The Center tells the story of Frank, AB in the beginning of the 20th Century. On an early morning in 1903, the mountain above the town came apart and 90 million tons of rock slid down the mountain and covered the valley floor, taking part of the town and railroad line with it. They believe around 90 people remain buried in the rubble.
They show a short film about the town and it's coal mining history. It also tells the story of those left behind. As with many disasters, those left behind question why? We took a short hike around the edge of the slide area. The scale was something I was not prepared for. Boulders the size of cars covered the valley floor.
It's impossible to show the scale of the slide, but here is Craig walking along the edge. The debris field covers over a mile.
One of the more interesting items we picked up from the film was that the local First Nations People would not camp below the mountain. They referred to it as the "Mountain that Moves". I must admit, that gave me goose bumps.
The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the area and several of the historic mining camps. And guess what? There is an actual definition for a "lump" of coal, for those naughty children who received this threat. A lump of coal is larger than three inches and the most valuable of the sizes of coal.
Maybe it was a good thing? Naaah!
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