Mount Saskatchewan Junior and 
the North Towers of Mount Saskatchewan

May 2, 2009

Mountain heights:       2850 m; 2970 m
Elevation gain:            approx. 1400 m
Ascent time:                9:45
Descent time:              6:30                     

Mountaineering with Mark.

We’ve had much longer and physically strenuous days than this trip, however, the first three hours of the descent of the North Towers of Mount Saskatchewan were perhaps the most miserable three hours we’ve ever spent in the mountains.

We saw these rather striking unnamed peaks, which lie on the north wing of Mount Saskatchewan, from the summit of Big Bend Peak in October of 2008. They looked very interesting and their proximity to massive Mount Saskatchewan and peaks of the Columbia Icefields guaranteed at least a fine summit view. 

Leaving the parking lot, our biggest concern was going to be the how supportive the snow would be. If it wasn’t supportive, the lengthy distance of the planned route would render the summit a virtual impossibility. Fortunately, we were delighted to find the snow to be hard packed and we managed to keep the snowshoes affixed to our packs, not our feet, for the overwhelming majority of the trip.

Once into the correct ascent valley, north of Mount Saskatchewan, the scenery was absolutely superb. A beautiful, snow-surrounded creek, bisecting the valley was the initial source was amazement. Of course, further up the valley the enormous form of glaciated Mount Saskatchewan was jaw-dropping. We made good progress up the valley and then turned west towards the glacier on the northeast side of the day’s objective. Throughout, the weather was perfect – a major contributing factor to the upcoming misery!

The objective soon appeared over the horizon, its form being as equally as satisfying as that of much larger Mount Saskatchewan. At this point, we changed the planned route. Originally we wanted to go due west across the glacier and up to the col immediately north of the northernmost and highest summit of the two towers. However, a seemingly very large bergschrund, some avalanche run-off, and the steepness of the slope up to the col prompted us to take a more circuitous route around the glacier. This new route added distance to the trip, but also had the added benefit of bringing us very close to the summit of Mount Saskatchewan Junior to the north of the North Towers. Raff and Chester had ascended and subsequently named Mount Saskatchewan Junior earlier in the year.

We slowly plodded up to the ridge, enjoying an incredible and ever-expanding view all around. This is where we should have realized that the energy-sapping heat, caused by intense sunlight reflecting off the snow, was taking its toll on us physically – especially me, for some reason. Noticing the north ridge of the North Tower appeared to have several difficult steps barring the intended ascent route, we downgraded our objective to Saskatchewan Junior only, with perhaps a short reconnaissance mission up the north ridge of the North Tower.

The summit of Saskatchewan Junior was reached with relative ease. A couple of short very sections were steep and concern for an avalanche, but the snow was very stable. As expected, the summit view was absolutely spectacular, especially towards peaks for the Columbia Icefields and the shadowed east face of the North Towers of Mount Saskatchewan. We should have stayed at the summit to soak in the sublime beauty of this panorama for a very long time and then just turned around and headed home. Of course, we didn’t and pushed on towards the col between Saskatchewan Junior and the North Tower.

I, for one, expected the attempt to be very short-lived. Even the lower section of the ridge appeared to have several very steep sections and from afar the summit ridge looked to be knife-edged and severely exposed. We descended to the col to find a striking cornice. Huge sections of the cornice had cleanly broken off onto and down the slope below and more were deeply cracked and ready to go. The ascent up the north ridge turned out to be quite straightforward even though looks, at times, indicated otherwise. It was at this point, that I started to feel the strains of multiple hours of exposure to the sun. Even though both Mark and I had slathered on several thick coats of 60 sun-block throughout the day, it apparently wasn’t enough to protect us fully. I had consumed all of my 3 litres of water and was forced to resort to eating snow (better than nothing, but a decidedly inefficient method of getting water into your body.)

We continued up the scenic ridge without too much difficulty, but at a painfully slow and grueling pace. My energy level was at an all-time low. Since descending a mountain is generally almost effortless, I wasn’t terribly concerned. The summit ridge was also not as daunting as predicted. However, it was heavily corniced and there were several sections where it was impossible to tell if you were on the cornice or snow-covered mountain -short of clearing all the snow away. After passing a couple of false summits, we arrived at a point about 50 horizontal and a couple of vertical metres from the true summit. This section was plain “scary” looking, the highest point a narrow fin of snow, with no indication if there was solid ground beneath. Mark gave it a go, but even roped up the terrain was dicey at best with nowhere to place protection. We decided it wasn’t worth the risk and backed down. The panorama from our highpoint was yet again stunning in every direction. Mount Forbes and three of the five Lyells were now visible to the southwest, with far smaller Terrace Mountain looking equally impressive. Surrounded completely by huge peaks and expansive icefields, this was definitely one of the best panoramas we had ever seen.  

At 7:15 pm, we started the descent, about three hours after our turn around time had passed. Getting back down to the col was pretty easy, but the three hours required to descend to the valley were sheer misery. A combination of dehydration, inadequate sleep the night before, and prolonged exposure to the sun had sucked most of the life out of me. I could barely walk 100 metres downhill without having to lie down in the snow for an extended rest. Mark fared much better than I, leading the way down, but was still far from 100%. At 10:30 pm, still a fair distance from the car, we both considered the possibility that we might have to spend the night in the valley.

With darkness and much cooler temperatures, our situation suddenly and very unexpectedly improved. Chalk it up to adrenaline or a “second wind”, but we soon both recovered enough to take a little “suffering” out of our suffering. Finding a good source of water was also a big relief. And just when we thought we had carried our snowshoes on our packs most of the way up and all the way down, they saved us from several kilometres of serious post-holing through the isothermal snow. The last couple of hours were more tolerable, though arriving back at the car at 1:45 am was not what we had in mind when we departed, 16.5 hours earlier.  

Aside from 3 hours of our worst suffering to date, one of the most scenic and rewarding trips we’ve ever done.         

In the valley

The first view of the North Towers of Mount Saskatchewan

Pleasant scenery in the valley

Same as above

The first view of Mount Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan getting bigger

Saskatchewan getting really big!

One of the few sections without snow; the peaks in the
background are unnamed and north of Cirrus Mountain

Looking south to the long ridges emanating from Mount Saskatchewan

The North Towers of Mount Saskatchewan; contrary to appearance the highest summit is the tower on the right (north)

A closer look at the North Tower

Slogging up to the ridge; Mount Saskatchewan Junior at the left

Looking back again

Heading towards Saskatchewan Junior

On the ridge, with Cirrus Mountain behind (summit at far left)

Same as above; Big Bend Peak to the left

Andromeda and Athabasca

A small, lone pinnacle

The unnamed peak immediately west of the North Towers

Looking over to the North Towers

Cornices breaking off; the distant peak to the left is Mount Alexandra

A closer look; the cornices that are breaking off are several metres wide

The view towards the shadowed North Towers was the highlight of the day and thoroughly breath-taking to look at

The final ascent slope of Sask. Junior

Mark heads up Sask. Junior

Almost at the summit

Mark and the large summit cairn

Same as above

Distant Mount Bryce (left) and Castleguard

Andromeda

Mount Saskatchewan and The North Towers

Another summit view; Mark must have wiggled the rope because the summit was windless

Yet another look towards the Towers; however, it was one of the most beautiful mountain views we'd ever seen 

Descending to the col

The breaking cornices

Where part of the cornice had cleanly broken off

The objective again

Same as above

The unnamed peak

Heading up the ridge

Mark leads us through the only steep section of the ridge

At the top of the step

A plateau above the step

Rock, snow and blue sky; the little white dot towards the left is the moon

The impressive northeast face of Terrace Mountain

Looking towards Mount Columbia (distant centre)

More rock, snow, blue sky and the moon

The southwest view; Terrace Mountain in the centre

The final 50 metres of the summit ridge

Mark checks out the traverse; we backed down here

The last part of the ridge

Looking back at me

The view to the south-southwest; Forbes at the far left and 3 of the 5 Lyells at the right

The Lyells

Looking down the glacier far below the west side

Another view towards Castleguard (left) and Columbia

A last look for the miserable descent

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