Little Galatea II
January0,
2016
January 10, 2016
Mountain height: 2675 m
Elevation gain: 900 m
Ascent time: 3:10
Descent time: forgot, but slow due to excess photo taking!
Solo snowshoe.
I believe that Marko Stavric and
friends pioneered this new and safer route up Little Galatea and so a big thank
you to them and also to Matt Clay and
Matt Hobbs and Vern and his
family for breaking the trail that I would take full advantage of on this
stunning January day and also three cheers for run-on sentences!!!
The route starts the same as for Rummel Lake and then
veers off, eventually going up the northwest ridge of the mountain. Except for a small route-finding issue, where
I followed the wrong snowshoe trail to a dead-end, the trip went without a
hitch. Gaining the ridge was definitely a steeper grind than I was expecting,
but Vern’s 11 day old trail was still fully intact and made life very easy.
The ridgewalk/snowshoe/scramble to the summit was very
entertaining and not the pushover I was thinking it would be. A narrow ridge
(for one short sections), steep slopes on the right and straight drop-offs on
the left, meant I wasn’t going to be skipping and singing joyfully and
carelessly to the summit! However, it wasn’t that difficult either and one
section that looked insanely steep from afar was in fact quite tame. And of
course the views of the ridge and surroundings were spectacular – more so on
descent, when the Sun had swung around to the west.
After a short summit stay I descended to the col between
Little Galatea and the long ridge leading to Mount Galatea, with the hopes of
continuing up that ridge. However, for some unexplained reason, I completely
lost motivation upon arriving at the col and decided to just return to the
summit of Little Galatea to soak in the fantastic view.
The descent was slower than it normally would have been,
simply because the Sun had now swung around to the west, lighting up the
stunning snow covered slopes and ridge. Not stopping to take photos became a
near impossible feat!
I also noticed I was not the only person with the idea to
take advantage of the broken trail. A group of two passed me on their way to
the top and farther down I could see another couple of adventurous souls –
those souls happened to be Wietse Bijlsma and Dave Salahub. After a pleasant conversation with Wietse and
Dave and then taking a ton of photos of them continuing up the ridge, I
finished the trip in great spirits.
A thoroughly brilliant day out and great route up Little
Galatea!
An early morning look at Cone Mountain
Great snowshoe trail!
The mish-mash of Commonwealth Ridge, Commonwealth Peak,
Pig's Back, Pig's Tail and of course, Mount Birdwood
Mount Assiniboine, with Mount Turner in front and at the right
The ridge to the summit (just left of centre), looking fairly innocuous at this point
Mount Engadine
Cone looks a little different now
The infamous Mount Smuts and The Fist
The ridge looks considerably better with the Sun shining on it
Looking back along the ridge
The section in the shade looks brutally steep from afar, but is actually fairly easy
The view to the west is incredible throughout
Approaching the steep section
Birdwood (left) and Smuts (right), with some interesting clouds between
A closer look at the clouds
A closer look at Smuts. Incredible to think that the south face has been skied!!
An old friend - Mount Eon
Descending to the col between Little Galatea and "BIG" Galatea
Looking back up Little Galatea
Though distant, the trio of Eon, Aye and Assiniboine get lots of attention
Mount Warre??
Heading down
Two figures appear near the end of the ridge
They pass me and continue up
The first party is nearing the summit, while Wietse and Dave are approaching the steep section
Wietse and Dave on the steep section
And one on top
The ridge is super cool on the east side
A last look at the view to the west
Even in the tress the view is great
Winter is incredible!!
