Cascade Mountain attempt
April 3, 2004
Mountain height: 2,998 m
Elevation gain: 1,325 m (we
came up approx. 250 vertical metres short)
Ascent time: 6:20
Descent time: 3:50
Snowshoeing,
scrambling, and a little mountaineering with Mark.
Yet
another failed summit, and yet another visually outstanding and fantastic day
out. So far, 2004 has not been kind to us in terms of making it to the summits of
mountains - 12 trips and only 4 summits achieved. However, between Big Beehive,
Shark, Nestor, Narao, and now Cascade, we have enjoyed some scenery and
spectacular views that are second-to-none…..and the four-letter word that is
responsible for it all…… “SNOW”! Well… that and a two-word phrase… “GREAT
WEATHER”. Of course, “snow” is a double-edged sword, as it is not only
responsible for the phenomenal scenery, but has also prevented us from making
it to the top of the aforementioned mountains (with the exception of Big
Beehive, which is not really a significant summit in itself).
The almost
7 km hike/snowshoe to the Cascade Amphitheatre was long, tiring, and relatively
boring and took us just over 2 hours. The half hour of elevation loss right at
the beginning was particularly frustrating, as we knew ascending this terrain
at the tail-end of the 10+ hour day would be undesirable, to say the least.
Things improved dramatically upon reaching the Amphitheatre, however. The
snow-covered landscape, back-dropped by striking Cascade Mountain,
was stunning. We snowshoed across the Amphitheatre and then up to the ridge.
The snow, at this point, was quite deep and even with snowshoes, we would often
sink passed our knees, making travel slow and exhausting.
Ascending
right along the edge of the ridge was fantastic – shapely cornices, the beauty
of the Amphitheatre below, and another day of great weather. Eventually, we
made to a highpoint, where the remainder of the route came into view. Things didn’t
look promising here – heavy snow-cover with avalanche potential – and so we
ditched everything except some mountaineering equipment (rope, slings, ice-axe,
and our new mini-crampons – another great MEC purchase!). We descended a small
slope to the snow below, where, as expected, we found it to be knee-to-waist
deep. After a failed attempt at traversing a very steep snow slope (the
avalanche potential on the slope was huge), we decided that the safest route
would be right along the cornice-laced ridge. This required us to set up
anchors on the few rocks that were sticking out of the snow and belay each
other across each section. With the risk of starting an avalanche and the
uncertainty of where the cornices started, this was the safest way to traverse
the terrain.
Other
than a couple of narrow sections and a huge “whumpf” near of top of one slope,
that certainly lit a fire under my $@# to get to the top of it, the ascent was
thrilling and very scenic. Unfortunately, it was also fairly slow and time was
starting to become a factor. At 3:15
pm, 6 hours and 20 minutes after leaving, we came to a very exposed
and narrow section on the ridge. Without snow, I’m sure it would have been easy
to get by, however, the snow was piled up high, completely obscuring where
solid ground might be. On the left, was a severe drop-off that led straight
down to the Amphitheatre and on the right a steep snow slope, again with severe
avalanche potential. We decided we had traversed enough risky terrain for the
day and would definitely be pushing our luck by attempting this section. By now
the skies had clouded over, making our decision to call it a day even easier.
Nevertheless, the surrounding scenery, even approximately 250 vertical metres
from the summit was beautiful.
The descent
was fairly rapid and getting by the more exposed and dangerous sections was
actually quite easy. Unfortunately, as anticipated, the 2 km of uphill hiking
to finish the day was sheer misery. At that point, as Mark accurately put it,
“the tank was empty” and it took us a good hour to make it back to the car.
Overall, another great day – the scenery was terrific and we made it much
further than we thought would be possible in the present condition of the
mountain. We’ve decide that late May or June would be a good time to try
again.
Arriving at the Cascade Amphitheatre
Near the ridge, looking towards the summit
Gentle slopes to start with
At one of a few scenic highpoints
Same as above
Laborious travel along the ridge
The terrain is getting dicey
Nearing the end of the line
Last highpoint of the day before bailing
LOG