Mountain height:       2,351 m (7,711 ft)
Elevation gain:           651 m 
Ascent time:              4:20
Descent time:            2:20         

Scrambling with Kevin.

Mount Fortune is one of those peaks that begs the question, “Why is this an official summit?” Basically the southern tip of a large massif, with Mount Turbulent as a highpoint and several other subsidiary summits, Fortune hardly deserves its own name. Nevertheless, official or not, the mountain offers an interesting and relatively easy ascent and fabulous views of the Spray Lakes area. 

This is also one of those mountains that I wouldn’t have thought about ascending and so when Kevin suggested we attempt to ski up its southwest slopes, I was more than eager. We started at the Mount Shark parking lot and after skiing aimlessly in circles for a while, around some of the Mount Shark cross-country ski trails, Kevin found an easy route to the lake. Skiing across the lake was quite an experience in itself. One would expect a frozen lake to be almost completely flat, however, the southern end of the Spray Lake was more undulating than anything, leaving Kevin and I somewhat baffled and a little unnerved in some sections. At one point, we came across a wide and very long opening in the ice and thought we might have to turn back. We were relived and mystified to find that it was a stream, running north into the lake, and at this end, the lake was obviously very shallow. Further on, we reached the end of a plateau section and then had to descend about 2 metres onto more level terrain – remember, this is all in the middle of a huge frozen lake!

As we approached the base of the mountain, it became obvious that we would be doing the ascent on foot and that the southeast slopes would grant a faster and safer route up. The steep, rocky, and heavily treed terrain was simply not conducive to a ski ascent. Attaining the ridge proved to be the crux of the ascent. The terrain was, at times, steep and covered in a deep layer of fresh snow, with an old, hard layer underneath. Postholing in the thigh-deep snow slowed travel considerably. Luckily for me, Kevin graciously took on the role of trail-breaking, making my ascent considerably easier. Kevin actually led almost the entire ascent at a very impressive break-neck speed, while I sucked wind, some distance behind.

The weather had been absolutely bleak throughout the trip (the epitome of “socked-in”) and continued to worsen as we gained the ridge and started towards the summit. While we were teased with occasional views of Mounts Turner and Morrison, everything to the south (Birdwood, Smuts, etc.) and everything to the east (Sparrowhawk, Buller, Engadine, etc.) was thoroughly blanketed in dark, low clouds. We were both certain there would be no summit view to speak of. Thankfully, along the way, the scenery did get interesting as we passed the odd group of trees, covered magnificently in ice and fresh snow.

We got the view we expected at the summit (that is – nothing!), however, as we took a GPS reading and studied the map, to confirm we were at the summit, the sun miraculously broke through the clouds and a few of the surrounding peaks started to emerge. Even in the partially sunny, but most cloudy conditions, the panorama was stunning. The surrounding mountains were all plastered in fresh snow, looking more like peaks from the Himalayas than the Rockies. Mount Buller took on a very unique perspective and looked far more intimidating than it really is. We stayed at the summit for 20 minutes enjoying the unexpected and wonderful views and every second of the glorious break in the weather. Within minutes of leaving the summit, the gray clouds returned and remained for the entire descent. Our timing could not have been more perfect.

The descent was remarkably fast, easy, and fun. We could almost run through our ascent tracks in the snow. Of course, skiing back across the lake was no faster. An unexpectedly great day on a very insignificant mountain – awesome choice, Kevin! 

LOG