Zeke's Peak

Zeke’s Peak
(almost!)

July 10, 2020

Mountain height: 3000 m
Elevation gain:    approximately 1100 m
Ascent time:        5:35
Descent time:      3:50

Scrambling with Mark.

We gambled that the very optimistic weather forecast would not match what the satellite image was showing – i.e. lots of cloud cover. For future trips, we should trust our eyes over our rose-tinged intuition!!

Zeke’s Peak is really just a bump (a really big bump!) on the long north ridge of magnificent Mount Sir Douglas. Whistling Rock Ridge also appears as a summit on this ridge. The first recorded ascent was completed by a big party led by Bernie Schiesser and his dog, Zeke – hence the name of the mountain. Though dwarfed by its neighbour by more than 400 vertical metres, the appeal of Zeke’s Peak is just that – an “in your face” view of Sir Douglas’ awe-inspiring north face. We surmised that the view in all directions from the summit of Zeke would probably be pretty phenomenal and so that became the day’s objective. Normally, we would only attempt such trips on guaranteed perfect weather days. This was definitely a "roll the dice" day!

In retrospect, this was a terrific trip and well worth the effort, even though the weather didn’t quite cooperate. We hiked the Burstall Pass trail until almost at Burstall Pass and then turned south towards South Burstall Pass.

The terrain here is fantastic and I’m sure the views would be too on a clear day. Such was not the case on this day, but we were still holding on to the hope the clouds would lift later on.

The actual ascent of the main part of the mountain was generally easy, though crampons and ice axes were mandatory for one steep, snow slope. Once on the west ridge a steep scree slog took us to the main ridge, a few hundred horizontal and about 50 vertical metres from the summit. Even with cloud cover, the views here were amazing. We decided to forgo the knife-edged traverse to the summit. The view would have been marginally better, but neither Mark nor I felt like getting onto a super exposed ridge for “marginally better”. Instead, we sat down for the long-haul to see if the weather might improve.

It improved marginally! However, not enough to warrant going to the true summit. The descent was again interesting and quite scenic. That is except for the final few kilometres of the Burstall Pass Trail, which always seem to drag on forever no matter how many times you have hiked it.

A good day out, even with the disappointing weather. A return to complete the final few metres of the ascent is unlikely for either of us, so “Farewell Zeke and thanks for the memories!”

Not so great weather at the start. Commonwealth Ridge and Commonwealth Peak are visible.

The east side of Whistling Rock Ridge

At the flats below the Robertson Glacier. Birdwood, Pig's Tail, and Commonwealth lie to the north.

Above the flats. The Lizzy's Ridge climbing route on Mount Birdwood goes up the narrow-looking ridge on the right side.

The west side of Whistling Rock Ridge. The slabby section in the middle is called Burstall Slabs and is home to many, high level trad and sport climbing routes

Mark and the trio again

Zeke and Sir Douglas are in the clouds there somewhere

Add Snow Peak at the left to the incredible view en route to the base of Zeke

The clouds lift over Zeke (left of centre), but persist over Sir Douglas

Mark hikes the awesome landscape

Same as above

The remaining snow was solid and easy to walk on

Closing in on the objective

Close-up of Zeke's Peak

But still a ways to go to get to the base

Mark ascends the one steep snow slope

Same for me. The peak behind, I'm assuming, is the highpoint of Whistling Rock Ridge.

The north face of Sir Douglas looks to be in decent alpine conditions here, however, it has recently been photographed with little to no snow and ice on it. Glacial recession in this part of the world seems to be in overdrive!

Easy scree to start with but increasingly steep terrain higher up

The slabs of Zeke's west face are amazing

The lush, Spray River valley to the west

View to the northwest from near the summit ridge

Mark on the ridge, looking toward Sir Doulgas

Then he checks out an old friend (foe?) - the Robertson Glacier

Another couple of old friends: Prairie Lookout (just left of centre) and Mount French (right of centre)

The exposed ridge to the summit

Going to check it out

Whistling and Birdwood rear up behind Mark

Looking down the precipitous east face

Mark finds a good spot on the ridge to take it all in

The little peak in front is Piggy Plus

Prairie Lookout at the right and Mount Murray, just left of centre

A host of familiar peaks to the northeast, including Engadine, Sparrowhawk, The Tower, and Bogart

Final few views before we leave

Descending

Resting in the snow before the long hike back

On the move again

Stopped again

*Predictable caption*

Same as above

So much impressive rock on the immense west side of the Sir Douglas massif

Sir Douglas is finally cloud-free

All three summits of the massif: Whistling Rock, Zeke, and Sir Douglas

The south side of Mount Birdwood is very impressive, but the north side is jaw-dropping!

Eon (left) and Assiniboine in the clouds to the right

Bigger view of Whistling Rock Ridge

Birdwood is going to be the centre of attention for much of the descent

A section of karst pavement that is always a pleasure to see and walk on

Back on the main hiking trail

At the marshy flats

Back at the beginning

The End

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