Beneath the faceless mountain

the long version

Few regions can attest to the dramatic intensity of nature as the Crowsnest Pass. In 1903, 90 million tons of rock broke from the face of Turtle Mountain and thundered down its slopes toward the small community of Frank. In 1910, five miles away at Bellevue, 30 miners lost their lives in an underground explosion. And in 1914, a mile across the valley at Hillcrest, Canada's largest mining disaster took the lives of 187 men. With the firmness and clarity of a palette being drawn across a canvas, Rees boldly colours the landscape of the Crowsnest with stories of people living in the Pass on the margins of recorded history. Her vibrant portrait makes of ordinary men and women the heroes of myths and legends.