Saddle Mountain
December 23, 2015
Mountain
height: 2433 m
Elevation gain: 686 m
Ascent
time: 2:10
Descent
time: not long
Solo
snowshoe.
Saddle
Mountain is a small and seemingly insignificant summit, surrounded by some of
the more lofty mountains in the Lake Louise area. I was not at all convinced
that this trip would yield the similar jaw-dropping views boasted by its
neighbours. Adjacent Mount Fairview, for example, sports one of the best views
of any mountain in the Rockies. Nevertheless, with nothing better to do two
days before Christmas, the route up Saddle (named as such because from certain
angles it looks like a saddle) was worth checking out.
Getting up to Saddleback
Pass was easy and somewhat nostalgic, recalling a snowy trip up Mount Fairview
with a wild crazy Carpet ride down, on May 17 of 2003. Unfortunately, the clear
skies I enjoyed for most of the ascent gave way to cloudy ones upon reaching
the pass – the view of Haddo Peak is
spectacular under clear skies – I was forced to settle for “almost spectacular”!
From the pass, after
a few hundred metres of deep post-holing, I reached the ridge and then enjoyed
a surprisingly easy and short trek to the summit. The other surprise was the
view. While obviously not as stunning as that from Fairview, Saddle’s view was,
nevertheless, “almost spectacular”. With
clear skies I would have left out the “almost”!
No Crazy Carpet for
the descent of Saddle, however - the slopes simply aren’t steep enough. Nevertheless,
it was an effortless and relatively swift ride back down the Lake Louise.
An unexpectedly “almost
spectacular” day out!
Mount Hector makes a grand appearance, once you are out of the trees
The impressive northeast side of Mount Fairview
Why Saddle Mountain gets its name
Still sunny, but the clouds are building to the west
At Saddleback Pass, looking at Saddle Mountain and the obvious route up
Views of Sheol Mountain (left) and Haddo Peak are definitely the scenic highlights of the trip
The view of Mount Temple's awesome north face gets two thumbs up too. The double summits of Little Temple at the left
Summit view to the west
Summit view to the east. Note the mountain goat near the tree
There he is!
Mount Victoria North at the left and Collier Peak just right of centre
The weather and correspondingly the view improves a little
Mount Fairview basks in the Sun
An outlier of Fairview
Another view to the east
Molar Mountain and Molar Tower look very impressive from this angle
Pinnacle Mountain, Deltaform (distant centre) and Eiffel Peak
More Molar
Pika, Ptarmigan, and Fossil lie behind the Lake Louise Ski Resort
Last view of the day
The End
