Visit the remnants of a massive rockslide in this Alberta mining town (PHOTOS)

Apr 6 2022, 8:00 pm

Wander through towering rubble and learn about Canada’s deadliest rockslide in an Alberta town that sits nestled in the mountains.

Situated in Crowsnest Pass, Frank Slide is a jaw-dropping scene, with remains from the result of a massive rockslide off of Turtle Mountain, which happened in the early hours of April 29, 1903.

The catastrophic 90 seconds forever altered the mining town of Frank in southwest Alberta. More than 70 people were killed when approximately 100 million tonnes of limestone rock came crashing down into the eastern side of the town.

 

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To learn more about this horrifying natural wonder, you can visit the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. “Overlooking the wreckage of the rockslide,” reads Travel Alberta’s website, “the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre tells the tragic tale of the night Turtle Mountain crumbled.”

Visitors will learn what happened the night Turtle Mountain fell, by way of engaging storytelling, wandering through interactive exhibits, and watching the event unfold in the film On the Edge of Destruction. You’ll also find out why the Blackfoot and Ktunaxa called Turtle “the mountain that moves.”

Afterwards, head outside and take a walk along an interpretive hiking trail through the remnants of Frank Slide.

 

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According to the interpretive centre’s website, coal mining, which had begun in 1900, was initially blamed for the disaster in Frank. Since then, scientists have identified mining as just a secondary or contributing factor, and the main cause of the rock avalanche was the unstable geological structure.

After the rockslide, a number of people who lived in the Frank townsite moved away, fearing another incident. However, many stayed, and Frank’s population grew from 600 people to 1,000 by 1910.

As the town grew, the community of “New Frank” popped up northwest of the original town, across the railroad tracks.

 

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The interpretive centre’s website describes the roar of the slide as being so loud that some people in the town of Cochrane, just outside of Calgary and over 200 kms away from Frank, could hear the noise. “Ear-witnesses in and around Frank said the slide lasted approximately 100 seconds,” reads the website, “and the sound was like steam escaping under high pressure.”

Scientists estimate that rocks were moving at speeds up to 120 km/h.

 

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The last survivor of the slide Gladys Ennis, who passed away in Bellevue, Washington, on March 20, 1993 at the age of 91.

Keep the past alive and learn about this historic event at the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre.

 

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Even if you’re just passing through the area on your way somewhere, you can’t miss the huge boulders bordering each side of the highway, so take a minute and consider the magnitude of the rockslide.

Frank Slide Interpretive Centre

Address: 1.5 km off Highway 3 in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta
Phone: 403-562-7388
Hours: Open year-round from 10 am to 5 pm (closed Mondays and Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Easter Sunday)
Admission:
$15 for adults

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With files from Laine Mitchell

Elle McLeanElle McLean

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