White Man Mountain

White Man Mountain (east summit)

September 13, 2008

Mountain height:         2922 m
Elevation gain:            1370 m
Ascent time:                4:55
Descent time:              2:45

Scrambling with Cal.

Cal really did his homework for this trip, predicting that White Man Mountain’s strategic location and significant height would grant a pretty decent view from the top. That hypothesis paid off with outstanding scenery and one of the most incredible summit panoramas I’ve ever seen.

Cal had come up a little short of the summit in August of 2007 and wanted another shot at it. I was lucky enough to be invited for the return trip. The crux of the trip was the drive to the base of the peak. 67 kilometres along the Settlers/Albert River logging roads, heavily rutted in places, was cause for a few anxious moments, but Cal managed to get us to the bivy site in one piece.

After a restless night of sleep, we started off at 8 am, in chilly conditions and under clear skies. The southwest side of Snow Peak was one of the first summits to appear and snowy it was. Peaks in the immediate vicinity (King Albert, Leval, and some GR’s) were also sporting a light, but beautiful, view-enhancing, fresh layer of snow.

A grind up steep, treed slopes brought us above tree-line and the first of innumerable magnificent views. The striking form of Talon Peak suddenly appeared to the southwest (unofficial name; also called Shark Fin), along with its more rounded and glaciated neighbour, Mount Soderholm. The Royal Group, almost in its entirety, dominated the view to the south and Sir Douglas, to the west, garnered a fair amount of attention also.

The ascent up the southeast ridge of White Man was easy and the already amazing views continued to improve. We soon reached the false summit, where Cal had turned around last year. As well as a phenomenal view in all directions, we were greeted by a viciously cold west wind. After putting on every layer on clothing we had and crampons for the hardened snow, we started the traverse towards the southeast summit. That traverse was in fact easier than expected and took only a short while.

We predicted about a five minute summit stay due to the cold, but were pleasantly surprised to arrive at a warm and windless summit. The other surprise at the summit was the sudden appearance of Mount Assiniboine and Eon to the north. Up until the very few last steps of the ascent, both mountains were blocked by the summit of White Man. To add to that view, right below us sat three small, but wonderfully coloured tarns, with a ridge of colourful rock above them (looked like my all-time favourite: red argillite!). Even though there were magnificent peaks in every direction, the view towards those little tarns was the shows topper for me.

We immediately started snapping photos. As stated, the panorama was absolutely unbeatable. You know the vantage point must be a good one when you can see Mount Fable, Mount Fisher, Mist Mountain, Mount Harrison, Farnham Tower, The Bugaboos, and Mount Hector all in the same panorama. Of course, innumerable peaks within those markers were also very prominent. Highlights included snow-plastered Old Goat, Nestor, The Tower and Galatea, Joffre beautifully framed between King Albert and Mount Back, Queen Mary, Talon Peak and Soderholm, and Eon and Assiniboine. Mount Sir Douglas to the west was sublime…period!

Cal quickly ran out of film and had to return to the false summit, where he had left his backpack. He was back to the summit in short order, where we remained for an hour and half - even that was way too short a time to take in the spell-binding view.

The traverse to the true summit, a short distance away, looked pretty daunting and we didn’t make an attempt. A fast and easy descent ended a perfect day! A big thank-you to Cal for having the insight to realize the potential of this trip and also for inviting me along to share in the spectacle.