Nivalis Mountain

Nivalis Mountain is a 2659 m mountain summit in British Columbia, Canada.

Description
Nivalis Mountain is located 28 km southeast of Whistler in Garibaldi Provincial Park. It is the second-highest point of the McBride Range which is a subrange of the Coast Mountains. Precipitation runoff and glacial meltwater from this mountain's slopes drains to the Lillooet River via Billygoat Creek and Tuwasus Creek. Nivalis Mountain is notable for its steep rise above local terrain as topographic relief is significant with the summit rising 1,860 metres (6,100 ft) above Tuwasus Creek in 6 km.

Etymology
The mountain was named by climber John Clarke in July 1971. Nivalis is the Latin word for snowy. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on November 28, 1980, by the Geographical Names Board of Canada as first identified in the 1972 Canadian Alpine Journal and submitted in 1978 by Karl Ricker of the Alpine Club of Canada.

Climate
Based on the Köppen climate classification, Nivalis Mountain is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America. Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Coast Mountains where they are forced upward by the range (orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall. As a result, the Coast Mountains experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Winter temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. This climate supports the McBride Glacier west of the peak and unnamed glaciers on the peak's north and east slopes. The months of July and August offer the most favorable weather for climbing Nivalis Mountain.