Mount Lipsett and Mist Mountain
July 29, 2003
Mountain height: 3140 m
Elevation gain: 1300 m
Solo scramble.
About 8.5 months
after an ill-fated attempt of Mist Mountain from the south side, I was back (on a clear
and calm day!) to try one of Alan Kane’s routes. From the parking area, I
decided to try an ascent of the more difficult Lipsett col route, tagging Mount
Lipsett along the way, and then descend via the easier north ridge – might as well
get two summits and the best of both routes if possible!
The ascent of
Lipsett went with relative ease, although I kept hearing rustling in the bushes
and convinced myself I was being stalked by a bear or cougar! Thankfully
nothing attacked and within a few hours I was tramping up the east side of
Lipsett. Even lowly Lipsett sported a fine view, increasing my motivation to
reach the summit of much higher Mist.
As Kane describes,
the scrambling up Mist is very steep and challenging in places, Nevertheless,
if you stick to the rock, it’s a fun scramble without an insane amount of
exposure. The outstanding summit view lived up to its reputation in spades.
And there ends the
non-traumatizing portion of the day! The alternative descent was a nightmare. I
must have picked the wrong gully to descend, because I was soon standing atop a
steep cliffband I had no hope of downclimbing . I reascended a short ways then
traversed over to the next gully, before getting cliffed-out again…and again!
What felt like several days later I was able to squirm my way down a rock band and onto more gentle terrain.
By this time, my brain was mentally fried!
Reaching the approach
stream was sheer relief. And, wouldn’t you know it, but after downclimbing some
very serious terrain unscathed, I would twist my ankle quite badly while hiking back
down the stream! I more hobbled than hiked back to the start from that point.
Fantastic day
out on two terrific mountains, but no alternate descent routes next time!
Nice wildflowers and colours on the way to Lipsett
Looking back at the summit while trying to find the correct descent route - I failed!
The view to the north before heading down into hell!
The End
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