def parse_contour_file(filename):
    """Parse the given contour filename

    :param filename: filepath to the contourfile to parse
    :return: list of tuples holding x, y coordinates of the contour
    """

    coords_lst = []

    with open(filename, 'r') as infile:
        for line in infile:
            coords = line.strip().split()

            x_coord = float(coords[0])
            y_coord = float(coords[1])
            coords_lst.append((x_coord, y_coord))

    return coords_lst