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Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The small coal-mining town of Frank in the Crowsnest Pass region had 82 million metric tons of rock come crashing down on it in 1903. Turtle Mountain, above the town, had unstable geology to begin with and had been made more unstable by extensive mining. This was Canada's deadliest rockslide ever, killing 90, but fortunately it missed much of the town.
The Frank Slide was a massive rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank in the District of Alberta of the North-West Territories, Canada, at 4:10 a.m. on April 29, 1903. Around 44 million cubic metres/110 million tonnes of limestone rock broke off from, and slid down, Turtle Mountain. Witnesses reported that within 100 seconds the rock reached up the opposing hills, obliterating the eastern edge of Frank, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line and parts of the coal mine. It was one of the largest landslides in Canadian history and remains the deadliest, as between 70 and 90 died, most of whom remain buried in the rubble. The cause of the slide is unknown but multiple factors may have helped cause the slide: Turtle Mountain's structural formation was unstable and had been for some time; coal mining operations may have weakened the mountain's internal structure; a wet winter and cold snap on the night of the disaster may have contributed.
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Underground tours of the former coal mine.
Thus is a small ski-hill located in Blairmore, which is more of a beginner's slope.
An outdoor swimming pool open in the summer.
An interpretive display at Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site, the ruins of a historic coal mine.
Pamphlets for self-guided historical driving tours of the municipality are also available.
The Crowsnest River plunges 12 m (39 ft) into a deep pool in the canyon below. Watch the falls from the observation platform and then walk down into the limestone gorge for a closer look.