Summit Elevation (m): 2900
Trip Date: August 23, 2024
Elevation Gain (m): 1400
Trip Time (hrs): 10.5
Total Trip Distance (km): 29
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 4 – you fall, you are quite dead
Difficulty Notes: There is plenty of room on this peak to get yourself in deep doo doo. Don’t do that and it will remain a scramble.
Technical Rating: SC7
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
As I wrapped up my family vacation obligations I was looking forward to some serious mountain time again. Earlier in 2024 I felt like I needed a break from scrambling and for the most part this feeling is officially gone now. 😉 I’ve done far less mountains this year compared to any other in the past few decades so I’ve had my break and it accomplished exactly what I’d hoped – made me miss the ol’ scree grind and loose ridges that I’ve fallen in love with for some silly reason. Mount Pushover has been on my radar for a while now, ever since reading it in David P. Jones’, Rockies South Climber’s Guide (pg. 209). I’ve written about Jones’ ratings before and Mount Pushover is another prime candidate for this little talk. To make a long story short.
Don’t believe everything you read.
In the case of Pushover, the rating isn’t even close and could be considered very misleading to the point of getting folks in trouble if only the peak was more popular. But it’s not. As far as I know only one other person has been silly enough to pursue this unofficial mountain sitting between Mount Northover to the west and Mount Lyautey to the north. On August 3rd, 2022, Andrew Nugara decided that the 2nd-class rating of Mount Pushover deserved to be closely investigated. He found out the hard way that the rating vastly undersold the endeavor. I was very disappointed to read his report and realize that there was no “sidewalk in the sky” to the summit as I was hoping for when researching it.
After doing some research on the first ascent by Burton, Feistmann, Fraser and Shaxon in June 1957 (CAJ 41.83) I realized that the ascent is not actually rated “F 2nd” by them in the Alpine Journal. It is only mentioned as a first ascent of the peak sitting east of Mount Northover. I am not sure where Jones got his rating from, but it’s not from the account of the first ascent party in the CAJ… To be fair to Jones, unless he ascended the peak himself it does look straightforward on the topo maps. But it’s not.
After staying home on a Thursday that ended up being much nicer than forecast (common this summer), I decided that Friday, August 23rd was going to be my date with Mount Pushover. Why was I bothering with it at all, given what Nugara had experienced? I had a feeling. Nugara mentions that if he were to try this peak again he would go closer to the Northover col before ascending SW slopes directly to the summit block. He was turned around very near the summit on the SE ridge and was running out of gas when he realized there might be another route as he descended the SW face. I was willing to give his hunch a serious attempt. I knew I needed as much daylight as possible for this long day trip and left the Upper Kananaskis Lake parking lot at 06:15 just as the day was slowly dawning in a disappointingly overcast sky above. Both SpotWX and TWN had assured me of clear skies all day, but just as the day before, things didn’t start out that way. I tried to ignore the gloomy sky as I quickly made my way around the lake to the shortcut trail leading to Hidden Lake.
After the junkpile that is the “shortcut” to Hidden Lake, I was happy to be back on the proper trail first around the always lovely lake and then up rubble and scree slopes to the Fossil Falls headwall high above. (Don’t bother with the shortcut – it’s not really “short” and it’s definitely no longer “cut” either.) Views back over the lakes were stunning – again as usual for this area.
It took me over 2 hours from the parking lot to the top of the Fossil Falls headwall at a good pace. Thankfully the sky was now a deep summer blue and the forecasts were proving to be accurate for once as I continued hiking the lovely wildflower trail to the Aster Lake campground. This trail is always a sublime little trek and on a clear summer day with only Cory from Turner Valley to keep me company (and only briefly as he passed by), it was even nicer than usual.
I passed a busy Aster Lake campground (looking much different than last time I stayed here) before continuing on the GDT towards the Aster Lake outflow. On approach I decided that I would traverse around the north end of Aster Lake – off trail. It looked like a shortcut on the map but so far I was 0 for 1 on shortcuts actually taking less time / effort…
It soon became evident that I was going 0 for 2 on the day as far as shortcuts were concerned. Despite being lovely, the north route around Aster Lake proved not much shorter than the trail would have been. It certainly took more maneuvering as I ended up higher than necessary at one point on the traverse. Views of Warrier and Cordonnier with wildflowers in the foreground were stunning.
Before long I was tramping over massive Grizzly diggings and rounding my way into the sharp valley sitting between Northover to my left and Pushover to my right. A muddy stream cascaded down the center of this valley, presumably meltwater from a dying glacier above. I made good time up the valley and despite a somewhat complex SW face, I quickly sussed out a route that would see me ascend rubble to a wide ledge leading off under a line of low cliffs to the skyline SW ridge above the Northover / Pushover col.
I wasn’t at all convinced that the SW ridge and upper NW summit ridge would get me to the tippy top, but I knew that if nothing else I’d get some unique views along the ridge extending NW from Mount Northover towards the Three Isle Lake area. The rubble wasn’t as soft as it appeared and it didn’t take long before I was at the horrible loose (stacked dinner plates) SW ridge with stunning views down both sides of the col.
The entire time I spent under Mount Northover I caught myself looking often at the upper summit block, remembering one of my scariest moments in the Rockies where I almost fell off that face while looking for a route up it. That was almost 2 decades ago now, but I sure didn’t want a repeat on its neighbor! I started up the SW ridge, realizing pretty quickly how awfully loose it was. Again – it didn’t take long and I was on the upper NW ridge leading to a very dark and intimidating summit block with a narrow, loose “sidewalk” leading the way forward.
As I started along the NW ridge my enthusiasm and hope for finding a scramble route to the summit lowered with almost every step. The ridge had some serious exposure, was horridly loose and didn’t present an obvious line up the summit block which was still too distant to see with any clarity. I rounded a few difficulties on the SW face before ascending a very steep line near the face and getting my first good look at it. GULP.
Despite a potential line directly to the face from where I was, I decided to play things a bit safer and descended once again to get around severe exposure on the loose NW ridge. Once again I worked my way up under the summit block via a rubble and slab gully. I was now almost 100% convinced that like Nugara, I’d be returning home without a summit today. And then – as so often happens in the Rockies – the summit block slowly started breaking down a little. As I topped out under it, I could see an obvious rubble bench running up along the face, leading towards what I only hoped was more scrambling terrain.
Filled with excitement I started up the loose rubble bench, taking care that I didn’t slide off it to my right. The exposure didn’t feel as bad as it was – I couldn’t really see it from the ledge but I knew it was there trying to pull me off. The ledge itself didn’t feel that hard and soon I was crawling off it and looking up at some loose terrain marching off to the summit a short distance away. I couldn’t believe it! I was actually going to make the summit!! A short scramble later and I was taking in views over many familiar lakes and peaks. The remains of an old cairn were the only evidence of previous ascents – I looked hard but couldn’t find a register.
After enjoying the incredible views in windless conditions it was time to slowly reverse my ascent line. I still couldn’t believe I’d made it as I contemplated checking out the SE ridge and settling on the wiser choice of my ledge route instead. Everything reversed just fine and soon I was picking my way down the SW face to the tight confines of my approach valley below.
A brief walk on the dying glacier and I was back in the warm embrace of the valley. I hiked slowly out, enjoying the sweet feeling of success on an unknown route and the beautiful summer day stretching out before me. Instead of hiking off trail around the north end of Aster Lake, I hiked across the creek to the GDT and followed it instead.
Acres of wildflowers on the Aster Lake flats greeted me as I slowly worked my way along to the GDT and then around the lake. Aster Lake is rather muddy and grey instead of brilliant blue like many other glacier-fed lakes but this certainly didn’t detract very much from the views.
The trail was very quiet as I made my way to the campground and checked out a very lively Fossil Creek running past the eating area. This is a delightful campground and is almost always completely booked up at first opportunity. From the campground I made my way to the top of the headwall leading back to Hidden Lake. I finally ran into hikers as I descended the headwall – they were sweating profusely in the warm afternoon sun that I was quite enjoying as I descended cooly past. 😉
Hidden Lake was its usual calm, beautiful self as I hiked around it and followed the obvious main trail back to the Upper Kananaskis trail. I would not recommend the “shortcut” route anymore. It’s simply not worth the headache to follow when there’s such an obvious maintained trail just a short distance away. Hiking the 5.4 kms back to the parking lot was uneventful as I reflected on my many trips into this area and many fond memories over the years.
What can I say in conclusion about this trip? It had a bit of everything. Disappointment with a cloudy start. Slowly ramping up the positive vibes as the sky cleared and the trail wound its familiar way to a lovely alpine landscape of lakes, rushing streams and acres of colorful wildflowers. Apprehension mixed with excitement as I picked my way up an unfamiliar and unknown route, experiencing all the highs and lows that comes with such adventures. One minute thinking it all looked very reasonable and the next thinking that all was lost. Walking to the summit under a brilliant blue summer sky with views to familiar peaks, lakes and valleys and knowing that once again the Rockies had provided a sneaky, but reasonable scramble route up a challenging peak. A relaxing exit through gorgeous landscapes with a feeling of success. It doesn’t get much better than this my friends, and I am grateful that I still get to experience these moments.
Glad you did this one! I want to go up it, so I’m definitely going to have a good read!