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