Mount Forbes

July 5-9, 2010

Mountain height:         3612 m
Total elevation gain:    2200 m           

Mountaineering with Raff, Julie, and Alan. 

Mount Forbes’ claim to fame is that it is the highest mountain in Banff National Park – it shouldn’t be. Forbes’ claim to fame should be that it is an amazingly beautiful mountain surrounded by sublime mountain scenery and has a summit view that is as awesome as awesome gets! This turned into the trip of a lifetime for me. It had a few bleak moments and many hours of good quality suffering, but also a gazillion awe-inspiring moments to make all that suffering worthwhile. 

Raff invited me on the excursion that would also include Alan Fortune and Julie Muller. Alan and Julie both had very impressive climbing résumés. As usual, Raff had done his homework, with extensive route information and a brilliant weather forecast in hand. If Raff was a student in one of my classes he would receive an A+, with a smiley face and three gold stars!

Day 1

We decided to break the approach into two days, leaving the trailhead at around 7 pm on Monday. The 9.2 km and 2.5 hour hike to Glacier Lake campground was relatively easy, although this was the first time in a long time since I had carried an overnight pack and my shoulders complained through much of the hike. It was also a little depressing to discover that the campground is actually lower than the trailhead, even though there is considerable uphill hiking along the way (but obviously more downhill!).

Julie, Alan, and Raff near the beginning of the trip

Day 2

We awoke the following day to a beautiful reflection of Division Mountain in the placid waters of Glacier Lake – a pleasant way to start a grueling, but magnificent day. The next part of the approach involves hiking the 3.5 km length of the huge lake, crossing the lake’s inlet, and then hiking to the end of the valley. Thanks to Raff’s research the river crossing was surprisingly easy and we soon reached the end of the valley without any trouble. Throughout the scenery was pretty decent; highlights being more “lake reflection” views and the impressive glacier and icefall coming off Division Mountain. The “pretty decent” was about to improve big time, as we made our up the Mons Glacier drainage towards the headwall.     

After some route-finding up the valley, we arrived at the fantastic headwall that provides access to Mons Glacier and the terrain above. The water-worn rock of the headwall is magnificent to look at and climb. A couple of spots provided some challenge, but Raff expertly guided the group up the fascinating headwall. On several occasions we had to take off our backpacks and haul them up small rock steps with ropes, as ascending the rock with heavy packs would have been very difficult and somewhat dangerous.

Soon the west ridge of Forbes (known as Rosita Ridge) appeared, its snow and ice ridden form looming over colourful rock below. The Mons Icefield and Mons Peak were the next to make an appearance and they did so in stunning fashion. The pyramidal form of Mons Peak makes it a mountain of true aesthetic beauty. We all took more than one photo of the gorgeous peak.

Eventually we found two potential bivy sites: one with a great view of Mons and the other one with a great view of the glacier below Forbes. We settled on the higher (other) one and what a grand location it was – snow, ice, huge peaks, wonderful slabs of water-eroded rock and beautiful weather to top things off – certainly a little slice of paradise!

After a quick meal, Raff and I set out to explore the area, specifically the route to the north glacier and Mount Forbes. It was straightforward and yet again extremely scenic. Not only were the light coloured slabs of rock great to look at, but they were a real treat to scramble up and down. The brutally long and tiring approach trip was suddenly worth very minute of suffering!

Raff and Glacier Lake

Julie and reflections in the lake; the peaks are all outliers of Forbes; Division Mountain is at the distant right

Raff looks for a place to cross the river, while Alan is on his side, doing the photographer thing

A hanging glacier on one of the outliers

As well as doing as homework, Raff was smart enough to wear neoprene socks for the river crossing - ingenious!

Raff on the second river crossing of the day, at the end of the valley; the right side of the photo leads to Lyell Meadows and the Lyell Icefield

The headwall

Julie climbs one of the sections where we took our backpacks off

Raff climbs the water-worn terrain of the upper headwall

Our first view of Mons Peak; I took more photos of this beautiful mountain than Forbes itself!

A closer look at the summit of Mons

Raff celebrates making the top of the headwall

The colourful terrain by the toe of the Mons Glacier; the snowy ridge on the right is Rosita Ridge

Alan and more outstanding rock

Mons Peak and Glacier

Our first decent look at the summit of Forbes, peeking over Rosita Ridge at the left

Some curious pinnacles of the east ridge of Forbes

Raff and our soon to be bivy site

One of the best bivy sites you will ever find

Part of the glacier on Rosita

Near the toe of the North Glacier

The cool rock below the glacier

Not the last of the Mons shots

Day 3

Awake at 3:30 am and off by 4:30 am, we made our way easily to the toe of the glacier and started up. Raff led the way and did so for almost the entire ascent. Thankfully all four of us enjoyed capturing the surroundings on film and we stopped frequently to photograph and take in the superb glacier and mountain scenery. In fact Alan is a professional photographer and had with him a camera that must have weighted half my backpack!  

Crevasses were easily avoided (or filled to the point we couldn’t recognize them) except for one particularly huge one that seemed to block our path. Fortunately, there was a huge snow-bridge spanning the crevasse right in the centre. Apparently this crevasse can be a problem for travelers later in the season. Seracs and other snow and ice scenery were fantastic throughout and my camera memory card continued to fill at an alarming rate.

Although the north face of the mountain appeared to be exceedingly steep from a distance, the angle did lay back as we approached the face. Our route would be the easier north face/west ridge, as opposed to the steeper north face. Again, Raff led in fine form, kicking steps for us up good snow. The bergschrund was completely filled in and not an issue at all. Needless to say, the view was thoroughly engrossing throughout and got better with each metre of elevation gained.

It was at this point that I started to feel a little ill due the physical exertion expended, not only during the day, but for the previous two days. I found that even following Raff’s footsteps was draining and I wanted to rest frequently. When we reached the west ridge, Julie took over the leading duties. The angle was not as steep here and a rope was not really required, though Raff and I decided to short-rope. Julie is in incredible physical condition and ripped up the ridge as though she was going downhill. Alan kept up with her, while Raff and I brought up the rear.

Raff kept us updated on our elevation, each update eliciting a groan of resignation from me. It felt like we were gaining elevation at a snail’s pace. The gain for the day was only about 1400 m, but it felt more like 14 000 m! Nevertheless, Raff soon announced we were at 3500 m; only 112 vertical metres to the summit.

Julie continued her impressive lead up the stunning upper ridge and soon we heard a holler of triumph as she and Alan reached the 3612 m summit. Raff and I arrived shortly after and congratulations were extended to one another. I was in full “bonking” mode at this point (severe headache and nausea), but nothing short of actual death itself was going to stop me from enjoying this view – it was absolutely remarkable! Raff described Forbes as being the “Heart of the Rockies” and he couldn’t be more correct. The enormous mountain sits proudly in the middle of everything! Clouds had poured in from the northeast and east, but there was nothing to mar the unbelievable view of the four major icefields to the northwest, west, southwest, and south: Columbia, Lyell, Freshfields, and Wapta. Four of the six mountains in the Canadian Rockies that exceed Forbes in height were visible, as well as innumerable other 11,000 ers. Many peaks of decent stature appeared to be puny from this vantage point, notably Castleguard Mountain and Mons Peak. Without question this is one of most stupendous summit panoramas in the Rockies. 

Raff, Julie, and Alan were likewise thoroughly taken back by the awesome view. Over the past three days I had come to know Julie and Alan as excellent mountain partners, with a pure love and appreciation of the beauty around them. They are both easy-going, humble people, with terrific senses of humor. It was an honour to share this summit with them and with my good friend Raff (who also has those qualities in spades!). 

We soaked in the jaw-dropping views for about 45 minutes and then started down. The descent was very easy, although snow balling up on the crampons was a significant issue. Fortunately, the anti-balling pads on my crampons worked like a charm and I didn’t experience any problems. The sky above cleared and once again we stopped often to take photos of the phenomenal snow and ice scenery.

Back at bivy site, Raff and I went to lie down right away, as we both had headaches. Originally we had planned an attempt on Mons Peak for the next day, but it was clear our physical conditions wouldn’t allow that. Unlike Forbes, which sees direct sunlight much later in the day, Mons Peak receives sun very early in the morning and then throughout the entire day. Therefore a REAL alpine start (2 am) is required. I was quite sure I wasn’t going to be getting up at 1 am to leave by 2 and I was fairly confident that the idea wasn’t getting rave reviews from Raff, Julie, and Alan either.

The Sun rises on the five Lyells

Typical glacier scenery at the beginning of the ascent

Raff leads the way

Raff checks out the only (but very large) crevasse that was a concern on the glacier.....

....while I took the time to photograph more of the amazing glacial scenery

The same crevasse

Julie and Alan beyond the crevasse

Now Raff checks at the north face of Forbes

The Lyells

Mount Erasmus

The magnificent view to the north

Raff leads again up the 35-40 degree face

A gap in the west ridge

The Freshfield Icefield

Finally on the upper ridge

Julie disappearing over the ridge, not far from the summit; Alan and Raff follow

Julie a few metres below the summit

The Lyell Icefield, with the Columbia Icefield beyond; Mount Columbia in the distant centre

South Twin, North Twin, Alberta, and one of the Stutfields; Castleguard Mountain looking awfully small in the centre right

Julie at the summit

Me at the summit

The view to the southwest

Heading down

A very steep face on Forbes' southwest side

Looking back at the summit ridge

Raff prepares for descending the initial slope

The east side of Rosita Ridge

Raff descends

Looking back at our ascent tracks

Back on easy terrain

The kind of snow/ice/glacier scenery that I absolutely love to see

Al is down and out again

Forbes (far left) and Rosita Ridge

Back at the toe of the glacier

Day 4

Nobody was up at 1 am. However, I did manage to drag myself out of the tent at 6 am to explore the fantastic rock above our bivy site, before we started the long trip back to the trailhead. Unfortunately, the Sun was in a terrible position for photographing the rock. The variety of colours was phenomenal, certainly giving Waterton and GNP a run for their money in that respect. Its upsloping orientation and lack of scree also made this rock a real treat to scramble on. The view of perfectly blue, back-dropped Mons Peak was absolutely gorgeous. After breakfast I quickly ran up to the rocks again, given the Sun had risen enough to illuminate the fantastic rock.    

The plan for the day was to hike out – hopefully all the way back to the parking lot. The first part of the descent was even more scenic than on the hike in – the unblemished sky largely responsible for that fact. 

We were all glad to take our time and enjoy the scenery for one last time. Descending the headwall was not as difficult as I was expecting, but we still had to take our backpacks off to lower them down for a couple of sections.

Once back down to the valley we decided to cross the river immediately, instead of making two separate crossings, as we did on the hike in. The water was a little higher here, but Alan and Julie managed to guide us safely across without anyone taking the frigid plunge.  

Due to the trail no longer being maintained, travel on the other side of the valley was not as easy as expected. There were a few route-finding challenges and climbing over some deadfall. Nevertheless we soon arrived back at Glacier Lake campground. Given that everybody was completely exhausted, we decided to spend the night at the campground.

Mons Peak gets some alpenglow

Closer

Interesting rocks

Al and Julie's tent

The cool rock above our bivy site

Mons Peak (left) and Division Mountain (right)

Julie and Al descend to Mons Glacier

Back to the toe of Mons Glacier 

Raff points out a big chunk of ice!

The last photo of Mons Peak!

Back to the headwall

Al descends the last section of the headwall

The strikingly obvious rock layers of the headwall

Raff (far right) dashes across the river at the head of the valley

Al perishes of thirst, only centimetres away from fresh water

Mount Sarbach

Mount Murchison

Day 5

After taking another deluge a lake reflection photos, we hiked back to the cars. Raff set a breakneck speed and we made it back in 2 hours – half an hour less than the hike in, even though there is a net elevation gain for the hike back. Back at the car, gulping down my ceremonial Tangerine Fanta was never more satisfying.   

More reflections

Messing around with the "sepia" function on my camera

Raff takes a last, long look at Glacier Lake before we complete the trip

Mount Outram hides Forbes from this vantage point

A closer look

A further look; Sarbach to the left and Survey at the far right

Epilogue

5 days for one mountain seems like a long time, but this trip was worth every minute of it. The scenery was outstanding, the ascent was outstanding, the summit view was incomparable, and the company was outstanding. A big thank-you goes to Raff for organizing the trip and to Julie and Allan for completing the team. This is one trip that will stick with me for a very, very long time.  

LOG