Summit Elevation (m): 2972
Elevation Gain (m): 1700
Trip Time (hr): 10
Total Trip Distance (km): 21
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 3 – you fall, you break something
Difficulty Notes: Easy hiking and scrambling on trail.
Technical Rating: SC6; YDS (Hiking)
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
On August 25, 2009 I got together with Marta and scrambled Protection Mountain, a.k.a. Television Peak in Banff National Park. I had heard lots from Marta on the RMBooks Web Board and read many of her trip reports with interest but we had never done a scramble or climb together.

With Marta having over 250 mountains and me having over 200 myself I guess it was only a matter of time that we do a trip together! Unfortunately her partner, Chester, was out with a sore back so Marta was looking for scrambling and climbing partners to avoid doing solo trips and since we both wanted the same peak we managed to join forces.

We ascended via Sonny and Bob’s recommended route – the Protection Mountain mine hiking trail. Following their great descriptions we had no route finding issues and enjoyed the interesting mine site.



The hands-on scrambling on the ridge is quite fun but you pay for it with an approach of 4-5 hours depending on your speed. We found the mine quite interesting and were both very impressed with the great approach trail. We both found no issues at all on the ridge, it was mostly a hike with maybe 2 sections of moderate scrambling.

Total elevation gain was much more than I thought it would be – over 1650m on Marta’s Suunto, but there are a lot of ups and downs on the ridge and I certainly felt tired enough to confirm this altitude reading.
Overall this is a recommended outing with a great approach trail, interesting history at the mining site and a fun ridge. Just don’t be like me and under-estimate the size of this outing.
going tomorrow! 🙂 Spirko really detoured….. you noted no difficulties so I will stay on the ridge to the summit
Good luck!