After getting out the previous two days on an attempt of Commonwealth and then a great day on Nihahi and Compression Ridges, it was time to visit the Castle / Crown area again. Keith and I drove down to the Gladstone trail head as described in Andrew Nugara’s scrambling book.
After scrambling up Roche a Perdrix it was time to try Indian Ridge. We drove all the way back to Jasper and to the Tramway station only to find that it was closed for maintenance! That was a bugger. Time for a new plan. Since we were all psyched up for another peak we thought we’d give Morro a try. Wietse had come across it while perusing on Bivouac.com. I remember seeing it on there a while back and wondering if it was worth a shot.
On June 19th Wietse and I drove up to Jasper National Park to camp for the weekend and bag a number of local peaks. We were slightly disappointed by the campsite that we were assigned in the Whistlers campground because it seemed very open and public but we quickly got over it and settled in for the night.
On Sunday, September 9 2007, Kevin Barton and I managed to bag both Victoria South and Mount Huber in a long 15 hour day. It took us quite a bit longer than we planned because of new snow (2-6″) and ice on the route.
On Saturday, August 25 2007 a group of us decided to ignore the potentially dismal weather forecast and scamper up a peak around Banff or Lake Louise. Our first objective was Temple Mountain which I still hadn’t ascended at the time.
The guide book is obviously out-of-date on these climbs, or at least the access to these climbs but in doing some research on the internet on Thursday night I was a bit more prepared for the actual difficulty. Both Rick Collier (bivouac.com) and Alan Kane indicated quite clearly that they consider these two mountains difficult.
On Friday, July 06 2007, JW, Wietse and I decided to escape the madness that is Calgary on Stampede Parade day and bag another peak instead. We chose Galatea because we thought we could still get lucky with a good glissade and I’ve wanted to scramble that mountain for 3 years already.
Taking advantage of the weather is priority #1 for any peakbagger, so following that theme I set out with Kevin Barton and Wietse on Wednesday evening, July 04 2007 to help our Southern neighbors celebrate independence day with a trip up Mount Arethusa in the Highwood Pass area of Kananaskis country.
Not much to say here! This is a good hike to take the family on – including the family dog! It’s only 700 meters of height gain and you can probably go up any time of the year.
On Saturday, June 30 2007, I joined Sonny, Kelly, Jess, Frank, Jason and Raf for a fun trip up Panorama Ridge near the Consolation Lakes in the Moraine Lake area of Lake Louise in Banff National Park.
After scrambling up Mount Norquay the night before, I found myself heading back to the mountains on Thursday, June 28 2007 with Kevin Papke.
On Wednesday, June 28 2007, Jason Wilcox and I decided that we should bag a peak after work. According to JW this was not about having fun but was strictly for a cardio workout.
After scrambling 4 peaks the previous weekend in Yoho National Park it was time to relax a bit this weekend. I thought I’d go for an even (odd) 3 peak in Banff!
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.
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.
On Saturday, July 22 2006 Wietse and I scrambled up Little Hector and Mount Andromache along the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park. We started out under sunny and very warm conditions around 08:00 from the pullout along the highway.
On Friday, June 30 I headed out early to scramble Mount Edith in Banff National Park. Originally I was supposed to be heading up Copper Mountain but a certain person who I won’t name canceled on me. So, after Dave Stephens canceled on me…
On September 3 2005 I dragged my brother, Rod and two of my cousins, Tony and Jon up and around the Hawkins Horseshoe in Waterton National Park.
On August 20, 2005 Sonny and I scrambled up over 1900 meters from the town of Field, BC to the summit of Mount Stephen. The weather was a beautiful, clear 20 degrees with a light south breeze keeping us cool for most of the day.
On an early (0430) August 6 2005 morning, I joined Dave Stephens and Blair Piggot on a full day trip to scramble Mount Smuts and The Fist in Kananaskis Country.
Mount Galwey is an excellent scramble in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta. I thought it deserved its difficult rating simply because a slip on the crux would have been very painful.
Mount Tecumseh doesn’t seem like a very popular mountain. It hasn’t seen a whole lot of ascents over the past few years and I really don’t know why as I found it to be quite enjoyable.
Mount Ward was an enjoyable scramble in the Crowsnest Pass area. It presented very few difficulties and was quite easy to find.
Crowsnest Mountain has long been a goal of mine – it just sounded like a lot of fun! It didn’t disappoint but like all our scrambles in the first week of September 2004 (six in total) this one was rushed because of thick clouds and rain moving in from the west in the early afternoon hours.
Niko’s first summit! While Hanneke and KC were gone to Manitoba for a wedding, Niko and I hiked his first mountain on a nice sunny, warm 30 degree day in August.
