Suicide Peak (unnamed at GR190661)April 7, 2007            

Mountain height:  2476 m
Elevation gain:     1100 m
Ascent time:         7:25
Descent time:       4:15

Mountaineering with Mark.

As much as I’m comfortable and content to name an unnamed peak “Unnamed at GR_____”, this one deserved a title and Suicide Peak was the first thing that came to mind.

We were actually on our way to make a third attempt at Cougar Peak, a shapely peak slightly northeast of Grotto Mountain. This time we were determined to follow Bob Spirko’s ascent route and make it to the summit. About a kilometre away from the ascent drainage, however, we spotted a very striking peak immediately to our left and decided to give it a go. This turned out to be a terrific decision. 

The Three Sisters in early morning

 

The view of our objective from the creek

 

After a pleasant jaunt up a lightly treed slope, highlighted by a unique view of The Three Sisters, we arrived at a scenic rockband barring the way. Ascending alongside the rockband we found a weakness and Mark started up. After hogging all the climbing time on Door Jamb Mountain last week, while Mark stood at the bottom freezing his butt off, I was more than happy to play Follow-the-Leader. Atop the rockband, we followed a scree gully up, marveling at numerous scenes of beautiful rock. 

The Three Sisters from the ascent slopes

 

Mark starts up the first of several rockbands to the ridge

 

Interesting rock scenery

 

Same as abvoe

 

A close-up the the above rock face

It was then time to gain the ridge and again Mark led the ascent and then pulled up me. The ridge was spectacular – narrow at times and leading to a stunning pinnacle of rock that reminded us a little of Mount Louis. We traversed the ridge and were then forced down into another gully. Obviously the pinnacle was way beyond our capabilities.

Mark looks for a weakness in the next rockband

 

Mark ascends the rockband

 

Same as above

 

Searching for a route up to the ridge

 

On the ridge

 

The impressive pinnacle 

 

More terrific rock scenery followed. Eventually the scree gave way to snow – a far more pleasant way to ascend. The snow slog that followed was long, but again the scenery was magnificent under a perfectly blue sky. We finally topped out on the ridge, just northeast of the pinnacle. Initially we thought the pinnacle might be the highest point of the ridge but quickly discovered it was not even close. There was at least one point to the north that was higher. A serrated and very interesting ridge separated us from that summit.

Onto the snow

 

 

The long, but scenic snow ascent

 

Same as above

 

Same as above

 

At the top of the snow slope with our new objective in the centre

 

The traverse towards the highpoint to the north was perhaps the highlight of the trip. At first it was easy, but soon Mark was forced to traverse a narrow and exposed section, with a small gap in the middle. Here, the rock was horribly loose and at one point I watched in horror as a huge rock that Mark was using to haul himself across the gap crumbled underneath him. Luckily he was able to quickly scramble up and over the gap.          

Starting the ridge traverse

 

More cool rock scenery

 

More snow and cool rock

 

Mark ascends alongside a distinctive rockband

 

The view to the southwest; the small peak in the distance to the left of Rimwall (centre) is Mount Sir Douglas

 

Getting ready to traverse the gap in the exposed ridge  

 

Looking a little tentative before stepping over the gap

 

From there another thoroughly enjoyable ridge traverse ensued, although as we approached our intended summit, another higher summit suddenly appeared. That one was again beyond our skill level and so we agreed to make a stab at the summit we were heading for and then go home. All was going well until we reached the final rockband. This rockband was not terribly high (maybe 8 or so metres), but it was steep, exposed, extremely loose and there were no significant hand or foot holds. Mark stepped up to the plate for the umpteenth time on the trip and started up the band. He was able to place some protection, but it was far from “bomber”. Soon, he was past the point of no return – downclimbing was not possible and there was nowhere to place anything to rappel off. There was no choice but to continue up. In a couple of tricky and adrenaline induced moves Mark was able to haul himself onto the summit, where he breathed a momentous sigh of relief.

Our objective to the left and the higher summit to the right

 

Starting leading more of the ridge traverse

 

Mark looks at the north summit just before his hair-raising ascent of our objective

 

Another look at the shapely north summit

 

Mark heads up to the final rockband

 

I had absolutely no intention of climbing that band and so I told Mark I would “Batman” up the rope. Even this was tricky as I slipped several times to find myself dangling on the end of the rope. I was severely impressed that Mark had climbed up it without solid protection. During my ascent of the band I definitely broke my personal record for screaming, “Pull me up Mark!” I would probably classify that seemingly innocuous step as the most difficult piece of climbing either Mark or I had ever done.  

Mark at the summit

 

Me at the summit

 

Getting ready to rappel the summit block; though it may not look like much from this vantage point, the rockband was steep, loose and exposed

 

The summit view was excellent, especially that of the higher summit to the north. A clear sky and fresh layer of snow made it seem more Himalayan than it actually was. We returned the same we came, having a pretty easy go of it after rappelling the summit block. On the long hike back to the car, reflecting on the seriousness of that final step to the summit and a couple of other dire moments on the way, we decided that Suicide Peak would be a more than appropriate name for this beautiful mountain.     

Looking back to Suicide Peak (centre); the north summit can be seen at the left

 

The northeast side of Grottto Mountain

 

The Three Sisters yet again

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