Gibraltar Mountain via Mist Ridge (scramble route) – November 11, 2004

Mountain height:                                                       2,665 m (8,741 ft)
Elevation gain:
                North summit of Mist Ridge:                   1,012 m 
                Mist Ridge to Gibraltar Mountain :     300 m loss followed by 465 m gain
                Overall elevation gain:                             approx. 2,000 m
Ascent time:
                North summit of Mist Ridge:                     4:00  
                Mist Ridge to Gibraltar Mountain :       4:00
Descent time:
                Gibraltar Mountain to Mist Ridge:          2:30
                Mist Ridge to car:                                       4:10 
Roundtrip time:                                                           15:00
Roundtrip distance:                                                    approx. 30 km

Scrambling with Kevin Barton.

It took Bill Davidson and Jim White 8½ days to ascend the 700 vertical metre north face of Gibraltar Mountain in July of 1971. Thankfully, for people like me, who couldn’t hope to complete an ascent of that magnitude and seriousness in 8½ years, there is an easy to moderate scramble route that can be done in a modest 8 hours. Be forewarned, however: this is a long and arduous route that requires of great deal of time and even more stamina. One wouldn’t expect to encounter an elevation gain of 2 full kilometers on such a small peak (2,665 m), but by the time you’ve negotiated of constant elevation gains and losses of the route, that’s exactly what you get.  

The planned route, a 12 km hike to the summit of Mist Ridge, followed by a scramble up the west slopes of Gibraltar Mountain to its summit, was the brain-child of Kevin Barton, and I was the lucky candidate chosen to tag along. We left at parking at first light ( 7 am at this time of the year) and quickly made our way towards the south summit of Mist Ridge. Once on the ridge, the route was obvious and the scenery fantastic. The steep east faces of Mist Mountain and Storm Mountain were breath-taking and although the planned route along the upper ridge of Gibraltar looked quite daunting as seen from the south summit of Mist Ridge, it became increasingly more gentle as we made our way towards the north summit.

The 4 hour journey to the north summit was thoroughly enjoyable in the perfect weather conditions. It’s only downside – a significant elevation loss right after the south summit. I knew that re-ascending this terrain on return would be quite trying. We therefore agreed that if possible, we would drop down to Mist Creek before we arrived at that point and hike out that way. After a short break at the north summit of Mist Ridge, we embarked on a second major elevation loss of approximately 300 vertical metres, down to the col between the ridge and Gibraltar . The slope was fairly steep in places and had a few sections of snow hardened almost to ice. We decided to play it safe and put on our crampons. A couple of rockbands were easily skirted around on either side and once again, the descent was interesting and fun.

5 hours into the trip, we finally stepped onto the slopes of Gibraltar Mountain and started up easy terrain to the ridge. The ridge itself was great: moderate scrambling on interesting and varied terrain, with a significant drop off on the left, but easier terrain to the right. We pretty much stayed right on the ridge until a steep, snow-covered downclimb forced us to descend a fair distance in order to circumvent the dangerous section. Once down, we opted to stay low, bypassing a few more diagonally oriented rockbands, and head straight for the summit. At 2:45 pm , time was now a factor and we needed to be back on easy terrain before dark set in.

We hit the summit exactly 8 hours after leaving the car. The panorama was fantastic and as well as nearby Mist, Storm, Rae, and Burns, included far-reaching views north, up the Sheep River, and also south, towards peaks of the Continental Divide. The downclimb and traverse to the lower east summit looked especially intriguing and I wish we had had more daylight to explore that option. To our surprise, the register revealed that we were only the sixth party to summit since 1995. This scenic, interesting, and rewarding trip definitely deserves more attention than that!

Actually, after completing the return trip, I can perhaps see why Gibraltar sees so little traffic. The trouble with the descent is that as well as the 15 km of horizontal distance, and 1,200 m of elevation loss back to the parking lot, you also have to contend with another 600 m of elevation gain, as you re-ascend 300m back to Mist Ridge and then negotiate the numerous ups and downs of the ridge itself. Though the hiking was straightforward, going uphill for long stretches was not agreeing with me, for one, at this point. The fact that it was now completely dark didn’t really hurt (we both used our headlamps for the final 4 hours of the trip), but it didn’t help either. The return trip did, however, have a number of saving graces: it was warm and windless; the clear sky revealed thousands of beautiful stars including the Big Dipper and Orion (pointed out to me by Kevin); and the Aurora Borealis made a surprise and visually stunning appearance.

We arrived back at the car just after 10 pm , 15 hours after leaving. A thoroughly rewarding trip: a terrific hike followed by a wonderful scramble, in perfect weather, with phenomenal scenery, and great company. You may need an extra pair of legs, but this one is well worth the pain!         

A first look at our destination; the mountain is divided into two sections - the east summit (right of centre) has the vertical 700 m rock face; the west summit and highest point (centre) can be easily ascended via the left skyline

Mist Mountain; the south route ascends the gully on the left and then continues to the summit

A closer look at Gibraltar Mountain; contrary to most maps that show the point at the left to be the highpoint, the true summit is at the right and marked with a survey marker; a very enjoyable ridgewalk joins the two points

A magnificent view of the east face of Storm Mountain; doesn't that east ridge look tempting (and terrifying!)

Kevin, traversing snow slopes, as we descend to the lowpoint between the north summit of Mist Ridge and Gibraltar Mountain

Looking back at avalanche debris and the route towards Mist Ridge

Kevin, negotiating fun and interesting terrain along the west ridge of Gibraltar Mountain; Mount Rae can be seen at the left

Looking along the ridge to the summit; unseen are the many diagonal rock fins and formations that add challenge to the traverse

Some of the aforementioned rock formations; this is where we descended a fair distance to bypass the more difficult ones

Kevin at the summit

Kevin, pointing out some of the many highlights of the summit panorama

Looking back along the west ridge; Mount Rae in the centre 

Some of the numerous unnamed peaks of the Highwood Range 

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