- Topography
- The cordillera comprises a series of mountain belts some 500 miles (800 km) wide along Canada’s Pacific (west) coast.
- The great heights and angularity of the peaks, many of which rise to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). These are much younger mountains than the Appalachians.
- Signs of alpine glaciation are widely evident. In many places valley glaciers remain active.
- The Rocky Mountains make up the eastern portion of the Cordillera, from the Yukon and border south to the 49th parallel. They continue into the United States.
- The high ranges of the Canadian Rockies form the Continental Divide between eastward- and westward-flowing rivers
- The Rockies include more than 30 peaks exceeding 10,000 feet (3,000 metres), including Mount Robson, (which rises to 12,972 feet (3,954 metres)).
- The front range of the Canadian Rockies is bordered on the west by a major valley. Its called the Rocky Mountain Trench
- To the west of the trench the Columbia Mountains rise to peaks of more than 10,000 feet (3,000 metres).
- The Columbia Mountain system includes (from east to west) the Purcell, Selkirk and Monashee groups.
- Northwest of these are the Caribou Mountains, famous for their helicopter alpine skiing.
- Although some of the surface of this region is fairly level, most of it has been folded into mountains and hills.
- The Coast Mountains, part of the Pacific Mountain system, are another group of high mountains. Has several peaks rising over 15,000 feet (4,500 metres) high; they include Canada’s highest peak, Mount Logan which reaches 19,551 feet (5,959 metres) in the Saint Elias Mountains
- Has the only remaining glaciers other than the arctic
- Formed when the north American and pacific plates collided
- Consists of all of British Columbia, most of Yukon, some of Alberta, and some of the Northwest territories