Mount Fortune II and Fortulent Peaks

Mount Fortune II and Fortulent Peaks – February 21, 2009

Mountain heights:       2350 m , 2510 m
Elevation gain:            approx. 1000 m
Ascent time:              5:25
Descent time:              3:20

Snowshoeing with Mark.

This trip had the potential to be a big letdown. Mount Fortune is just a piddly, little hump at the southeast end of Mount Turbulent and with an excellent weather forecast, a more ambitious objective might have fit the bill. I had already visited the summit of Fortune with Kevin Barton, but our ascent had been marred by fairly miserable weather. Kevin and I had also opted to forgo the extension of the trip to a higher summit to the northwest. This was an opportunity for Mark and me to see the surroundings with better weather and try the extension.

The day started off very well with a fascinating trek across the south end of frozen Spray Lake. Parts of the lake had been wind-blasted free of snow, revealing some seriously cool ice scenery (no pun intended): air bubbles frozen in mid-ice, huge cracks extending far below the surface, some filled with snow, and slabs of fractured ice uplifted in the same fashion as crustal plates that have collided – interesting to see the formation of the very mountains we love, mirrored in ice.

As well, even at ground level, the views of Mounts Turner, Morrison and Cone were awesome. The potential letdown had already become a non-issue and we were hardly an hour into the trip and at an elevation below 1700 m.

Whereas Kevin and I had gained the ridge from the southeast, Mark and I chose the southwest side of the peak. We ascended an interesting and completely snow-free gully – fairly odd for mid-February. I managed to get myself in a small jam by ascending a large fin of rock that suddenly narrowed significantly, but escaped via a thin arête of snow.

Once on the ridge, the already terrific view really started to improve. The highlight of the first section was definitely the awe-inspiring form of Cone Mountain’s east face – a view that continued to impress us throughout the day. Several outcrops of rock, covered in rust coloured lichen, provided a beautiful foreground. The summit of Fortune was easily reached and “fortunately” the view from the top was magnificent.

“Unfortunately”, the extension to the north did not look so good. Most of the ascent was a straightforward snow/scree slog, however, the final section appeared to be much too steep. Nevertheless, we started down to a col between the peaks, finally stepping onto some heavily snow-covered terrain. Closer inspection of the upper slopes revealed them to be far tamer than expected. Only a couple of moves of easy scrambling were required. They must have been easy because we left our snowshoes on for them! A short, but beautiful snow traverse brought us to the summit of what we have now named “Fortulent Peak”. In most directions the summit view was slightly better than that of Mount Fortune, but to the north it was infinitely better. Stretched out in that direction lie the beautiful, long ridge of Turbulent Mountain and its unique summit block. Further west, the summits of Mounts Mercer and Allenby were visible, as well as a host of unnamed peaks of the Sundance Range. At this point not only was the “letdown” a long distant memory, but this was rapidly becoming one of our more enjoyable trips to date.

A twin peak of Fortulent was several hundred metres away and so we traversed over to it, taking in yet more cool scenery as cornices lined the ridge. From this summit it was evident that the ridge could be followed for at least another kilometre and a half to a higher summit. Time and energy lacking we choose to go only to the fourth highpoint of the day another couple of hundred metres along the ridge. This short diversion yielded yet another fantastic view as we looked back to see the snowy and shadowed east face of the Fortulent Ridge.

For descent, we returned to the summit of Fortune and then used a gully on the west side of the mountain as a shortcut. The distance was actually a little longer, but plunge-stepping down the snow–filled gully was fast and easy. Going back across the lake took longer than expected, the amazing ice scenery stopping us in our tracks several times once again. Wispy clouds had formed to the south, further enhancing the scenery.

Outstanding scenery throughout, outstanding weather throughout – we couldn’t have asked for more.

Trekking across Spray Lake; L to R: Tent Ridge, Smuts, Shark

Same as above; L ro R: Morrison and Turner, Cone, Fortune

Fractured ice with Morrison, Turner, and Cone behind

Checking out the ice

Cone Mountain

Mount Turner

An ice upthrust

Cracks and air bubbles in the ice

Heading to the ascent gully

A lonely patch of snow on the otherwise bare slopes

The ascent gully

Escaping the ridge

Eon Mountain was the only mountain in the Assinboine area that was visible due to Cone Mountain
blocking the view to the west (that and the lowly stature of Fortune itself)