Hector South

“Hector South” – January 25, 2009

Mountain height:         2970 m
Elevation gain:            1170 m
Ascent time:              5:25
Descent time:              3:25

Solo snowshoe and scramble.

Flipping through my recently acquired copy of Mike Potter’s Ridgewalks in the Canadian Rockies, this trip caught my eye. Bob Spirko also described a route up that was slightly different then Potter’s route. I originally intended to take Bob’s route, however, finding a place to park on the side of Highway 93 was next to impossible due to large snow-banks. The only clearing was closer to Mr. Potter’s route and so that’s the way I went. The trail-breaking to tree-line was brutally grueling. There’s one thing about solo, off-trail snowshoeing – you get a solid month’s worth of strenuous physical activity in about an hour!

Views were terrific once out of the trees. The south face of nearby Mount Hector was particularly awe-inspiring. As usual, the snow scenery was outstanding against a clear, blue sky. Getting to the summit via the west ridge was not without its difficulties. The crux rock-band was steep and exposed in places. At least the rock was solid with lots of ledges and good holds. However, once at the top I had already decided against trying to downclimb this route. The final ridgewalk to the summit was much easier, accompanied by excellent views to the east. At the respectable height of 2970 m the panorama was excellent in all directions, Hector Lake and the Wapta Icefield providing some stellar scenery.

For descent, I followed the south ridge (some magnificent cornices on this side) and then down the more gentle slopes of another ridge to the west. Gaining 100 or so vertical metres back to my tracks was not exactly fun, but it beat the heck out of breaking new trail all the way back to the road. Even going downhill is hard work when the snow is deep and unconsolidated.

An awesome day out - but what else is new?!

Popes Peak, Collier and Narao are all overshadowed by Mount Victoria