Raspberry Ridge

Raspberry Ridge – April 2, 2005

Mountain height:   2,360 m (7,741 ft)
Elevation gain:      646 m
Ascent time:         4:05
Descent time:       2:10

Hiking with Mark and Keri.

Yet another seemingly innocuous and easy trip that turned out to be fantastic in numerous ways. I, for one, was not expecting much from this popular and easy hike to the fire lookout at the summit of Raspberry Ridge, but as I should have learned to expect by now, the winter conditions added a whole new dimension to the trip (fortunately, in a good way, this time!).

We were all quite surprised to find a significant amount of fresh snow, obviously from the previous night, covering highway 940 and the surrounding area. The first section of the trip, along a highway of a trail, was not terribly scenic, but the mild weather, relatively clear sky, and fresh snow made for a pleasant and easy hike to base of the mountain. Two ascent options are available from there: a long, zigzag route across the southeast side of the ridge and a short, more direct and steep route. We, of course, chose the latter.

Upon starting the ascent, we were almost immediately hit by powerful winds, blowing the fresh snow up and across the ascent slope. Being pounded by the blowing snow and going from full visibility to zero visibility within seconds was an extremely exhilarating and refreshing experience. This pattern continued throughout the ascent, providing fantastic scenery and visual effects. Mark commented that, “this feels more like an expedition to the North Pole than anything else!”

Higher up, I moved to the left ridge of the ascent gully, to explore the terrain there, while Mark and Keri continued up the center of the gully, staying to the right of a beautiful cornice lining the ridge at the top. The stunning winter scenery and blustery weather conditions continued to be a source of amazement for us all, throughout the ascent. I made it to the ridge with relative ease, but was concerned that the cornice was blocking Mark and Keri’s passage to the top. Fortunately, there was a break at the right side of the cornice and soon we were all on the ridge.

Of course, once on the ridge, at about 2,300 metres, the powerful southwest wind became far more bone-chilling than refreshing. We kept moving to try and stay warm and to make it to the lookout as quickly as possible, in search of shelter. Along the way, the terrific cornice scenery was more than enough to keep us thoroughly entertained. At the summit, the first order of business was to try and warm-up. Taking refuge on the east side of the lookout provided some respite from the vicious wind and after a brief rest we stepped out from behind the shelter to take a few summit photos. The weather, all around, was incredible: clear to the east, absolutely socked-in and almost black to the south and north, and, unfortunately, cloudy to the west (three trips to this area in the past month and we still have yet to get the clear view of the stunning mountains of the Continental Divide we’ve been hoping for).

The descent was a blast. We followed the ridge back to our ascent gully and then it was a thoroughly exhilarating Crazy Carpet ride down to the bottom. A few more centimeters of snow would have been nice (a couple of times, we found ourselves sliding over bare ground), but overall, we had perfect “Carpet” conditions: steep enough to get some great velocity, but not too steep so that maintaining control would be a problem – awesome!

Great scenery, great weather (I guess it doesn’t have to be clear and calm to be called “great”), and a great descent - another fantastic trip that far exceeded everyone's expectations.