Mount St. Nicholas

Bow Hut and Mount St. Nicholas – January 1-2, 2005

Mountain height:                                                 2,970 m (9,744 feet)
Elevation gain to Bow Hut:                                    390 m
Elevation gain from Bow Hut to Mount St. Nicholas:   610 m
Ascent time to Bow Hut:                                       3:15
Ascent time from Bow Hut to Mount St. Nicholas:      3:25
Descent time from Mount St. Nicholas to Bow Hut:    2:15
Descent time from Bow Hut to parking lot:               2:30

Snowshoeing and mountaineering with Mark.

This was our first trip to the Wapta Icefield and Bow Hut, and after spending the weekend there, it became very obvious why this area sees so many visitors – great scenery, great hut, and numerous mountains to summit, all within striking distance of the hut.

This was another last minute idea and after booking a night at the Bow Hut the previous evening, we found ourselves driving to Bow Lake under expectedly gloomy and frigid weather conditions. By the time we arrived at the lake, the sky had started to clear and we were lucky enough to spend the remainder of the trip under beautiful blue skies. Snowshoeing to the hut was very interesting and relatively easy, following the hard-packed trail.

We arrived at the hut at 3:15 pm and after throwing our sleeping bags down, quickly rushed out to check out the glacier and surrounding area. We snowshoed up and onto the glacier passed striking Mount St. Nicholas and then heading towards Mount Rhondda South. At 5:30 pm we turned around and headed back to the hut. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our Crazy Carpets and had to settle for walking down.

The following morning, we left the hut at 8:20 am, with intention of attempting Mount St. Nicholas and Mount Olive, time permitting. The half-moon in the cloudless sky, next to St. Nicholas was beautiful. Although we had not seen any crevasses in the icefield, the previous evening, we decided to rope up and use all glacier travel precautions anyway – the slight inconvenience of being attached to each other by a rope is a very small price to pay for the security it provides. The stunning form of Nicholas’ northeast side was thankfully matched by its towering vertical walls on the north and west sides. Mount Olive also revealed its beauty of form, as we approached the St.Nicholas/Olive col.

The best and most “exhilarating” views, however, came when we arrived at the col and looked to the north to see the route to St. Nicholas’ summit – basically a huge downsloping outcrop of rock, with a sheer drop on the west side and a long and severely steep-looking slope on the east. One look and we were both immediately convinced that we wouldn’t be getting anywhere near the summit – the route, that goes right along the edge of the mountain, simply looked too narrow, steep, and exposed and was completely covered in snow. There was a set of tracks heading in that direction, however, and so we started up, promising that at the first difficulty, we would turn around.

Even up to that point the spectacular scenery had been more than enough to make the trip worthwhile. As we gained elevation, it just became increasingly more breath-taking, making the decision to stop more and more difficult. Fortunately, much of the traverse and ascent of the ridge was not as challenging as it originally looked and only a few short sections required extra care.

The crux of the trip occurred right before the summit, where a seemingly high and steep rockband was blocking the way. Again, such was not the case and a break through the band granted relatively easy access to the summit. I say relatively easy because the terrain was steep and snow-covered, with some exposure on the east side – going up was not too bad, however, we knew coming down would require extreme caution. Upon getting up the short section, I belayed Mark up and a few metres later we were on the summit.

We decided right away that an attempt of Mount Olive was out of the question (not enough time) and we would instead stay at the summit of St. Nicholas and enjoy the surrounding scenery - not at all a difficult task, as the sky remained cloudless and the panorama was phenomenal in all directions. The innumerable shapely and snow-covered peaks of the Wapta and Watpuik icefields were especially interesting to see for the first time. Two other climbers, who were about 30 minutes behind us didn’t make it to the summit. When we bumped into them later that day, they explained that they were wearing ski boots and didn’t have a rope and therefore decided not to chance it – a very wise decision – negotiating the steep and exposed terrain without crampons, ice axe, and a rope would be tempting fate in a big way!

We expected the descent to be a slow and cautious one and it was. For the crux step, I attempted to downclimb it, with a belay from above. I probably would have been able to get down, however, Mark wouldn’t have had the security of a belay and so we put a sling around a rock and rappelled down the short section – I’m fairly sure ours lives are worth more than a $2 sling!

The journey back to the col was also slowed by our continued bewilderment at the amazing surroundings and numerous stops to take photos, the narrow north ridge of Mount Olive and the beautiful wind-sculptured snow of the icefield, receiving most of our attention. The stretch from the col back to the hut was easy and relatively fast, although, for the first time, it became abundantly clear how much easier some of these trips would be if we could ski (one of the few downsides of being born and raised in almost snow-less England). This was even more pronounced as we slogged our way over the 8 km of terrain from the hut to the car, with aching shoulders, backs, and legs.

Overall, this weekend rivaled our best trips to date and will certainly not be an isolated visit to the Wapta Icefield. A magnificent mountain in magnificent surroundings - there's no possible way this day could have got any better.....or could it????.....I arrived home to learn that the St. Louis Rams had defeated the New York Jets 32-29 in overtime in a wild game and because the Minnesota Vikings had lost to the Redskins, the Rams would be in the playoffs. The summit of St. Nicholas and the Rams in the playoffs in the same day - I must have died and gone to heaven!