Victoria Peak II

and a section of Victoria Ridge II

 

April 12, 2008

 
Mountain height:                                             2587 m
Elevation gain:                                                approx. 1200 m
Ascent time:                                                    5:30
Victoria Ridge traverse and descent time:      6:20
 
Scrambling and a little mountaineering with Mark.
 
As a general rule, Mark and I stay away from the Castle Crown and Waterton areas when they are snow-covered – why let a blanket of snow ruin views of all the amazing colours and varieties of rock?  However, since snow cover, almost without exception, enhances the scenery throughout the Rockies, we decided to head down south to check out one of our favourite areas, in winter-like conditions. This was also an opportunity to repeat two of my favourite trips: Victoria Peak and Victoria Ridge – both completed with Linda Breton. 
 
There was not as much snow on Victoria Peak as we were expecting and therefore we hoped the ascent would be fast and easy. Naturally, the remaining snow did dramatically enhance the scenery throughout and fortunately didn’t completely cover the astounding colours of rock. The one significant trade-off, when compared to the autumn ascent of 2004 with Linda, was the absence of yellow leaves on trees and larch needles that made for some stunning colour combinations. Doing the ascent in late September, after a major snowfall, with a clear sky would provide unparalleled visual splendor!
 
The first part of the ascent was easy, but as soon as the snow appeared things became more difficult. Snowshoes were sufficient on the lower slopes – crampons and ice axes mandatory on the upper slopes. In order to avoid some fairly steep snow slopes, we traversed over to the right side of the mountain. We soon reached a steep and exposed but short rockband that might have required a rope. We had one, but wanted to avoid taking it out if possible, so we traversed back towards the centre. A couple of potential routes were unfortunately choked with steep ice. In the end with had to take out the rope and belay each other up the steep snow we were trying to avoid. Thankfully, that was short-lived, and quickly we arrived at a point just below the summit. The last section was a little tense, on very steep and deep snow, but several large rocks provided good belay points. Not surprisingly, the staggering variety of rock and colour kept our cameras out of their cases throughout the ascent.
 
Unfortunately, because of the snowy conditions, reaching the summit took 2 hours longer than expected and we had to concede that we would not have enough time to traverse the long distance to the summit of Victoria Ridge. Of course, we would at least try the first part of the ridge and after enjoying a wonderful snow-filled panorama, we started down the completely bare southwest ridge of the peak.
 
In May of 2006, after completing the north section of Victoria Ridge, Linda and I had declared it to be one of the best ridgewalks ever. Would this repeat trip confirm that assertion??
 
Yes….. and in a big, big way! The colorful ridgewalk was even more breath-taking, as lingering cornices lined the precipitous, snow-plastered east face, while the actual ridge was almost snow-free – again, just enough snow to improve the views, but not enough to hide the colorful rock. I warned Mark that this was an interesting ridgewalk, but he was still flabbergasted by some of the remarkable terrain and scenery (as was I!).   
 
At 6:20 pm, we had to bail. We could have completed the traverse, but that would have meant several hours in the dark on return. Since the valley below was not snow-free, trying to follow the trail out by headlamp might have been quite challenging.
We settled for pleasant stroll through a section that looks more like a alien landscape and then a generally easy descent - "generally", because the valley was choked with isothermal snow and some postholing was encountered.

A truly magnificent day out. Even though I had completed almost all of the trip on two previous trips, I’d have to call this day one of our most enjoyable days ever in the mountains.


Hiking the very bikeable approach road



One of the glorious outliers of Prairie Bluff



Victoria Peak



The ascent starts with a steep snow bank






"The Graveyard of Dead Trees" is one my favourite sections of the ascent



Snow is getting deeper



Snowshoes may be necessary here



They were, but not for long



Onto bare rock



The "normal" ascent route goes left of centre, but we stayed right



Looking back to Pincher Ridge



The start of innumerable scenes of colourful rock



Ascending that rock



...and then having to go other sections



Back onto steep snow slopes



Might as well chuck a little yellow lichen onto the already beautifully coloured rock!



Assessing the upcoming difficulties



Prairie Bluff looked pretty good throughout



Circumventing an impassable section



Looking back at Mark and the impassable section



Tried this route but it too failed



Onto the snow slopes we were trying to avoid



Working our way back onto bare rock



Mark leads us up to the ridge



At the ridge, just below the summit



The "intense" traverse



Mark's turn to traverse it



Mark ascends steep snow to the summit ridge




...and then makes his way to the top



Bad timing on this photo - I was all smiles throughout 99.99999% of the day!



The view to the northwest is always a treat to see



The view of Windsor Mountain (centre) and Castle Peak (right) is pretty good too



Starting one of the coolest traverses in the Canadian Rockies



Looking back to the summit of Victoria Peak



Here comes the red argillite!



Pretty sweet rest spot!



Resuming travel



Up to the next highpoint



And down the other side



Cornice testing



The colourful form of Pincher Ridge at the left is another of the highlights of the traverse



Victoria Peak at the right is also very colourful



Easy and scenic ridgewalking



And then some interesting scrambling


  
Scrambling up the solid rock with the moon faintly showing (left photo)
Success! (right photo)



More great rock scenery



And more fun ridgewalking



The east side of the ridge is very steep in places









Cornices remain well into spring



No caption needed!



The ridge gets snowy again



At the major highpoint between the Peak and the summit of the Ridge



Approaching the "alien landscape"



The summit of Victoria Ridge is still a fair distance from here



On the alien landscape and getting ready to ascend into the valley

The End

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