Ship's Prow Mountain
April 22, 2017
Mountain
height: 2607 m
Elevation gain: 1050 m
Ascent time:
5:05
Descent
time: 2:45
Snowshoeing
and scrambling with Scott.
This
would finally be the trip where Scott and I would experience an easy
ascent with no surprises, right? How little I have learned in my 16
years of mountain travels!!!!
Vern
had completed Ship’s
Prow Mountain, five days earlier, graciously pounding out a snowshoe
trail that we would be able to follow. What we didn’t count on was
the isothermal nature of the snow on that route and the fact that the
upper slopes and ridge connecting the false summit to the true summit
would be covered in a fresh layer of snow.
Unfortunately Scott
didn’t have snowshoes with him. This wasn’t too much of an issue
on ascent, as the snow was still reasonably supportive from the
overnight freeze. Once we cleared treeline, the views opened up and
were already better than expected (Scott and I had both completed
ascents of Lawrence Grassi and Ha Ling Peak and so we weren’t
necessarily expecting to be enthralled with the initial scenery).
Approaching the ridge,
the scenery started to get really
good (the Sun halo was a nice touch) and by the time we reached the
ridge it had graduated to outstanding!
Views in both directions along the ridge, but especially south, were
thoroughly engrossing, largely in part due to the sheer amount of
snow covering the mountain, and the steepness of the east side
slopes. The massive and shapely cornices overhanging the mountain
were stunning and definitely cause for a brief excursion onto the
south ridge.
Traversing the ridge,
north to the summit, was not without difficulty, due to the huge
cornices and fresh snow (which, of course made that traverse
correspondingly awe-inspiring). We donned crampons and ice axes for
the final push to the summit.
The good weather,
threatening to turn throughout the latter part of the ascent, decided
to follow through on its threat at this point and we were hit with
biting winds and blowing snow. The cloud ceiling also suddenly
dropped – it was definitely time to leave the summit!
Most of the descent
was straightforward, even if we were getting hammered by the wind and
blowing snow (I felt bad for the two guys who had reached the summit
after us!). However, the snow had softened considerably during the
day, resulting in deep postholing on pretty much every step for
Scott. I fared a little better with snowshoes, but even those failed
at times. Thankfully, once back below treeline and snow became more
supportive and the last part of the descent was much easier.
Totally awesome trip!!
The objective, as seen from near the parking area. Lawrence Grassi is at just left of centre;
Ship's Prow is the indistinct bump near the right
Unnamed peaks of the Goat Range reflected in the canal
Ship's Prow (right) is actually higher than the peak at the left
The post-holing begins
Snowshoes helped (photo by Scott)
Mount Lawrence Grassi
The Sun and a Sun halo appear - my head disappears! (photo by Scott)
Reaching more open slopes
Scott and the unnamed peaks
Ship's Prow just right of centre (photo by Scott)
Approaching the ridge
Classic black and white by Scott (photo by Scott)
GQ for Snowshoers! (photo by Scott)
The Sun halo becomes more prominent
When you shrink your toque in the wash the night before, you may have to resort to using a neck gaiter (photo by Scott)
A unique view of Little Sister greets you upon reaching the ridge
All Three Sisters
Exploring the awesome ridge to the south (photo by Scott)
Same as above (photo by Scott)
Trying to determine if the ridge goes.....my guess is, not unless you grow wings! (photo by Scott)
Looking north along the ridge to Ship's Prow and Lawrence Grassi
A last look at the daunting but very aesthetic ridge
More black and white magic by Scott (photo by Scott)
Magnificent cornices
Exploring an awesome wall of snow (photo by Scott)
Sections of the Sun halo looked great from this vantage point
Trying to ascend ridiculously steep terrain with snowshoes (photo by Scott)
Looking back at the snow wall and ridge (photo by Scott)
A more distant look at the ridge to the south
A close-up of that summit
Scott makes his way to the false summit
Looking north to Ship's Prow and the incredible snow scenery en route
Scott at the false summit. That's a pretty big cairn for a false summit!
Scott leaves the false summit
The route looks straightforward from here, but there are a few surprises along the way (photo by Scott)
The Sun halo continued to be a source of amazement through much of the traverse
These cornices were one of the pleasant surprises
Shockingly big cornices for this location, at this time of the year
A few steps required some care to descend
Not sure what happened with the colours on this photo, but I like them!
Looking back at the route, with Big Sister dominating the background
Approaching the summit block (photo by Scott)
The peak that looked higher than Ship's Prow but is actually lower
Steeper terrain leads to the summit
Up we go (photo by Scott)
Crampons and an ice axe were appreciated once we got up to the snow at the far left (photo by Scott)
The summit view to the northwest
Me at the top (photo by Scott)
Scott at the top. The weather begins to close in behind him
Leaving the summit
Descending (photo by Scott)
Scott descends as the other party makes their way to the top
Watching the cloud ceiling lower
The weather closed in on the summit shortly after we left
A little clearing later on (photo by Scott)
And then back to whiteout-like conditions
We did get to enjoy some glissading before the nightmare post-holing began again!
