Northwest Ridge of Victoria Peak attempt


 
April 26, 2020
 
Solo scramble.
 
A long time ago, in the same galaxy I presently reside in, I distinctly remember looking down the north ridge of Victoria Peak and wondering if a scramble route up was possible. A relatively recent ascent of nearby “Whitney Ridge” with Dave, Brad, and Aaron renewed my interest in the route and so I set out on a reconnaissance mission. I had no illusions of making the summit at this time of the year, snow still covering many of the mountain tops, but took crampons and an ice axe just in case.
 
The attempt started with an identical approach as for Whitney Ridge, except this time a rode my bike the 4 km distance. Within 2 minutes of leaving my bike and starting up the treed slopes of the northwest ridge I realized I had made a huge mistake – my snowshoes were in my car and not on my feet. The snow on this slope was very deep and not at all supportive. Travel was slow and brutally strenuous, a nightmare of mid-thigh post-holing for most of it . Nevertheless, I managed to curse and swear my way upslope and eventually arrived at the far end of Victoria’s northwest ridge.
 
Travel for the first part of the ridge alternated between easy snow-free terrain and sections of deep snow amid patches of forested terrain. I was super happy to finally clear tree-line and leave the snow behind, at least for a while.
 
What followed was fantastic: fun scrambling on terrific rock, some route-finding decisions, and great scenery (even in dismal weather conditions). I followed the ridge for a surprisingly long stretch, eventually arriving at a significant rock band that could not be scrambled. Circumventing the rock band seemed possible, but that would put me on steep snow slopes that looked sketchy at best in their present condition. As well, the wind had picked up at this point, and blowing snow became a concern. There was no way I was going to test that slope, even though it appeared to lead with relative ease to the summit. 
 
I turned around immediately and enjoyed a scenic return along the ridge, an easier but still labourious descent down to the valley bottom, and an exhilarating bike ride back to the start.
 
A superb day of exploration – I’ll be back!      


The northwest ridge of Victoria Peak. The treed hump in the centre is where I needed snowshoes.



After the epic slog up to the ridge "Whitney Ridge" appears



Looking back down the approach valley. The peak in the creek has been unofficially called many things, including "Whitney Creek Mountain".



On the ridge and following it south. The treed terrain ahead was also a slog through deep snow.



Enjoying a momentary patch of blue sky



Continuing along the ridge and not looking forward to the next treed (snowy) section



Good view to the northwest. "Mill Creek Peak" and "Mill Creek Mountain" in the centre and Mount Gladstone just right of centre.



Photographing trees while I try to catch my breath from the snow slogging



No more trees, still a little snow, but things are looking up



The view to the east features fantastic Prairie Bluff and all it's fantastic outliers (Fire, Sky, and Storm)



Standard dead tree scenery of The Castle




The start of the scrambling: easy scrambling with plenty of options to moderate and difficult routes up



The also standard lichen on rock, very pronounced in The Castle



A few significant highpoints along the ridge (right) and the summit at the left



Still fixated on Prairie Bluff and lichen



Rock layers are often super obvious in this neck of the woods



Another great feature of the ascent route was the super positive orientation of the rock - makes for great scrambling



One of the better scrambling sections



The owner of the house makes an appearance - thankfully he/she let me roam the house freely



The summit



Not quite a scramble, but great to look at



Approaching the top of one of the highpoints



Looking down the ridge



Windsor Mountain (left) and Castle Peak



Too bad about the cloudy skies



Looking over to the adjacent ridge



Approaching the rock band where my progress stopped



That's one good looking ridge!



The rock band



End of the line. The thought of making my way onto those snow slopes made me shudder!
 


Retreat







Another pano to the west and northwest



Last look before the labourious descent to the valley bottom

The End

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