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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