Wendell Mountain - East Peak

East Peak of Wendell Mountain – April 16, 2006

Mountain height:       2,394 m (7,852 feet)
Elevation gain:           1,200 m
Ascent time:              5:05
Descent time:            2:50

Scrambling with Mark.

Stealing another trip idea from Bob Spirko and Dinah Kruze, we set off to attempt either the true summit of Wendell Mountain or the slightly lower outlier to the east. Though conditions looked quite cloudy to the west, we were fortunate to enjoy clear skies at the beginning of the day, yielding some pretty terrific views of the east side of Mount Yamnuska and fantastic ones of Wendell’s East Peak. The spectacular cliffs of the south side of the peak are home to numerous traditional climbs that were apparently quite popular at one time.

Like Bob and Dinah, we wanted to explore those cliffs a little and so we took a direct route to the east side of the mountain, even though the ascent route uses the west side. Once we arrived at the base of the cliffs, I thought to myself, “There goes the summit of Wendell!” The rock scenery was simply phenomenal and there was no way we were going to be rushing off to a summit, without first exploring and enjoying this wonderful area. As well as the stunning cliff scenery, there were several large, free-standing pinnacles that likewise warranted some attention.

Eventually, we did arrive at the west end of the peak, where we decided to go for the lower east summit as opposed to trying the true summit of Wendell – at least we knew there was a feasible route to this summit and it was heck of a lot closer. Most of the ascent was a scree-slog, though occasional slabby sections did provide some relief. Again, the rock scenery on and around the mountain was great. Higher up, it looked as though we might become “cliffed-out”, as rockbands seemed to be guarding the summit ridge and we were both sure that at the ridge we would be looking down the enormous vertical cliffs of the mountain’s south face. Such was not the case, and we were delighted to arrive at a wide ridge, where an enjoyable 20-30 minute hike brought us to the summit. The view was terrific. The north faces of Yamnuska and Goat Mountain’s were quite striking, as were numerous other unnamed peaks to the west and north. Association Peak, directly north, looked to have several possible scramble routes to the summit, although all of them brutally long.

Of most interest was the potential to scramble over to the true summit of Wendell, some distance away, via a narrow connecting ridge. Unfortunately, much of the ridge and the summit of Wendell were covered in snow and looked pretty dangerous. We had no illusions of making it to the summit, however, there appeared to be an easy descent route off the East Peak, if we were able to make it down to the East Peak/Wendell col.

After a short break, in very cold and windy conditions, we took out the rope and Mark belayed me across a short, but very narrow section of the ridge to see if a route to the col would reveal itself. It did (I think? – I couldn’t see the entirety of the route), but covered in snow, it was far too dangerous. We didn’t have enough rope for Mark to belay me all the way down, it was brutally cold, and any slip while downclimbing without a rope would have been fatal, no matter which side of the ridge you fell down. We opted to call it a day and return the same way.

The return trip was quite fast, due to a long section of terrific scree-surfing. Arriving at a meadow just below the peak, we were struck by the awe-inspiring beauty of the area and remarked what a great bivy site it would be – meadows and beautiful greenery, surrounded by craggy mountains with enormous cliff faces. It had that secluded, remote feel, even though the highway was only a couple of hours walk away.

Instead of traversing back along the beautiful south face of the East Peak to its east side, we took a more direct route to the east side of Yamnuska, which also saved a little time and distance. Overall, a fantastic day of stunning rock scenery and beautiful views.