October 10, 2009
Mountain height:
approx.
2920 m
Elevation gain:
approx.
1000 m
Roundtrip time:
7
hours
Scrambling with Mark.
A last minute change in plans allowed
us to head out to the
mountains for the first time in several weeks and so we headed north,
hoping to
pick an area of the
To our surprise, the Saskatchewan
River Crossing area was
completely socked-in when we arrived around noon. As such, we headed
even
further north in search of “anything but
socked-in”. 
Again, to our surprise,
the Columbia Icefields area (notorious for being socked-in) provided
relatively
clear skies. We didn’t have a specific objective in mind, but
soon spotted an
unnamed peak sitting adjacent to Nigel Creek (even though
“Nigel Creek Peak” would
have been a more appropriate name, it’s too similar to the
actual Nigel Peak
and so nearby Panther Falls provided a name). The approach was
short, the
ascent appeared to be straightforward, the elevation gain was not
extravagant,
and the location of the peak guaranteed a terrific summit view
– a good set of
ingredients, given it was already 1 pm.
In fact, the approach was short and we did get great views towards the Columbia Icefields throughout. However, while the majority of the ascent was easy, the final summit ridge was far from it. There were several unseen drop-offs that we would have to downclimb or perhaps rappel and the final summit block looked to be too steep. We gained the southeast ridge of the peak and continued on until we reached the first drop-off. Lack of time and reasonably cold temperatures meant this would be the end of the line. Other than pleasant views towards Mount Cirrus and peaks to the west, perhaps the most interesting part of the ascent was a band of white rock, some of which had been ground down to fine sand – it looked by Daytona Beach!
In retrospect, we may have had more success by attempting the summit from the west side.
Panther Falls Peak, from the road
More familiar peaks: Mount Athabasca and Hilda Peak
High in the initial ascent gully
Same as above
The unnamed peak southeast of Nigel Peak and Nigel Peak (right)
Kitchener (left of centre), K2, and Stutfield
The shapely south peak of Cirrus Mountain
Mark traverses slopes to get to the ridge
Typical terrain
Slogging up to the ridge
The Saskatchewan Glacier and Castleguard Mountain
Heading up the ridge
Same as above
The white rock and sand
Writing something in the sand
Need to work on my "writing in the sand with a hiking pole" skills
Looking down the ascent route
Steeper terrain to regain the ridge
Still an excellent view to the west
Approaching the ridge
Back on the ridge
Slabby terrain
The end of the line
The unattainable summit
Views to the northeast
Nigel Peak
Mount Amery
Descending
Another unnamed peak, southeast of Panther Falls Peak
The south peak of Cirrus again
Pleasant, blue sky
Nigel (centre) at dusk