logo

Category : President Range

Top Hat Peak to Emerald Peak Traverse

From the col we looked up at the obvious “boulder gully”. We put on our helmets as it looked pretty loose already from below and headed up towards it. I knew right away that this gully was extremely manky and was going to be one of our most dangerous bits of terrain we’d ever done.

This is the crux slope and should be taken seriously. We had a soft slab that wasn't too reactive but on descent I did trigger a small sluff in the gully at left.

Field, Mount

Finally on March 10 of 2018 I managed to ski a peak that’s been on my hit-list for many years. 13 years ago, I’d scrambled Mount Field in Yoho National Park from a weird approach (the Stanley Mitchell Hut) with the infamous Dave Stephens. Since then a lot of my mountain friends had skied the peak from the opposite side and highly recommended it to me. Of course, because I’m a peakbagger I don’t normally like to repeat summits, but if the mode and route of the peak being bagged is completely different, it can be worth a second trip. In this case it was certainly worth it.

Emerald Peak

After reading a number of trip reports over the years on Emerald Peak in Yoho National Park, I was fairly certain I wanted to ski this summit. A favorite summit shot looking straight down the 4000 foot avy path to Emerald Lake is usually captioned with “can you imagine this on SKI’s?!”. Yes, now I can! And it’s pretty spectacular my friend. Kev Papke, Bill Kerr and myself met Raf and Helen in the Emerald Lake parking lot. By 09:30 Bill and I were skinning along the lakeshore trail, a few minutes ahead of the others.

Carnarvon, Mount

On Friday, September 03 2010 I completed my last ‘Kane scramble’ with Eric, Marko and Greg. Mount Carnarvon was looking like it would be my last Kane peak for a while and when I tallied up the remaining 11 peaks at the beginning of 2010 I picked it as the last one. I could not have timed it better! The summer of 2010 has been a drizzmal affair with late summer conditions and then early snow and ice. A week previous I was on Walcott and Burgess looking towards Carnarvon and crossing my fingers that it wouldn’t snow any more until I completed it. Thankfully the snow went elsewhere for the following week!

Walcott Peak & Mount Burgess

After arriving home from my brother’s wedding on August 26 2010 I was feeling a bit bummed about the weather forecast for the Rockies that coming weekend (27-29). With only two (or was it three) Kane peaks left I was determined to finish before 2011 rather than have two last peaks hanging around for another year! Unfortunately for me though, the week previous had dumped fresh snow all over the Rockies and I was sure that Yoho probably got hit with the most. The forecast was also very grim with rain, thunderstorms and snow in varying percentages for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

President, The & Vice President

On Friday evening, July 25th 2008, Raf, Keith, Wietse and I hiking into the Little Yoho campground in Yoho National Park with plans to ascent both the President and the Vice President early on Saturday morning.

Wapta Mountain

Summit Elevation (m): 2778 Trip Date: Thursday, August 16, 2007 Elevation Gain (m): 1400 Round Trip Time (hr): 8 Total Trip Distance (km): 15 Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 4 – you fall, you break something or worse Difficulty Notes: A fall on the crux would severely injure or kill so take necessary precautions. Technical Rating: SC7; YDS (4th)GPS Track: Gaia Map: Google MapsPhotos: View Album After scrambling Mount Warspite and Mount Storelk the previous two days, Thursday, August 16 2007 […]

Kiwetinok Peak, Mount Pollinger, McArthur & Kerr Traverse

Bob and I woke up with the dawn of a new day and by 7 am we were hiking up to Kiwetinok Pass under a partly cloudy sky. We ascended the lower slopes of Kiwetinok Peak and before the large snow patch we tried short-cutting up through the lower cliffs to climber’s left.

Iceline Trail, The (Stanley Mitchell ACC Hut, Little Yoho Valley)

It all started with Linda Breton planning a group trip to the Stanley Mitchell hut in hopes of having a more successful outing than the group trip last year.