Seventy-five years ago, Albert MacCarthy and six companions stood for a brief moment on the summit of Mount Logan, the highest point in Canada. It took them 62 days to get there. On March 23, the Banff Centre for Mountain Culture offers its audience a chance to join MacCarthy on that 5959 metre summit, when it presents Mount Logan Night at the Max Bell Auditorium.

Canada’s highest peak, Mount Logan rises alone and aloof in the westernmost corner of Yukon’s Kluane National Park, a vast and inhospitable region where massive mountains soar above one of the largest alpine icefields in the world. No story better exemplifies the harshness and romance of Mount Logan than the tale of the first ascent in 1925. Albert MacCarthy and his companions traveled across 800 kilometres of icebound wilderness by horse, dogteam and on foot to reach the summit. On April 23, 1925 they stood for a few moments on the top of Canada.

Mount Logan Night takes place Thursday, March 23 at 8:00 pm at the Max Bell Auditorium. Presentations by Brent Liddle and Gerald Holdsworth will explore the natural and the human history of Canada’s highest mountain.

Brent Liddle has worked in Kluane National Park since 1975 and is currently the Education and Outreach Coordinator for Yukon District, Parks Canada. His presentation will focus upon the history of exploration in the Kluane area and will feature a 1985 CBC documentary which includes footage of the 1925 ascent and an interview with Norman Read, one of the last surviving members of the climbing team.

Gerald Holdsworth immigrated to Canada in 1969 and has worked as a geophysicist in the Northeastern Arctic and Kluane regions. In the mid 1970s he began work in the Mount Logan area, collecting extensive material on the mountain’s climatological and geophysical characteristics. Since 1992 he has been creating a comprehensive CD-ROM on Mount Logan. Gerald’s presentation will feature material from the CD-ROM, including footage from two 1950s Mount Logan ascents.

Mount Logan night is co-sponsored by Parks Canada, Kluane National Park and Reserve. Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased in advance by calling The Banff Centre for Mountain Culture at 403-762-6369, or at the door.