Terminator shade wearing, summit questing, double Grinding, Gordo voting self annointed 'dumb ass' and Aconcagua Bagga who dreams of Robson, Teton, The Judge, and.....and....
Mission B.C, B.C
Canada
1856 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:45 PM
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| I want a picture of the one that's twice as high. Come on Dru lets see it. |
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2005 : 10:57 PM
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Its really bad.... also I guess it isn't as impressive cause the upper part is a slab and not a vertical drop. Only the lower 200m is vertical and then they vanish in the talus.
But there are 3 of them and they flow all summer long... it's steeper than it looks, too. Check out the wall on the right, That is 600m high.... and vertical. |
Edited by - Dru on 10/17/2005 10:57 PM |
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Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
10537 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 12:17 AM
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Impressive |
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Outward Bound author of the Seinfeld Thread, who builds his own snowshoes
PoCo, BC
Canada
2660 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 08:48 AM
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I was at Takakkaw a few yrs ago and then a few days ago survivorman was on when he was in the rockies and my mom swears tha tthe waterfall that was in the background was Takkakaw. The info my uncle had on it said Takkakaw was the highest in BC at 1248 ft and one of the 12 highest in the world the info was from 98 so I'm sure more have been discovered but it sure was big
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quote:
Originally posted by BillyGoat
But aren't nalgenes marketed to humans? Maybe we should just ban them from mice.
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Cycling guru, Wig wearing, James Bond wannabe, answers to the call of "Eurobabe"
Langley
Canada
1230 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 09:54 AM
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I'm thinking that waterfalls are classified as to how far the water actually falls (free falls) looks like the one in Dru's photo has the water running more down the rock face. Just a thought.
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"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're headed."
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 10:01 AM
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| The water at Shannon Falls just runs down the rock face too. Shannon is at an angle of only about 65 degrees overall. Which is one reason why it is so easy to climb when it does freeze up. |
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Salmon Arm, BC
Canada
614 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 12:29 PM
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BC Waterfall "statistics" are wildly unreliable at best.
Shaggy, there doesn't seem to be a clear rule whether a waterfall height should count only the free fall portion or the entire drop. Della and Shannon falls count the latter. Helmcken is obviously a freefall and easy to measure--but should one also count that additional 10 m drop just below its plunge pool as part of the total height?
Yosemite falls for example counts the cascade portion between the two freefalls, enabling it to make it to #5 in the world--official measurements say upper fall (freefall) 1430 ft, middle cascades 675 feet, lower fall (freefall) 320 feet. Total = 2425 feet.
The excellent Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest website says this of Takakkaw:
quote:
Though it's obvious the falls are large, the actual height of the falls has been the source of controversy for some time. A plaque at the picnic near the falls area says the drop is 258 meters, yet several world books, encyclopedias and other reference material have given listed the height as anywhere between 258 meters up to 486 meters. The issue is, of course, what should and shouldn't be considered part of the falls. The main, vertical portion, which gets all the attention, is, indeed, 258 meters tall, but when the cascades at it's base are added (as they should be), and the unseen tiers above the top of the main plunge of the falls are included, it is quite easy to consider the falls to be closer to 380 meters tall.
Having said all that...
The usual list of Canada's top 4, as per tourism publications, say: #1 Della (440 m or 460 m--see, even the "official" heights disagree!!), #2 Takakkaw (380 m), #3 Shannon (336.8 m), #4 Helmcken Falls (only 140 m, there are dozens taller!). Seems like a waterfall has to be very well known to make it on the list!
Some other contenders for the top 5:
Helmet Falls on the Rockwall is 365 metres
Harmony Falls aka Freil Lake Falls, visible from the Earls Cove-Saltery Bay ferry, is 444 m
Bridal Veil Falls, on Icefield Hwy Banff--main drop is about 400 ft/120 m, total cascade is about 450 m
Flood Falls near Hope 380 m total drop
Icecap Falls, Squamish Valley ia about 450 m
Hunlen Falls, Tweedsmuir, anywhere from 700 to 1300 ft (213-396 m)
Place Creek Falls, Birken, about 425 m
Like Dru, I've seen some incredible waterfalls on the BC coast, most of which are unnamed let alone unmeasured. I don't doubt that a 1000 m falls is out there. You can see several super tall cascades plunging down the cliffs just west of Hope every time it rains. And what about the Weeping Wall in Banff--those cascades drop several hundred metres, too.
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Edited by - pmjwright on 10/18/2005 12:35 PM |
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Tumbler Ridge, BC
Canada
1343 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 12:45 PM
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This is an issue I've banged my head against for a few years. The trouble is different people rank and rate waterfalls differently, and different people have different opinions of what is and what isn't an official waterfall, and how much water it needs to move and different people know about different waterfalls, and, and, and....
For instance If you go to the BC Encyclopedia, Kinuseo Falls in Monkman park ranks in the top ten waterfalls in BC, at 60 m high. While it is a pretty impressive waterfall with the full force of the Murray River flowing over it, there are waterfalls in the Tumbler Ridge area that are higher, and don't get listed. In fact, if you go to world-waterfalls.com, it doesn't even place in the top 50.
So why aren't these other falls in the top ten list? Two reasons. First, Dru is right that these other falls just aren't well-known enough. While I'm not sure I'd call Della a tourist trap (I haven't been there, but it seems like it's a bit hard to get to to be a tourist trap. And there's no real trappings there, are there?), it is well-known, though. As is Shannon, Takkakaw, Brandywine, Bridal Veil, Kinuseo and a whole bunch of others.
Second: history. These have always been the top ten falls, these will always be the top ten falls. Waterfalls don't grow, so this list must be right.
The Della/Takkakaw debate is interesting, too, as they are both called the highest falls in Canada, depending on who you talk to. That one's a bit easier, as (IIRC) Takkakaw is a free falling fall, and so get listed on some international tall falls scale, while Della isn't, and so, even through it is higher, it doesn't make the international lists.
I have, at various times, tried pitching a story about this to various publications, but timing and lack of time on my part have meant that it's never been writ.
But thanks for bringing the discussion up again. Maybe it's time to start flogging the story. Or even a book.
In the meantime, here's a bit of reading from world-waterfalls.com.
Tallest Waterfall of Canada / (n)th Tallest Waterfall in Canada Myths:
This section will be a little more ambiguous than the previous, because much of western Canada is not as heavily documented as necessary to define the true tallest waterfalls in the country. We’ll start out again, with the tallest of the country myths.
The Canadian Government identifies British Columbia’s Della Falls, dropping 1443 feet on Vancouver Island, as the tallest waterfall in Canada. In reality, chances are, it’s not even the tallest waterfall on Vancouver Island. Also situated on Vancouver Island is Kiwi Falls, which may or may not, pending an accurate measurement, drops a little less than 1600 feet, with a possible additional 300 feet further downstream. There are also several unnamed, but significant volume waterfalls at the head of nearby Woss Lake, which are thought to drop between 1300 and 1500 feet each.
This is, however, just scratching the surface. Western British Columbia is by far the most rugged part of Canada, and we suspect contains as heavy a concentration of waterfalls as does Norway’s west coast. Most of the big waterfalls in BC aren’t named, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t significant. Alfred Creek Falls, near Powell River, dropping nearly 2300 feet, is the tallest waterfall which we’ve recorded in Canada thus far. We are aware of an additional 11 waterfalls within Canada which stand taller than Della Falls, but wouldn’t be surprised if there are more than 100.
The second myth we’re highlighting in this section is the commonly disputed “nth” Tallest Waterfall in the Country. A list of the tallest waterfalls in Canada is available here, for comparison, and to see where some of these waterfalls fall.
British Columbia’s Hunlen Falls is usually seen occupying the number 2 spot on Tallest of Canada lists. The falls drop 1226 feet in a single plunge, and though among the country’s tallest, the explanation regarding Della Falls clearly shows that Hunlen isn’t nearly the second tallest in the country.
Takkakaw Falls, in Yoho National Park, on the western edge of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, is one of the best waterfalls in all of North America, with a total drop of 1248 feet. With a single plunge of 854 feet, Takkakaw Falls is usually seen at the number 3 spot, followed shortly by Helmcken Falls, located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, at number five. Helmcken Falls drops 462 feet, so already, we’re seeing a significant discrepancy in height. This is mainly because the other tall waterfalls of Canada are largely unknown.
Rounding out this section is the oft-cited Panther Falls, which usually takes up the number 4 spot on this list. We differentiate this particular waterfall for good reason. The Canadian Government (specifically the Canadian Geographical Names Database), as well as many encyclopedias throughout the last several decades, commonly list Panther Falls as dropping 600 feet. The actual height of Panther Falls is closer to 200 feet. We believe the origin of such an outlandish discrepancy comes from one of the two following situations. A) Located about 1/3 mile downstream of Panther Falls is Nigel Creek Falls, which also drops about 200 feet. Taking that, along with the change in elevation between the two waterfalls, into account, Nigel Creek may, in fact, lose 600 feet of elevation. B) The more likely of the two situations. About 300 feet downstream from the base of Panther Falls lay Bridal Veil Falls, along a tributary stream. Bridal Veil Falls drops over 1500 feet from the mountain above, but the final 600 feet or so is the most significant. It’s possible that the heights for Panther Falls and Bridal Veil Falls were mixed up at one time or another.
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I never get lost. It's just that sometimes, I'm not sure where I am. |
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156 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 12:55 PM
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Originally posted by Dru
does it freeze in the winter... perhaps the longest(?) ice pitch |
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Salmon Arm, BC
Canada
614 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 1:13 PM
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Wow, Alfred Creek Falls....I lived in Powell River for 5 years, worked and hiked in the area when the Powell Divide trail concept was just getting started. I never even thought of Alfred Creek as a waterfall, let alone as one of the tallest. To me it was just a glacial stream.
See how easy it is to ignore some pretty significant features!! |
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| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 1:30 PM
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I believe the Alfred Creek Falls are back up near Mt Alfred?
Thanks for the interesting article, Backroader. Although I would quibble with some of the info therein... Helmet Creek Falls is in AB, not BC. Panther Falls is barely 60m high, you can climb it in one ropelength when it's frozen. 40m is more accurate.
Highest waterfall in the Rockies with flowing water in the summer is probably Polar Circus, just south of the Weeping Wall on Cirrus Mountain, 700m high. But the individual steep parts are only 150m or so high linked by long stretches of lower-angled ice.
Highest frozen waterfall in the Rockies is probably Slipstream, flows off the seracs on Snow Dome, 925m high. but it is cold enough up there that it stays frozen almost all year round (has been climbed in July and freezes up again by end of September). Also unlike Polar Circus, when this one melts it is just wet rock not spectacular flowing water.
The falls mentioned near Hope dry up within 2 days of rain ending, except for Flood Falls (The Mousetrap) which flows most of the year. The total height of all the different steps of this one is nearly 600m but there is a long low-angle section in the middle, like 20 degrees. So its really an upper and a lower fall.
Bridal Veil Falls, actually just Bridal Falls, at Hope maxes out at 120m, claims to the contrary aside. Above 120m its all creekbed, no waterfall.
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Shannon Falls; third highest
