The Coast Range of British Columbia is incredibly rugged. Despite its low heights relative to many North American ranges, it has some of the best spire measures on the continent. This Top 50 list gives a sample of these fine peaks. Some of them are well-known to aficionados of the Coast Range (although even these are likely to be unfamiliar to many people); others are hidden gems, which do not show up as high (or even high-prominence) peaks but have striking local relief.

For comparison, note that only 26 peaks in the entire contiguous US beat the 525m cutoff for this list.

Some specific notes on just a few of these peaks:

• Nusatsum and Stupendous Mountains tower over the South side of the Bella Coola Valley. They have tremendous vertical drops on their north sides.
• Mount Bute exemplifies a lot of the peaks on this list: it lies next to tidewater (at the head of Bute Inlet) and on the edge of one of the major icefields (the Homathko). Some of the highest peaks in the Coast Range do not show up on this list since they lie in the interior of these icefields, away from low, steep terrain.
• Mount Judge Howay is one of the closest peaks on this list to Vancouver, and is a famous local landmark.
• Weeskinisht Peak is the highest of the Seven Sisters, a striking sight along the Skeena River and accompanying highway and railroad.
• Marlborough Heights is notable for a particular large ratio of spire measure to absolute elevation; it rises right out of the waters of Jervis Inlet.
• Victoria Peak on Vancouver Island is the best peak in the Insular Mountains (here grouped with the Coast Range).

Acknowledgements:

• Data: CDED data from www.geobase.ca, also some SRTM data from NASA, and a little NED data from USGS.
• Map checks: BC basemap.
• Mountain names, regions, context, pictures, etc.: www.bivouac.com.
• Spire measure ideas: David Metzler, Edward Earl, Bob Bolton, and the prominence group.
• Spire measure details: David Metzler, Edward Earl
• Calculations: David Metzler, using MATLAB.