Today, Frank is a very small town in Southern Alberta, but back in the early 1900s, people thought it was going to be the next Pittsburgh. Due to its rich mining industry, people were coming from all over the place in hopes of creating a better life. Then, in 1903, the mountain tumbled down with 82 million tonnes of limestone rock covering up more than three square kilometres of the valley below, claiming more than 90 lives in the process. It was a devastating morning that changed the town of Frank forever.
More than 100 years later, Frank Slide is a “bucket list” attraction, teaching people Frank Slide facts while providing dramatic views of the landslide itself. For me, it was mesmerizing to be standing on the rubble that once crowned the top of Turtle Mountain. We started off with the free “Drive Through the Slide” tour, which is basically a self-driving tour through the original road that was covered up by the landslide. Along the way, we stopped the vehicle to read the info-signs provided by the interpretive centre. At one point, we were standing in the closest place that didn’t get struck by the landslide. It’s truly hard to believe that I could have been standing here back in 1903 and had the landslide go whizzing right by me. Can you imagine that? Our next stop was where they found some skeletons in one of the houses that got demolished. In fact, there are skeletons still underneath the rock. There was just no way to find them all. [Read more…] about Standing on Top of Canada’s Deadliest Landslide at Frank Slide, Alberta