Summit Elevation (m): 2423
Trip Date: September 24 2012
Elevation Gain (m): 1000
Round Trip Time (hr): 5.5
Total Trip Distance (km): 12
Quick ‘n Easy Rating: Class 3/4 – You fall you break something or die
Difficulty Notes: A fall on the crux would severely injure or kill so take necessary precautions. Note: There are easier ways to ascend this peak than my route.
Technical Rating: SC7; YDS (4th)
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
I left truck at 09:30 after an easy but long drive. My muscles were still a bit sore after my recent Mount Assiniboine trip but I was feeling pretty good overall. I was originally planning on a Victoria Peak / ridge trip but was concerned I didn’t have enough time any more. I’d do that one the next day instead so I needed a shorter trip. I probably wasn’t really ready for a Nugara ‘difficult’ but I started up anyway. I headed up steep grassy slopes north west of parking area and then up an obvious break lower down in the cliff band than Nugara suggests but it worked perfectly.
Once on top of the first bump, I traversed slightly down and up the next one. This was a bit of a grunt but not too bad either. Crappy thing is that you lose elevation yet again before getting to the ridge proper. I barely went on the ridge from this point on. I went left to avoid the first cliff on the ridge and went up an obvious gully after another short left traverse (upper moderate) and then traversed over to another gully on the south side of the ridge. 3 gullies total – not on the ridge at all in between them. Here the scrambling became serious. I wouldn’t want to descend from this point on if I didn’t have to. I stayed left of the ridge for at least 3 gullies – each one steeper and harder than before but with excellent rock and good holds. Lots of fun!
Eventually I figured I was getting closer to the summit so I started looking for terrain that resembled the ‘steep grassy ledges’ in the book. I was beginning to get a bit nervous since there was no way I was going back down the terrain I just came up and the terrain in front of me just kept getting harder. I traversed right on some grassy ledges until I was wrapped around the summit block on the north side and west of the summit.
I worked my way up and slightly left (eventually you are blocked by a drainage while traversing) before coming to a seriously exposed move that would get me onto the summit block. I couldn’t do it! The move was probably mid fifth class – slightly overhanging and very exposed with only one good hold for my left hand. There had to be an easier way… Thank goodness there was! I traversed even more back to climber’s left and found a slightly less crazy break onto the summit ridge. From here it was a 2 minute stroll to the top.
I found a register in a Ziploc bag from Kris Thorsteinsson dated August 12 2012 but no other official register or container. I checked out the easternmost summit but surprisingly it was a bit lower. It took me under 3 hours to reach the summit so I spent a good 1 hour on top. Very warm with no wind. The view was marred by smoke but the peacefulness of no wind on a Castle area peak made up for that.
For return I went down the ridge to the west. When I saw the large gully to my left I assumed this was the descent route. Half the gully was dark rock and the other half was light brown scree. I went down the scree and into the creek at the bottom. I nervously broke through the underbrush at the bottom and immediately realized I was totally cliffed out. Dang! I thought this was an easy and obvious route! I had a 100 meter cliff right under me with a small waterfall and everything. I flipped the dice in my head and started traversing very steep grassy slopes to skiers right above the cliffs. This worked perfectly and soon I was bashing my way down again. I made one more traverse skiers left to avoid any bush whacking before the road.
Once on the road I made my way back to the truck under the blazing late September sun. I was back at the truck at 15:00 for a round trip time of 5.5 hours (including almost 1 hour on the summit). I highly recommend this scramble for those with good route finding skills and a penchant for soloing pretty decent rock. Just remember you can’t get back down once you start up the route so pick your lines carefully.
