Having completed the somewhat illogical west to east traverse twice already, Nicole and I decided to give the east to west traverse a go – the promise of an amazing scree run down the south side of the mountain, providing more than enough motivation to do so.

After the short approach, we hiked up the steep climber’s trail, as opposed to the more gentle hiker’s climb, commonly called Raven’s End. Both enjoying the cool terrain, wicked views down the south face of the mountain, and great weather, we soon reached the chain section. Some people react quite well to the chain and others not so. Let’s just say Nicole’s reaction involved some colorful and unpublishable language! However, after convincing her the chain would hold the weight of ten elephants she did commit to the traverse. Once over to the other side and settled down, she did agree that it wasn’t as bad as it appeared.

We continued to the summit and took a long break to soak in the terrific views. The west ridge descent route went without a hitch and the scree run down was a riot. Nicole bombed down it at Mach 3!  

Excellent day with a very entertaining scrambling partner!

First glimpse of Yamnuska through the trees



The steep climber's trail goes directly to the east side of the mountain



Passing an interesting rock on the way to the east side



Nicole tackles some easy scrambling around the back of Yam



Easy hiking , with great views of the CMC valley



Nicole approaches one of the most scenic sections of the ridge





A Yamnuska classic


  
Nicole and the chain section



A couple of other hikers start the chain traverse



Nicole signs the summit register



Summit pose



Descending the west ridge



Colourful scree








Quick break near the Goat/Yam col



Amazing rock on this side of the mountain



Same as above



Nicole runs down the scree with reckless abandon!



Almost at the bottom

The End

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