Mt. Stephen, North Ridge III 5.7

Mt. Stephen

Left parking lot at 0430h

Arrived at the base of the climb (the cable) at 0615h

Reached the summit at 1705h

Reached the town site of Field at 2100h

Asc 1950m

Approach: 1h45 Asc 490m

Climb: 10h40 Asc 1450m

Return: 3h55



This was the longest climb Pat and I have done so far. With just under 2000m of elevation gain from the parking lot to the summit it is quite an undertaking. A Canadian climbing icon named Barry Blanchard guided up the route in 2006 and climbed it over three days (bivied twice). One bivy was midway on the route and the other was on the summit. Another guide named Tom Wolfe climbed it in 2005 and had this comment: “True to its reputation as a Book of Lies standout, the North Ridge of Stephen (5.7, "III", 2000 m) is much more than the Selected Alpine Climbs guidebook makes it out to be: it's a longer, more sustained, more complex, and far more hazardous route than, say, the E Ridge of Temple (5.7, IV) or the E Ridge of Bugaboo Spire (5.8, IV). We would give it a solid IV/D.”

We packed a bivy sac with an extra sausage for the climb in case we needed to spend the night out but fortunately didn’t need it. The day started off with a 0300h alarm. We left our van along a pullout next to the Trans Canadian highway a few kilometres from the town of Field and started the short approach up to the base of the North ridge of Mt. Stephen. We lost some time by going up the wrong glacial moraine feature to the right while it was still dark. There wasn’t any moonlight to help with navigating. Once we noticed our mistake we ended up having to climb some unpleasantly steep moraine to get back up onto the correct line of approach. At the top of the moraine was a 50 m cable to pull on as we started the climb. A relic of the mining days? The small town of Field BC was a crucial part of the railway expansion out West. Mt. Stephen towering above Field had early prospectors and railway workers recognized the value of the area's natural resources and moved quickly to file mining claims around town (including Mt. Stephen). You also pass by the opening of a mine along the climb. We climbed up easy 3rd and 4th class terrain and crossed below seracs from the North glacier. After crossing over a waterfall run off and trending right for about another 300m we climbed more 4th class rock to reach the top of the ridge and a level bench on it. We started the technical climbing to the right of a rock pinnacle up the face of the ridge. We only pitched out 65m during the climb and it was the first section of rock above the bench to reach a gully. From the top of the ridge we kept simul-climbing to be time efficient and went left to bypass any difficult steps. This kept the climbing fast and easier. We encountered ugly loose rock three quarters up the ridge and had a 4 foot “boulder” cut the rope as it tumbled from a small nudge as I climbed by. Luckily it missed Pat but it was too close to laugh it off. He was a little shook up by it and didn’t notice right away that he was hit by a smaller rock that bruised up his knee. Not long after we encountered an iced up gully with snow on the left side of the ridge that lasted about 80m. There was hardly any rock protection and we didn’t bring any ice screws. It would have been possible to place screws quite easily. Not far after the gully we crossed over to the right side of the ridge and climbed an ugly and loose chimney. We kept right of the ridge and crossed over to reach another gully which brought us to the ridge top once again. From there it was a short scramble to the summit. To get down we chose to walk and down climb the scrambling route along the South West ridge. Pat held it together even after some frustrating tumbles in the scree and hoped his way down the never ending scree and steep trail back down to the town of Field. I walked along the highway for about 4km to fetch the van as Pat waited it out in town.

Pat posing on the big bench before the
 technical climbing on the ridge.



A view of the town of Field mid-way up the climb.

Summit photo of Pat.

Summit photo of the duo.

Mt. Louis; Homage to the Spider, III 5.9



The summit cross with Mt. Rundle on the right-hand side.


Left parking lot at 0530h

The approach: Started climbing at 0830h (3hrs)

The climb: Reached summit at 1400h (7h30)

Rappelling: Finished rappelling at 1600h (2hrs)

The walk out: Arrived back at parking lot at 1700h (1hr)

We rode our mountain bikes up the Edith Pass trail in the dark for about half an hour (a quarter of the way) and hid them before arriving at a small creek crossing.  From there it was a straightforward walk along the hiking trail along Edith Pass to reach Mt. Louis. At the base of Mt. Louis the trail up to our intended climb puttered out and we ended up finding our own way to the bottom of the climb. A short solo up loose and low angled rock brought us to the first bolted belay station. As we took out the climbing gear a darker cloud brought a light drizzle. We sat around a few minutes to see if the weather was going to improve. The clouds did seem to clear up in the distance so we took a chance and started the climb. We did take a look at the weather forecast before leaving and there was a slight chance of a thunderstorm in the evening. This stayed in the back of our mind during the day and we kept aware of how the weather was doing in the distance. The climbing on Homage to the Spider was great. The third pitch was loose and a little scary because we had gone off course too far left. Every other pitch on the climb had great sustained climbing with solid rock. Once we finished the route we simul-climbed our way along the ridge to the summit. When we reached the summit there was a guided group of three. They started to set up for a rappel as we also arrived. They were a little slow but we didn’t mind. We took in the nice views and weather. Once back on the ground we jogged down the scree slope and only stopped for our water bottles that we left on Edith Pass. We had only brought one litter of water on the climb and were quite thirsty from the warm sunny day. A few more kilometres of jogging mostly downhill brought us to our stashed bikes. The ride down to the parking where our van Chico was waiting was fast and fun. It saved quite a bit of time!

A dark cloud rolling over Mt. Louis.

Pat leading up the first pitch.

The summit.

Mt. Assiniboine in the far center.

Holding up the summit registry.

Takakkaw Falls; 5.6 (13 pitches including the cave crawl)

A view of Takakkaw Falls from bellow.

 I teamed up with my girlfriend Erin and Pat to climb Takakkaw Falls. The most unique climb I’ve done so far. Not only was it fun to climb next to such a big waterfall (2^nd highest waterfall in western Canada). But climbing with one of Erin’s first multi-pitch climbs was a great experience. Technically Erin climbed her first multi-pitch on Goat Mountain with a route called Gray Waves. The climb was quite good but was broken down by a horizontal traverse on the third pitch. The top of the route had a twist to it. Before getting onto the last pitch we needed to crawl through a cave which had some tight squeezes for 100m. While crawling through, the closer we came to the end, the louder the roar of the waterfall could be heard. Once out the other end and back out into daylight. We were only a few meters from the waterfall. One more pitch afterwards brought us on top. We searched a tree that had rappel slings and started to rappel down. A light rain started to get things wet while we lowered from the climb. Four rappels on our 70m double ropes with a horizontal traverse brought us back to the bottom.

The horizontal traverse after the 2nd pitch.

Erin showing good form up higher up the sixth pitch.

A group picture after the cave. The cave is behind us.

The last pitch.

Castle Mtn; Super Brewers = Link up of Ultra-Brewers III 5.9 + Brewers Buttress II 5.6

Left Castle Lookout parking at 0500h

Started climbing at 0730h

Finished the climb at 1630h

Back at the parking at 1900h

Teamed up with my usual partner in crime (Pat) to climb a combination of two routes on Castle Mountain called Super Brewers (21 pitches). The first climb is on the lower half of the mountain and is named Ultra Brewers (9 pitches, 5.9). It was fun climbing on mostly solid rock with a few bolts to protect the crux pitch. We topped off on the big half-way ledge that breaks up Castle Mountain and walked up to do our next climb called Brewers Buttress (12 pitches, 5.6). Pat and I simul-climbed most of it and broke it down into 5 pitches. Instead of rappelling the route we opted to descend the gully. Half a dozen rappels with some down climbing brought us back onto the half-way ledge. From there we down climbed the rest of the gully back down to the trail.

Mt. Assiniboine (3618m), N. Ridge II 5.5

Mt. Assiniboine with the North Ridge on the left side of the face hitting the sun.

Approach: Left car at 1130h, reached hut at 1815h (6h45)

The climb: Left hut at 0500h, reached summit at 0920h (4h20), Returned to hut at 1500h (5h40)

Return: Left hut at 1715h, reached car at 2200h, home at 1300h

Aug. 18^th, 2011

Pat, Peter, Ian and I approached up via Assiniboine Lake from Hwy 93. This was a more scenic approach once out of the trees and up along Assiniboine Lake. The other approach which had less elevation gain was from Bryant Creek along the Spray Lakes rd. In my opinion it was worth the extra effort from Hwy 93 with a more scenic view. As we reached the final col bellow Mt. Assiniboine. We could see the R.C Hind Hut a little further down. We were curious to see what the hut looked like and if anyone was inside. We were surprised to see that no one was inside. We would spend the night in a little more comfort. Instead of sleeping in our bivy sacs (a thin waterproof bag to wrap around your sleeping bag). We were convinced by the comfort of the empty hut. A good thing, since there was a good overnight freeze. I had only brought my -1C sleeping bag! It would have been an uncomfortable sleep. Peter wasn’t feeling too good after dinner and was in bed quite early. He mentioned possibly not climbing tomorrow depending on how he felt.

The dicey bridge crossing on the drive up.

Along Assiniboine Lake.

Above Assiniboine Lake.

The R.C. Hind Hut. Comfort!

View of Mt. Assiniboine from the hut.

Sun setting on Mt. Assiniboine.

Aug. 19^th, 2011

It was a clear and cool night. Peter didn’t feel great and decided to stay in bed. We left the hut by headlamp and had the help of the moonlight to navigate up to the base of the North Ridge of Mt. Assiniboine. The conditions on the mountain this year had more snow lingering than usual. The snow was firm all day and good with the use of our crampons. We managed to climb up on frozen snow and some short sections of ice the whole way up. I found the firm snow and ice made things more interesting and fun. We also made good time going up past the “red band” and “grey band” of rock which are a little more technical (5.5) without the use of a rope and our small rack of gear. Once on the summit ridge we made sure to give the big cornice some space by walking lower down for safety. After the summit photo and high fives were taken. The cold temperature (felt like -10C) and strong winds persuaded us to head down without wasting too much time. We rappelled down the more technical sections (4 rappels) and down climbed the rest with the snow fortunately still frozen and supportive. It took us a bit more time to get down. Which wasn’t a problem since there didn’t seem to be any melting to worry about. While walking back to the hut we contemplated staying one more night and climb either Sunburst Peak, Mt. Lunette or do the walk-out today. We reached the hut with a welcome from Peter who held down the fort. He helped settle what to do by asking if we minded walking out this afternoon. We tried to eat as much as we could at the hut so there would be less weight to carry out. As we packed our bags a couple from Whistler, BC came into the hut to spend the night and planned to climb Mt. Assiniboine tomorrow. We gave them information on the conditions and what to expect and started our walk out back to the car.

Night shot of Mt. Assiniboine before heading out to climb it.

Climbing up the lower half.



Approaching the "Red band".



Sunrise! With "some" welcomed warmth.

Approaching the summit ridge with clouds rising on the North-East face.

Views of the summit ridge.

Summit photo!

The summit ridge. Leaving plenty of space for the cornice to the left.

The Summit.

Looking down the East face.

The first rappel down.



Great views of Magog Lake with
the mountain ranges in the distance.



Bugaboo Trip #1

Pat and I have been talking of doing a climbing road trip for a few months now. We parted ways with our jobs and will be living the climbing bum lifestyle for a little while. I finished work a week earlier than he did and took the time to go to one of the "world famous alpine rock climbing centres" called the Bugaboos. Pat and I do plan on going there towards the end of this month. On this trip I climbed with a co-worker (Audrey) and met up with a friend (James) that introduced me to climbing when we were both working at Monods Sports in Banff.



Applebee campground under the moonlight.




Relaxing at camp with a morning coffee.




The kitchen. A friend left behind a half-frozen jar of Nutella. Score!





A rare scene. A tree above "tree line" in the alpine.





Snowpatch Spire to the left and part of Bugaboo Spire to the right.





Crescent Spire to the left and part of Eastpost Spire to the right.



Aug. 8^th, 2011

Bugaboo; Crescent Spire, Ears Between – direct start 5.8, 6 pitches

We used rocks to peg down our tent since the whole “camping ground” is on top of a large rocky surface.

We had a lazy start to the day since Audrey and I hauled our monster load 5km uphill to the campsite. It had taken us 3h45 from the car. We woke up at 0700h and didn’t leave until 1000h. We walked out to attempt a climb called “Ears Between” on Crescent Spire which wasn’t too far from camp and seemed like a good start to the week. We went for the optional direct start and were climbing by 1045h. It was great to be climbing on granite! The rock was mostly solid. A nice change, since the Rockies is mostly made out of more shattered limestone. The last pitch was the best with the two previous ones also being good. We topped out at around 1530h. There were two short rappels near the top. We then stuck to the ridge and down climbed sections of easier terrain to get back to the tent. After a drink and a quick bite to eat I scrambled up to the sub-peak of Eastpost Spire to take in the views of the lowering sun.



On our way up to Ears Between on Crescent Spire.




James leading up the first pitch.




James halfway up the first pitch.





Stopping on our way back to fill up the water bottle. Straight from the source.





Great views along an alpine lake on the walk back to camp.



Aug. 9^th, 2011

Bugaboo; Bugaboo Spire, North-East ridge 5.8, 12 pitches

Total time: 13h50

Ascended: 905m

Approach: 2h45

The climb: 7h15

Descent to Bugaboo/Snowpatch col: 3hrs

Descent from Col to camp: 40min

Woke up at 0345h and left for the North-East ridge of Bugaboo Spire by 0500h. Audrey and I approached up a wide gully to the right of what is suggested in the guidebook. While James and Mark were about 10min behind us. They kept going and found the suggested path up. It saved them around 20min. The crux was the first pitch which we combined with the second. It had a great finger crack to start off. Most of the route in the lower half was more technical with great cracks and corner systems. It eased off once in the chimney section on the sixth pitch. The scenery on top was a little spoiled by the view of an oncoming storm from the South-East in line with the Howser Towers. I was told that a lot of storms in the Bugaboo’s originate from the heat build-up of the valley behind the Howser Towers. Here was my proof! The descent was as much of an adventure. During one of the days previous to our arrival James fortunately had climbed the Kain Route up to the gendarme (which is also the descent for our route). There was a mix of exposure and traversing on sections of narrow ridges. It reminded me of the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire which I climbed last summer. We made good time lowering off the mountain and saw a few isolated dark clouds pass by us. We got off the mountain with only a few rain drops on us and the sound of thunder in the background.  



Sunrise with Crescent Towers in the background. Can you spot the climber?





The North-East face of Bugaboo Spire in the morning glow.




Somewhere up the N-E of Bugaboo Spire.




James heading up Bugaboo Spire.



Aug. 10^th, 2011

Bugaboo; Eastpost Spire, South-East ridge 5.6, 550m

Audrey and I Traversed Eastpost Spire with a departure time of 1000h. It was nice to sleep in a little and rest up from yesterday’s big day.  We were both still feeling tired but knew that today’s climb would be a more relaxing one. The forecast also called for afternoon thunder showers so we didn’t want to get onto anything too committing and get caught by surprise. We roped up for the first part of technical climbing at 1100h and topped out at 1230h. The guidebook was vague as to where the start of the climb was. We started on loose and ugly rock. Then “hiked” up steep scree and passed through some bushes to finally arrive on good solid rock higher up on the main ridge. When we arrived in camp we had time to sort our gear and get into the tent before dark clouds and strong winds brought rain, lightning and even hail!



Eastpost Spire. The traverse went from the rightside over to the left.





High up on the climb.





The exposed ridge top.





The oncoming storm!





The hail storm beating down while we're in the tent.
Some people were caught climbing during the storm.



Aug. 11^th, 2011

Bugaboo; Hounds Tooth, North-West face, 3^rd class 100m

Eight of James’ friends including us planned to climb the East Ridge of Marmolata Peak (5.6) as a group. We left at 0700h and crossed the Pigeon Fork/Bugaboo Glacier roped up as two teams of four.  We ascended 480m on our way to the top of Hounds tooth which we reached by 1000h. As we were finishing up the summit photo session of Hounds Tooth peak we started noticing cloud accumulation coming up behind the Howser towers (Again!).  We decided as a group to sit around for a little while to see if it would improve or worsen. After 15min the cloud cover seemed to make its way towards us. We took another group decision to head down and not keep on going for the East Ridge of Marmolata peak. With more clouds rolling in we reached the Applebee campsite around 1300h. We could see from our camp that the clouds kept covering Marmolata most of the afternoon but it didn’t rain. The decision to turn around was still the right one since the cloud cover could have made the descent trivial. Especially when having to cross some large bergshrunds on the way down. 



The crew heading out from camp.




Roping up for glacier travel.




View of Pigeon Spire along the way.




Hounds Tooth is on the left side and Marmolata on the right.





The group on top of Hounds Tooth. Marmolata ridge in the background.





Clouds starting to build up on Howser Towers.




Isolated showers nearby. Just missing us.




What's left when looking towards the Howser Towers.



Aug. 12^th, 2011

Bugaboo; Snowpatch Spire, Buckingham route – The enjoyable way 5.8, 8 pitches

Total time: 8h30min

Asc: 660m

Approach: 1h20min asc, 348m

Climb: 3h30, asc.225m

Descent: 2h20

Return to camp: 1h10 asc. 70m

We left camp at 0730h and went up the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col. The col was easy. I didn’t use crampons since there were already good steps. Once at the base we met two other guys who were getting ready to climb the same route. One of them look so much like a friend of mine called Dom. He even spoke like him! Since we were trying to squeeze in the climb before having to pack everything up and leave. We asked if they would mind us passing them since we planned to simul-climb the first few pitches. We passed them on the first pitch and kept going for the following 5 pitches on easier broken ground (5.6). The last three pitches were more sustained and great. From the last pitch of our climb we could see and hear James with a few friends yelling up towards us as they went by to do “Surfs Up” also on Snowpatch Spire. We had clear skies above us when we topped out and had great views of Pigeon Spire, the Howser Towers and Bugaboo Spire. James had warned us yesterday about the rappels back down being quite time consuming and there were risks of our ropes snagging. Sure enough our ropes caught on the first three rappels down... Frustrating! We had to climb up to our stuck ropes while being belayed with the other double rope. After that we switched to using only one rope which solved the issue. Less rope to deal with, lesser problems!

We arrived back at the Applebee campground around 1600h and cooked some lunch/dinner and took down our camp. We headed off to the parking lot around 1820h and arrived at the van at 2000h tired from the day and the massive load on our backs. We were in Banff at 2330h.



On top of the Buckingham route - The Enjoyable Way.