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St. Piran, Mount

Home » Mountains » Banff National Park
Published by vdewit on April 28th, 2009
Trip Details
Trip Activity: 
Scramble
Attained Summit?: 
Yes
Location: 
Banff National Park
Trip Date: 
August 19, 2006
Summit Elevation: 
2,649m
Summit Elevation (ft): 
8,691ft
Related Content
Interesting Facts: 
(info from peakfinder.com) Named by Samuel E.S. Allen in 1894. Willoughby John Astley was the first manager of the chalet at Lake Louise. Samuel Allen named Mount St. Piran after the Patron Saint of Cornwall. Astley was born at Perranuthnoe which is located on a bay in the extreme southwest of Cornwall. Official name.  
Related Trips: 
Whyte, Mount
Niblock, Mount

Trip Report

After scrambling up Mounts Whyte and Niblock it was time to descend back down the waterfall / headwall and back to the trail branching up on skier's left to the Niblock / Piran col.

It was a little bit depressing having to lose all that height, but traversing higher up just didn't seem worth it either. I thought a trail would be nice to follow, especially since I was feeling pretty tired at this point. The trail up to St. Piran from Lake Agnes is very steep, initially. With the sun beating down on my back the whole way up, I was certainly not running up! I was also very thankful that it was only 20 degrees and not 30.

I finally made it up to the col and started up the last 250 meters (vert.) to the summit. There were no issues at all (aside from lacking energy) and I finally stumbled up onto the summit. After enjoying the views, I took some Advil and headed down the main trail back to Lake Agnes.

I made good time back to the parking lot and got to the car 8 hours and 50 minutes after leaving that morning feeling very satisfied with my day. I would highly recommend doing these three summits in the order that I did. You are done the most difficult one the earliest which leaves you two more summits to relax and enjoy the views. The only problem is that after Mount Whyte everything else seems a little under-stated.


The curving lower cliffs of Mount Niblock show the way to Mount St. Piran. I descended much lower before starting up to the Niblock / Piran col.

A view down the ascent slope of Piran showing my route down the waterfall and back up to the Niblock / Piran col.

Looking up at the summit of Mount St. Piran from the same position as the last photo.

I've found these stones in 4 registers already this summer.

Vern on the summit of Mount St. Piran with Mount Whyte and Niblock in the background.

Mount Temple is showing up a little clearer in the afternoon.

A bigger view of Mounts Whyte and Niblock.