Mount Glasgow – August 11, 2004

Mountain height:         2,935 m (9,629 feet)
Elevation gain:            1,310 m
Ascent time:              3:35 (with bike approach)
Descent time:            2:20

Solo scramble.

I’ve always been reluctant to do the scrambles in the Elbow Valley area because of their long, tedious approaches – that is until now. I finally broke down and bought a bike last week (my first bike since I was a teenager), specifically for these and other scrambles where two wheels can be a big time-saver. And by the time I got back down to the bike, after a lengthy slog up Mount Glasgow, I was more than a little relieved to have a 30 minute ride back to the car, as opposed to a 1.5-2 hour hike.

For me, the crux of the trip was deciding where the correct ascent drainage was. I found the first drainage after the bridge and was ready to start the ascent, but there no cairn and it didn’t seem to match Kane’s description. After riding 5 minutes further, I came to a very obvious drainage, with a large cairn, and a long stick protruding from it.

Once I was in the correct drainage, the remainder of the ascent was a no-brainer and quite easy (bring your ski/trekking poles - no hands-on scrambling necessary for this one). Judging by the numerous amount of trails, this must be a fairly popular ascent. The scenery was fairly decent, with good views of Mounts Romulus and Remus throughout. The summit view was very nice – all the mountains of the Opal and Fisher Ranges taking on quite a different look than as seen from the west. Unfortunately, I left my map at home and was unable to identify quite a few peaks. Although quite a distance away, Joffre, King George, and Assiniboine (all over 11,000 feet) were visible.  

Lacking time, energy, water, and motivation, I really didn’t even consider the attempt to traverse to Cornwall, Outlaw, and Banded Peak. Just thinking about the 8 km walk from the bottom of Banded Peak to my bike and then another 8 km ride back to the car was enough to put that idea right out of my head.

The descent was very easy and fast and it only took me 30 minutes to ride back to the parking lot, as opposed to the 45 it took me to get to the drainage. Overall, a pretty good scramble (call it a steep hike) with some interesting scenery and great summit views.    

Looking back at Mount Romulus (left) and Mount Remus (right)

The trail I took traversed quite high on the mountain and required a loss of elevation, before turning right up the slope on the right side; the summit of Glasgow is in the centre; as you can see, it was a very bright day

Typical scenery

The 2700 m outlier peak mentioned in Kane's description

Once on the west slopes of Glasgow, you get this great view of slightly higher Mount Cornwall; Outlaw Peak can be seen to the left

A view of Banded Peak, as seen from the summit of Glasgow

Looking to the west; the snow-covered peak in the distance is Mount King George (3,422 m)

Looking back at the summit of Glasgow

A tree

Looking back at the route from near the beginning of the drainage; Glasgow's summit is hidden behind the outlier peak

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