Mount
Evan-Thomas –
Mountain
height: 3,090 m (10,135 feet)
Elevation gain: 1,500 m
Ascent time:
Descent time:
Scrambling
and climbing with Kevin Barton.
Having
inspected this route on two previous occasions (too much snow both times), I
decided it time to bring in a heavy-hitter: enter “Old School, Hard Man
want to be” Kevin Barton. Kevin
has a great deal of multi-pitch traditional climbing experience and was also
interested in ascending the highest peak in the Opal
We left early
and took a healthy array of climbing gear, as we didn’t know to expect in
terms of protection required and difficulty of the climbing. The weather was
perfect, although quite hot, and after a pleasant ascent around and up
Upon reaching
the fairly narrow ridge, we put on our helmets and harnesses, but decided to
wait to rope up. Negotiating the ridge was very enjoyable. It was, at times, a
little exposed, but nothing too alarming. We eventually reached a drop-off (a
consistent feature of the vertically-tilted strata of most of the mountains in
the
Continuing
on, we came to another drop-off and again Kevin set up a rappel station with a
cordelette and piton back-up. This rockband was not as steep as the first, which
was actually overhanging, and we rappelled directly down it. After that, the
terrain along the ridge and up the summit block looked far more manageable and
so we un-roped and started scrambling up. To our surprise, the summit block
involved only moderate scrambling and was very enjoyable to ascend. Suddenly, we
were at the summit and after a congratulatory hand-shake and a quick wave down
to a couple of parties far below on
Downclimbing the summit block was relatively easy, although some scree-covered slabs required a little extra care. At the second drop–off we rappelled we decided to upclimb it unroped and found it to be quite easy. In retrospect, it may have been possible to downclimb this one, although I’ll freely admit, personally I wouldn’t do it – if you slipped, you would be unlikely to survive the ensuing fall.
The first
rappel proved to be far more difficult. It was overhanging and the only
potential route up was very exposed on the north side. Kevin climbed about
halfway up, but was unable to find a good place to put protection. He then tried
the left side of the overhang, where the terrain was steep, but not overhanging.
Kevin made it up to the sling and belayed me up. That short, but steep upclimb
was definitely the crux for me, and I was certainly glad to have Kevin belaying
me.
The remainder
of the descent was easy, although I had run out of water at the summit and was
now quite dehydrated. We arrived back at the car, drove to the Fortress Junction
gas station, where Kevin treated me to a Gatorade, a Jones Soda, and 1 L of
spring water – I downed them all right away! Overall, an outstanding day, on a
fantastic mountain, with great company – who could ask for anything more?
Interesting scenery, as we head up towards the Grizzly/Evan-Thomas saddle
At the Grizzly/Evan-Thomas saddle, with the south end of Opal Ridge to the left and The Wedge to the right; the upper part of the north peak of Mount Kidd can also be seen
The ridge and the summit block of Mount Evan-Thomas
Kevin, negotiating the narrow ridge
Approaching the summit block; just a scramble from here to the top; we took the obvious gully just left of centre
Wispy clouds and the summit block
Kevin, signing the summit register, with Mount Assiniboine dominating in the distance
The summit view to the northeast; the prominent peak just right of center is Fisher Peak
A great view of the west slopes of Mount Romulus
Looking to the north; striking Mount Packenham dominates the foreground
Looking to the northwest at Mount Galatea (left of centre) and The Tower (right of centre)
Kevin, with the ridge and summit block, as seen on descent
Looking back at the scenic, grassy slopes in front of Mount Packenham
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