GR333458

Unnamed summit at GR333458
(Wasootch Peak)

November 15, 2003

Mountain height:    approx. 2,300 m (7,544 ft)
Elevation gain:       approx. 850 m
Ascent time:           5:25
Descent time:         2:55

Mountaineering with Mark.

What started as a straightforward hike and scramble, turned into a full day expedition of some exciting mountaineering. Given the miserable weather forecast (cloudy with snow flurries in the afternoon), our initial plan was a practice climbing at Wasootch Slabs. When we arrived at Wasootch Creek parking lot, however, the sky was still generally clear, and so we decided to attempt the unnamed summit to the west of the parking lot (actually the northernmost summit of a long ridge that includes Old Baldy Mountain and Mount McDougall, further south). It looked to be a relatively straightforward scramble with some bushwhacking at the beginning, followed by the ascent of an avalanche gully, and then a steep hike to the summit. A long ridgewalk to several higher points was also visible, but we didn’t plan on doing much of it.

Although the deep snow made the ascent lengthy (about 2 hours), it was easy and we chose to stay in the tress throughout, avoiding the avalanche gully. At the first summit, we were given terrific views of Wasootch Tower, Mount Allan, Mount Lougheed, Mount Lorette, and last week’s Mount Collembola. From there, a short, easy, and enjoyable scramble took us to a second, slightly higher summit.

The next section of the ridge looked considerably more difficult and it was! At first, the ridge was wide and easy to negotiate, but quickly it became quite narrow, with significant drop-offs on both sides. A fair amount of snow didn’t make things easier. We eventually came to a section with a short downclimb followed by a very steep wall that might have been possible to ascent, but would have required climbing gear to descend. Unfortunately, because of the snow, we couldn’t even get passed the downclimb. Luckily, we had brought with us a 25m length of rope and after backtracking a little, we found a steep snow-filled gully that would take us down and around the difficult section. A tree at the top provided a great anchor and we set up a rappel, with the intention of leaving the rope there so that we could use it to ascend the gully on return.

After rappelling down, we tried to stay on steep avalanche slopes to shorten the ascent, but the extremely deep snow made travel excruciatingly slow and we were forced back onto the ridge. Up higher we did actually cut across the slope – a big mistake! We came to an impasse and had to ascend a very steep and dangerous rock band to regain the ridge.

Now, we were confronted with another near vertical rock band that we would have to circumvent on either side. Neither route looked promising and I thought that this would be the end of the line. We decided to take a look at the left side. This involved traversing a very steep snow slope, where a slip would have sent you on an involuntary glissade hundred of metres down the mountain. The longer rope would have been nice, but we were forced to use our short rope and ice axes. Mark went first and I followed. We made it safely and then a found a good route back onto the ridge.

The summit was now in view and after another half hour of interesting travel across corniced ridges and up short rock bands, we made it to the top. Aside from the increasing cloud cover and a viciously cold west wind, the summit view was beautiful. Of special interest were Old Baldy and the subsidiary peak of Mount McDougall that we ascended almost two years ago.

Descending the more difficult sections was easier than I thought it would be and the sun came out eventually, highlighting stunning surroundings. Overall, a fantastic day! We got far more than we bargained for the were both thrilled to make a summit that we didn’t even expect to get close.