In 1896, a Canadian Pacific Railway cook named Ha Ling reportedly accepted a $50 bet that he couldn't summit the northwestern peak of Mount Lawrence Grassi, which overlooks Canmore, Alberta, and return within 10 hours. After he proved he'd reached the 2,407-metre summit, locals named it "Chinaman's Peak" — a name that lasted more than a century, until the term came to be recognized as a racial slur.
Ha Ling Peak tells the story of a century-long drama that culminates when the residents of a small mountain town are thrust into the national spotlight after a quiet schoolteacher forces them to confront the troubling history behind a seemingly simple folk story.
