Athabasca Pass, 5,736 ft (1,748 m) high, W Alta. and E British Columbia, Canada, leading from the headwaters of the Athabasca River across the Continental Divide to the Columbia River. It was discovered by David Thompson, a Canadian fur trader, or one of his agents c.1811, and for the next 50 years it was the chief route of the Hudson's Bay men on their journeys to and from the Columbia River country.