Mount Tecumseh

Mount Tecumseh – May 3, 2008

Mountain height:         2547 m
Elevation gain:            1175 m
Ascent time:                4:05
Descent time:              2:05

Scrambling and a little mountaineering with Mark.

I’m certain that everyone and their mother’s, best-friend’s, dog’s, great-aunt are sick and tired of me ranting and raving about how incredibly beautiful the mountains are during winter or when winter conditions persist into other seasons. Well….bad habits do die hard, so here I go again!

After a breathtaking trip up Mount Rhondda on the Wapta Icefield a week earlier, this short scramble in the Crowsnest area was bound to be far less grandeur and certainly anticlimactic. Of course, it was neither……

We walked the 3.3 km to the ascent drainage, regretting we had not taken Vern’s advice and cycled this portion of the trip. On return, the ride down would have been extremely fast. With crampons, ascending the snow-filled drainage/canyon was wonderfully scenic. It was also fast and almost effortless, as the snow was hard and perfect for crampons. Above the canyon, the scenery opened up and was equally stunning. The snow-covered slopes and steep walls of rock, below a blue sky were immensely, visually satisfying.

Gaining the ridge, up a 30 degree snow slope, was extremely arduous, the slope being very foreshortened. Fortunately, the snow had not softened (yet!) and still took crampons very well. Views of the snowy, east face of Phillips Peak were fantastic throughout.

The ridgewalk to the summit was very enjoyable, but far from the pushover we were expecting. Crampons and an ice axe were essential for negotiating a couple of narrow and corniced sections. We also roped up here, though belay stances were a little suspect (of course, that’s never stopped us before!) The summit view was decent, but actually the least interesting part of the day. Clouds had moved in by this time.

The descent was a blast. Getting back down the ridge was infinitely easier, just following our tracks in the snow. We then plunge-stepped down about half of the slope below the summit, before attempting to glissade the remainder of the slope. This slope was steep enough to do a sitting glissade, however, lower down the snow had softened and the slopes were less steep. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our Crazy Carpets. Fortunately, Mark had a heavy duty garbage bag in his backpack and after slicing it into two pieces, we were able to enjoy some the best glissading we’d ever done. It was back to crampons for the canyon and then an easy walk back to the car. Definitely one of our most enjoyable descents ever. An unexpectedly awesome day out!