Summit Elevation (m): 2758
Trip Date: August 10 2024
Elevation Gain (m): 1100
Round Trip Time (hrs): 6.5
Total Trip Distance (km): 16.5
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 4 – you fall, you die
Difficulty Notes: Difficult and exposed scrambling on both sides of the summit with few options to make it easier.
Technical Rating: SC7
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
Way back in 2007, Wietse, Scott and I had plans to scramble Mount Warspite before traversing over to Mount Invincible and taking Kane’s exit back to the Smith Dorrien road. Truthfully, this route didn’t sound that great – especially the exit and when Wietse developed a stomach ache at the summit we turned back and saved it for another day. For various reasons that day didn’t happen for 17 years. Reading in David Jones Rockies South climber’s guide, I noted a route that sounded intriguing. In June, 1957, Fred Crickard and Robert Higgins scrambled the west face and south ridge to the summit via Invincible Creek. The rating in Jones’ book is the ever frustrating 3rd-class rating that can mean pretty much anything up to 5th class climbing. As usual, the word “easy” also appears in their account, although a careful reading only uses it in reference to the west face – the southeast ridge is not rated by the original ascent party.
After ascending Forks Peak at the end of July, I found myself back in the area of Invincible Creek on August 10 – sneaking in a quick trip between family reunions in MB and BC. I knew that there was one fly in the ointment with the route I was taking up this peak – intense bushwhacking. In 2015 when Phil Richards and I scrambled up nearby Mount Nomad, we got a small taste of what following a route up Invincible Creek would entail. I knew better than to challenge the creek directly – the canyon between Fork Peak’s SE ridge and Mount Indefatigable closes in tight and would best be avoided until reaching the upper hanging valley somewhere east of Mount Nomad. I plotted a route on Google Earth and Gaia, using the bushy trail most folks use for Mount Nomad before traversing around the nose of the SE ridge coming off Forks Peak that interrupts a direct line to Nomad. I wouldn’t intersect Invincible Creek until I was well around that ridge. I really hoped that the bush wouldn’t be soaking wet like it was on Forks Peak – that sucked a lot. I left the very busy Interlakes Parking lot at 07:30 on my bike and quickly rode to Invincible Creek. I hiked a dry (phew!) trail from there for 15 minutes before starting a traverse in the bush.
For some reason despite extensive bushwhacking for the next 1.5 hours or so, I didn’t find the route that bad. I was expecting it and I wasn’t in a particularly extreme hurry. I had all day and the stats weren’t that huge so I simply slowed way down and became “one with the bush” as one does in these situations. The ‘whack started out fairly benign and like a slow boil it ramped up until I was balancing on fallen logs through an old burn full of Krummholz and Christmas trees wondering what the hell I was getting myself into! Thankfully this didn’t last long but unfortunately I then found myself in thick willows on a slanted forest floor that stressed my ankles for longer than they cared for.
Finally the side-hilling eased off and the willows thinned and I found myself crossing a small feeder creek from Nomad Lake and hiking an open forest towards Invincible Creek and the lower west face of my mountain. It was a good moment when I broke through a few stubborn alders near the creek and saw the slabby west face rising sharply above me. If I’m honest, the face looked a little more intense than I expected when I first glimpsed it on my bushwhack and standing directly under it didn’t improve things. I had chatted briefly with Matt Clay in the Interlakes parking lot and we surmised that the route would likely be easy to moderate scrambling. Standing here now, I wasn’t so sure. But there was only one way to find out so I put one foot in front of another and slowly started up the scree apron under the face.
The lower part of the route went quick and easy up a mix of slab, scree benches and even some vegetation to assist with grip. Despite having fun on this lower section, my eyes kept stealing upwards at what was above me. I knew that slabs always look much easier and less steep from below than when you’re actually on them looking back down. At least my views back over Invincible Creek were sublime.
As I ascended steeper and steeper cracks and slab with scree I wondered how “easy” this west face route was going to end up being to the summit. Nothing about the route felt easy as I continued finding moderate routes that made for very efficient ascent. I was having a blast on this route and enjoying all the bits of routefinding that kept opening in front of me. As I neared the SE ridge I could see that my work was still cut out for me to attain the summit from here.
At first everything looked very straightforward but on closer inspection the difficulties continued to ramp up. After sneaking off the face from just above the col to the false summit, I found myself ascending a very steep crack between two slabs that was quite intimidating to look back down. It was at this point that I first contemplated descending the NW ridge via Kane’s route. Soon after the steep crack I traversed a sharply tilted ridge to the summit.
Summit views were excellent with low haze and many familiar peaks including Joffre, Lautey, Forks and Warspite amount many, many others. I spent some time in cool summit winds, debating which route to take on descent and finally settling on trying the NW ridge.
I delicately stepped onto the NW ridge and before long was “in the shit” as they say. 😉 Seriously, this was very exposed and difficult scrambling. I was feeling pretty good about it until a particularly smooth slab with zero knobs, cracks or other grip assists threw me a curveball. I made it down by using a stem move and gripping the edge furiously, but I didn’t love it when one of my feet slipped near the bottom! As I stepped off the final cruxy bit, I was relieved to see the rest of the descent looking a little easier.
So, was it worth descending the Kane route instead of my ascent route? It’s hard to say for sure. The NW ridge was definitely more exposed than anything I’d ascended, but apparently there is a slightly easier face route that didn’t look great from above. If using that route instead of the ridge crest I still think my descent route would not be much harder than my ascent one was. I slowly picked my way down the west face to Invincible Creek, using steep cracks and edges on the slab as I went.
As I crossed the creek and started the bushwhack on return, I debated with myself whether or not the route I took was SC7 or even slightly harder. There are definitely plenty of “no slip” zones on both the face and the ridge, no matter which side of the summit you approach from. The return bushwhack felt longer than I remembered from early in the day but I took my time and it wasn’t horrible.
I have zero regrets scrambling Mount Invincible from its namesake creek. Sure! There were moderate amounts of bushwhacking and some very steep and exposed slabs, but this is what Rockies scrambling can be all about when you go off the beaten path and focus on more obscure peaks via obscure lines. I would certainly NOT call any part of scrambling this peak “easy” or even “moderate”. You should go in expecting plenty of routefinding to keep things 3rd-class with maybe a touch of 4th-class thrown in to keep you on your toes (literally)!
