Exshaw
Ridge and “
Mountain height:
2510 m
Total elevation gain: approx. 1400 m
Ascent time:
7:00
Descent time:
4:30
Scrambling with Mark.
Though
Victoria Ridge in the Castle area will probably stand for a long time as my
favourite ridgewalk, Exshaw Ridge is certainly no slouch either and for now
takes second place behind Victoria.
We
returned to Exshaw Ridge a week after completing the section of the ridge
described in Daffern’s guidebook. The purpose of the trip was to continue
along the ridge, possibly to an unnamed peak slightly northwest of Morrowmount.
Getting to the ridge was significantly easier than the previous week’s trip.
We simply followed our old descent tracks that were still prominent in the snow.
It took us 1.5 hours to reach the ridge instead of 3.5.
The
ridgewalk that ensued was again remarkably pleasant – a perfect combination of
hiking, a few sections of scrambling and terrific scenery and views throughout.
After arriving at a couple of significant highpoints, the route to the highest
summit became visible and it looked to be straightforward. That was not the
case, as shortly we arrived at a near vertical rockband that could not be
downclimbed. A route around the rockband would have required a huge elevation
loss and so we rappelled down the block, leaving the rope in place for the
return trip. One short, but exposed section of ridge followed and then it was
just a walk to the first of two summits separated by a couple of hundred metres.
We were
both quite surprised at how the weather held, even though snow was forecast.
Though far from perfect, it was a great deal better than what we expected. After
taking a pretty decent summit view, we headed east to a slightly higher summit,
several hundred metres away. Neither summit had a cairn, so we made a small one
at the higher summit.
For
descent, we decided to retrace our route back, as opposed to descending
immediately to Exshaw Creek and then following it out. The potential for several
kilometres of deep post-holing was too great in the creek. Speed was going to be
a key issue as the ascent had taken 7 hours and we had only 3.5 of daylight
left.
The only
tricky part of the return trip was getting up the rockband we rappelled. We
couldn’t top-belay because the rope was lying over rock at the edge and would
not move smoothly. Therefore, Mark had to “Batman” up the rope – not half
as easy as Batman makes it look. My job was much easier, as Mark was pretty much
able to pull me up.
After
that, the decent was easy, but very tiring, having covered a pretty significant
horizontal and vertical distance. A long, but excellent trip.
Some scrambling terrain to reach the ridge
Hiking along Exshaw Ridge, with Hassel Castle to the left and Bigger Goat to the right
Looking south; Skogan, McGillivray, Kidd, Collembola, Pigeon, and Lougheed are visible
The colourful hues of Morrowmount
The double summit of Morrowshaw Peak, just right of centre
One of several highpoints along the ridge
Mark on snowy terrain
The next major highpoint and the summit to the right
Typical terrain on the ridge
Snow makes getting up some of the rockbands easier
Mark ascends a slab, with Fable behind
Getting closer
Looking back along the ridge; Hassel Castle to the left
Mark scrambles down a short band
A partial panorama at one of the highpoints; left to right: Morrowshaw, Morrowmount and Hassel Castle
Rappelling the band
Mark downclimbs another rockband
This little outcrop sort of resembled Tusk Peak
The double summit; the peak on the right is slightly higher
Mark at another highpoint
Mark ascends the final few metres to the first peak; the length of Exshaw Ridge is visible
Approaching the first summit
At the first summit, looking north
Same as above looking southeast
Mark at the summit
A higher unnamed summit to the north
Heading to the true summit
At the top
Heading home
Mark "Batman's" up the rope