Citadel Peak, Fatigue Mountain, and Little Fatigue

July 29, 2009 

Mountain heights:                        2607 m, 2958 m, 2920 m
Total elevation gain:                    1400 m
Ascent time to Citadel:                 3:45
Traverse time to Fatigue:             1:45
Traverse time to Little Fatigue:     1:00
Descent time:                                3:50                  

Scrambling with Amber and Rhianna.

I got the idea for Fatigue Mountain from Linda Breton and Antri Zhu’s websites. It appeared to be a long, but straightforward ascent and in an area I had never been to. Given the close proximity of Citadel and Fatigue, it was logical to give both peaks a go while there. I convinced Amber to join me and she brought along Rhianna. Rhianna has only done a couple of scrambles, but she is extremely fit and the lengthy nature of this trip was definitely going to require some endurance.   

Wisely, we booked a one-way ticket on the shuttle bus to Sunshine meadows. The other option was to bike up the 6.5 km Sunshine ski-out. The 500 metres of elevation gain along that 6.5 km pretty much scared me off that idea. The best adjective to describe the environs of Citadel Pass would be “pleasant”. It’s definitely an area everyone should see once, but I imagine that for most, “once” will do it.

Knowing that Fatigue Mountain would probably be a scree slog of Biblical proportions, we left the Citadel Pass trail early, hoping to find some decent hands-on scrambling up the northwest side of Citadel Peak. Citadel Lake was another “pleasant” diversion, but the hands-on scrambling was minimal. However, Citadel Peak does stand as one of the easiest ascents ever – a long (9 km) but very easy approach, with less than 500 metres of elevation gain from Sunshine Meadows. Yet again, the weather let us down, the sky being filled with clouds. It was also quite chilly at the summit of Citadel. Amber and Rhianna resorted to wearing toques, while I just kept my helmet on.

Fatigue Mountain looked absolutely dismal from the summit of Citadel: a large, dreary gray mass of scree and rubble; nothing striking or remotely attractive about it. In fact we all made comments about lowly Citadel having far more character than Fatigue. However, at the height of 2958 m, the summit view was bound to be good.

A remarkably easy descent of Citadel (25 minutes) preceded what I would deem as a “surprisingly pleasant scree slog” – “pleasant” was definitely the word of the day. Though far from aesthetic, the scree was quite easy to ascend, providing relatively solid footing. Perhaps our congeniality regarding the ascent was due in large part to the fact that we were expecting it to be a nightmare.

Rhianna attacked the slopes of Fatigue, like The Borg assimilate inferior species – with decided speed and efficiently (if you don’t get the analogy, you’ve denied yourself one of the greatest T.V. series ever!) She quickly moved ahead of Amber and me and simply powered her way to the summit ridge and then waited for us to catch up. Inspired by Rhianna’s effort, we all reached the summit in far less than our predicted ascent time.

Even with less than stellar weather conditions, the summit view was worth the long hike and long scree slog – too many beautiful peaks in every direction to name and several colourful lakes. Naturally, the Assiniboine area (and the mountain itself) provided some of the best views.

Throughout the ascent, we had been staring at the peak connected to Fatigue to the north. Although we had toyed with the idea of tagging Quartz Hill on the way out, this new objective looked far more interesting and would certainly have better views than Quartz. Nevertheless, adding another 300 metres of vertical gain and 6-8 km of horizontal distance would ensure some quality suffering at the end of the day. We decided to descend to the col and then figured out what to do from there.

At the col, Rhianna very wisely opted out of the extension and started back to Sunshine Meadows. Amber and I still had stars in our eyes and wanted to try the extension, which we named “Little Fatigue” (a misnomer, again of Biblical proportions, given the physical state one finds themselves in upon completing the ascent). The ascent was easy, but longer than anticipated. Several massive, vertical walls of rock on both sides of the ridge provided some unexpected visual rewards. As well, the summit view was as equally gratifying as that from Fatigue – perhaps a little more so, given that the skies were now a little clearer.  

From Little Fatigue, a close-by, lower outlier caught our eye and looked to be in need of some attention. We gladly obliged and quickly went over, traversing a short, but very narrow ridge to get there. Some beautiful cornice scenery and more sheer walls were additional cause for the odd “wow!”

Although Amber and I were at this point relatively close to the starting point of the trip, there was no direct route back and we had to retrace much of our ascent route. This route was time-consuming and strenuous with the hot sun beating down on us. I had consumed all my water (3 litres), but was loathe to drink from Howard Douglas Lake. The last several kilometres of the hike back were mind- (and feet) numbing, to say the least. Perhaps the unsavory thought of the upcoming 6.5 km down the ski-out contributed to my discomfort. The one bright side was that Fatigue Mountain and Little Fatigue, now bathed in sunlight, looked to be quite inviting, as opposed to the “large, dreary gray mass of scree and rubble” referred to earlier.

Our timing at reaching Sunshine was fortuitous. Several workers were just finishing their shifts and were more than accommodating when Amber asked if we could get a ride down to the parking lot. We were both elated to be spared the misery of that last 6.5 km. Rhianna had also managed to get a lift down. We regrouped in the parking, all three of us in a state of exhaustion, and drove home.        

Kudos to Rhianna for completing both Citadel and Fatigue – not at all an easy task for ones third scramble. And a big thanks to Amber for accompanying me to Little Fatigue (although it is perhaps I who accompanied her!) An extremely tiring, but great day out.

Self-grooming

Not sure what these are, but Amber knows how to photograph them (photo by Amber)

The proper way to apply sunscreen (or warpaint!)

Flowers (photo by Amber)

Citadel Peak (photo by Amber)

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