Mont des Poilus

Mont des Poilus

August 30, 2009

Mountain height:         3166 m
Elevation gain:            approx. 1800 m
Ascent time:                9:45
Descent time:              8:45

Mountaineering with Mark.

Mont des Poilus was catapulted to near the top of our priority list, after I spent several wonderful hours staring at the mountain, on a recent ascent of Yoho Peak. des Poilus is a strikingly beautiful and aesthetic mountain, in the outstanding environs of the Wapta Icefield. With a height exceeding almost everything in the immediate area, the summit guaranteed a magnificent view. JP had recently posted a trip report on the RMB forum, indicating conditions on the mountain to be good and so we set off to give it a try ourselves.

Unfortunately, a pretty thick layer of haze had settled over every area of the Rockies we passed through on the drive in. We hoped the haze would clear during the day. Even with the haze, we decided to go anyway, as there were several fallback objectives if des Poilus wasn’t a go.

After the relatively boring 2 hour, forest hike, we arrived in the stunning Yoho Valley to the bad news that the haze was going to be a detriment to the fantastic scenery I had experienced two weeks earlier. Even so, there was still plenty to be impressed by. The waterfalls had diminished in size over those two weeks, allowing us to ascend along the right side of the main fall. Again, this scenery was thoroughly entertaining and although this route, around the east of Yoho Peak, was longer than the standard approach via Waterfall Valley, the amazing scenery completely justified the extra distance, elevation gain and time.

By the time we had ascended to the upper valley the heat of the day and the hazy views were beginning to drain our energy and motivation. We discussed doing Yoho Peak instead or just exploring the glacier south of Mount Collie. Arriving at the Yoho Peak col, I was happy to just turn around and go home. Mark, exhausted from the long approach, was of the same mind-frame. That was until we both saw des Poilus. It truly is a most attractive mountain. That and the fact that Mark and I had not been on a glacier for some time was enough to make us change our minds about bailing on des Poilus.

The des Poilus glacier was awesome. I sometimes forget how awe-inspiring glaciers are, but the des Poilus glacier was quick to remind both Mark and me. Though large crevasses and bergschrunds are the most noticeable features of glaciers, the smaller aspects, such as small melt-water streams running down the ice, extremely deep pools of melt-water and gaping melt-water holes cutting down, through the glacier can be just as interesting. The des Poilus Glacier had all of these in abundance.

We were also surprised by the size and depth of some of the crevasses. Chic Scott is not exaggerating in Summits and Icefields, when he’s describes the glacier as having “numerous crevasses”. One particular longitudinal crevasse (running parallel to the direction of glacial flow) was incredibly deep.

The ascent itself was terrific. Some route-finding around crevasses was required and luckily there still remained a decent snow-bridge over the bergschrund, but generally the terrain was easy to negotiate (and also stunning to look at). Only above the bergschrund did the grade of the slope increase to more serious levels. The summit view was of course marred by the haze, but was still very impressive – it would have been astounding without the haze.

We knew before we left the car that the horizontal distance and significant elevation gain required of the trip would mean that the descent was going to be physically exhausting. That turned out to be a grave understatement. The ascent had already drained us both, Mark more than I, and although descending the glacier was fast, fun, and almost effortless, the remainder of the return trip was slow and brutally tiring. We had to stop numerous times to take short naps and staggered back to the car at the late hour of 3:15 am. The 19 hour roundtrip time put it into the Top 5 of our longest day trips; in good company with Andromeda, Kitchener, Murchison, and Castleguard.

We could have done without the haze, but in general, a totally awesome day on a phenomenal mountain.

Entering the Yoho Valley; a little hazy, but still impressive