Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station

The National Research Council of Canada built a geophysical laboratory on top of Sulphur Mountain in 1956. It was part of International Geophysical Year (1957-58), which involved 66 countries and a dozen scientific disciplines. The study of cosmic rays was a widespread undertaking, with 99 stations in operation (nine in Canada) that year; high altitude made Sulphur Mountain the most important one in Canada. In 1960 the University of Calgary took the station over. It closed in 1978, and the building itself was dismantled in 1981. The following year, the station was designated a National Historic Site, with commemorative plaques at the mountain top and at the University of Calgary.

Banff National Park. /2523.

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