Pincher Ridge II attempt

Pincher Ridge II attempt – May 14, 2006

Roundtrip time: 7:00

Scrambling with Mark and Dan.

Our minor epic on Pincher Ridge, in January of this year, where we failed to make the summit by 50 vertical metres and then did the descent in the dark and in blizzard conditions, left us craving another stab at this interesting peak in the Castle Crown area. We were also very curious to see if we could ascend the difficult east ridge, and so with the company of Dan, we also brought along a full compliment of climbing gear.

Gaining the ridge was easy and infinitely more scenic than our snowy and overcast previous attempt. Unfortunately, that was pretty much the end of the honeymoon. We were hoping that the rather severe appearance of numerous rockbands on the ridge was a case of misleading perception due to the angle (something appearing to be more steep than it really is because you are looking at it head-on), but the converse was actually true. The closer we got to the rockbands, the more steep they became in appearance, until we arrived at the first one to see that not only was it almost vertical, but overhanging in a couple of spots. It was also far higher than anticipated and the rock was hideously loose. We didn’t even take the climbing equipment out – this was far, far beyond our capabilities.

We decided to circumvent the band on the right side and check out the ridge further up. Back on the ridge, above the first band, we managed to get in a little scrambling before the second band reared up in front us. It was no more promising than the first and we realized that this route was doomed to go nowhere. Reluctantly, we opted to traverse the north side of the mountain and check out our previous route up a rib on the north face. Though quite pessimistic, we were hoping that enough snow had melted to allow us to ascend the steep rockband that had thwarted January’s attempt. After some laborious side-sloping, we arrived at the rib, to find that the weakness up the rockband we planned to ascend, had become a frozen waterfall since January. Obviously, that option was quickly dismissed and though there was the possibility was continuing the traverse to the west side of the peak, it too was snow-covered and didn’t look promising. We had to call it a day and returned to the east ridge.

Just on a whim, Mark and I decided to check out the southeast slopes below the east ridge. From afar, these slopes looked impossibly steep, however, close-up they were very manageable. Dan started down to the car, while Mark and I side-sloped interesting terrain below the ridge. We were quite surprised to find that this, the most unlikely route in appearance, probably would have granted us access to the summit, with interesting scrambling and scenery on the way. Unfortunately, the day was done and we backed down, with intentions to return to try the rest of the route.

The day was certainly not a waste, as the scenery throughout was beautiful and we did find another potential route to the summit – it’ll just have to wait for us!