Door Jamb Mountain attempt – March 24, 2007       

Scrambling and a little climbing with Mark.

Returning to the mountains after four weeks away, due to an almost identical back injury to last year’s March fiasco, was just what I needed. This year’s recovery process year had been much slower than last year and I was admittedly a little nervous about doing anything too strenuous. We therefore started up the southeast ridge of Door Jamb Mountain, hoping to encounter some hiking and easy scrambling. With some luck, we would also find an easy route up the east face of the final summit block, which looked quite daunting from the road. This was Mark’s third week in a row on the mountain, but at least we would be trying a different route.

Once past the annoying roar of bulldozers and excavators, mercilessly ripping away the southeast side of the defenseless mountain (a little overboard perhaps….perhaps not??), the trip was very enjoyable – pleasant hiking with a few steps of fun scrambling. Soon we reached steeper terrain that may have been the far south end of the popular climbing wall named Kid Goat. Here, the rock was excellent. We roped up just in case and Mark led us up a couple of terrific slabs. Unfortunately, the back injury had destroyed my confidence and I was glad to receive a strong belay from above.

Soon we arrived at the summit block. As expected it was a much more serious endeavour than what had preceded. Mark tried several different routes up. Unfortunately, we had only a short length of rope and a few slings for protection and although the quality of the rock was decent here, it was also down-sloping and good holds were sparse. The last route almost got Mark to the top, but without more adequate protection, it would have been very risky. We called it a day, vowing to return with the proper equipment. A good day out on what has surprisingly turned out to be a most interesting mountain.

What's missing from this picture........oh yeah... a big chunk of the mountain!
Door Jamb is in the centre of the photo and the ascent follows the ridge 
just right of centre and up to the summit block

Looking back at the missing chunk

Mark leads us up good rock on the lower slopes 

Same as above

Mark attempts a route on the right side of the summit block

Mark looks for another route

Traversing slopes with Yamnuska in the background

Mark attempts another route

Same as above; unfortunately holds were sparse here and we had to back down shortly after

A short but fun rappel on descent

Door Jamb Mountain and Loder Peak – March 10, 2007

Mountain height: 1996 m (Door Jamb); 2097 m (Loder)
Elevation gain:    925 m

An ascent by Mark and Holland.

I was at home nursing an extremely frustrating back injury, so no detailed trip report here. Mark and Holland said they thoroughly enjoyed another sojourn up Door Jamb and Loder. Lots of chances to do some easy slab scrambling.

Holland on the lower slopes of Door Jamb

Holland on some slabs

More scrambling

Holland heads towards Loder Peak (left)

Holland on descent

Door Jamb Mountain – March 17, 2007

Mountain height:      1996 m
Elevation gain:         825 m

An ascent by Mark and Keri. 

The plan was a repeat of last week’s trip up Door Jamb and Loder, however, the intense west wind prompted retreat upon reaching the summit of Door Jamb.  

Keri on the lower slopes of Door Jamb

Keri on some of the friction slabs

Mark on a dead tree

Keri approaches the summit

Mark at the summit of Door Jamb

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