Mount Wintour attempt – June 26, 2004

Mountain height:       2,700 m (8,956 ft)
Elevation gain:          approx. 1,000 m (we came up about 200 vertical metres short)
Roundtrip time:         6:15

Scrambling with Mark.

The book Rocky Mountains of Canada South promises that Mount Wintour is a very easy climb for beginners. Unfortunately, we did even make it to the climbing section, as bad weather forced us to make a very hasty and somewhat nerve-wracking retreat.

Gaining the north ridge was a relatively easy proposition, although a little longer than I thought it would be. At first the constantly changing weather (dense clouds forming around us and then rapidly rising) was quite entertaining, however, as we gained altitude and the cloud cover became more dense, we became more frustrated. The view on a clear day would have been terrific.

Upon reaching the north end of the ridge, we started heading south. The ridgewalk was a very enjoyable and pleasant one, albeit quite long. Soon the ridge narrowed and we felt it necessary to rope up. For a couple of short sections we straddled the ridge, inching our way across (very similar to the ridge on Lady MacDonald).

After several false summits, we arrived at a small plateau where we took a break and a good look at the upcoming section. Here, the ridge looked to be dangerously exposed on both sides and I’ll have to admit, it sent more than one shiver up my spine! Unfortunately, view of the route was not the only thing to give us shivers. All of a sudden, Mark’s ice axe started to make a buzzing sound from electrical activity in the surrounding clouds! Anyone who has experienced this, high up on a mountain, knows that it is a most unnerving sound! There’s nothing like believing you are about to be shish-kabobed by a blot of lightning to get the adrenaline flowing. Immediately we turned around and started back down the ridge – as fast as we could go on our butts. Every time Mark stood up the buzzing got worse and when he was close to the ground (of what little ground there was on that narrow ridge!) it would stop. To make matters worse it started to rain and the rock became increasingly slippery as we descended. Thankfully, we made it to a safer spot where we could stand up and descend much faster. The buzzing stopped soon after. Oddly, I didn’t have a problem with my axe. I don’t know if this was because his was aluminum and mine was made out of steel.  

When we had lost a fair amount of elevation, we took an extended break to see if the clouds might clear. There was no clearing and the conditions actually worsened and so we had no choice but to call it a day. By the time we made it back to the car, the entire ridge and summit were shrouded in thick clouds. Had we continued to the summit, not only could we have been fried by lightning, but the view would have been lousy!

Out of the trees, looking up the highpoint, which marks the north end of the long ridge

Ascending fairly steep terrain, enroute to the north ridge

At the north end of the ridge, starting the long traverse

The ridge narrows and the clouds roll in

As far as we got; we waited for a break in the clouds and the weather, however, conditions worsened considerably, and when Mark's ice axe started buzzing, we made a very hasty retreat

More of the narrow ridge

The hasty retreat; the terrain here is quite exposed and a slip would be very bad

Out of the woods and onto easier terrain