| Ref: Alan
Kane's
Scrambles
in the Canadian Rockies |
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The ice is breaking
up on Kiwetinok Lake, The Presidents in the background. |
Scramble:
RT:14.0 (including Mounts Kerr, Pollinger and McArthur); 2.25
up from Lake Kiwetinok. I laughed, I cried... It was the best of times;
it was the worst of times... This mountain worried me, I'm not a
climber and I don't deal well with exposure; despite that, I was
willing to give it a try. Gaining the col between Kiwetinok Peak and
Mount Pollinger was the easy part. We dropped extra gear again and
started up the snow slope. We didn't have crampons but the soft snow
allowed us to kick decent steps, an alpine axe is a must! Once on rock,
we climbed loose rubble along the snow until we reached a rockband;
we started traversing from there. I didn't like the appearance of the
terrain, Fab went ahead and I just stood there, frozen. He coaxed me to
come along. I moved awkwardly even though I was focusing on nothing
else than my footing. Fab kept moving along the ledges, looking for the
easiest way. I wasn't comfortable with our situation and did consider
turning around but Fab was levelheaded and felt he was on the right
track. He recognized a slab corner from a picture on a recent
trip report. After rounding up that corner, the terrain seemed to be
less exposed. We occasionally saw cairns as we climbed towards the
summit ridge. I was ecstatic to see the summit cairn! I managed
to enjoy the view and the accomplishment, still nervous about our
return. Fab signed the register and
checked out a few names, Sonny Bou's limerick made us laugh! We grabbed
a bite and started descending. We backtracked the upper part of
the mountain without incident; Fab had placed flagging around some
cairns to ease route finding (we retrieved them). We soon reached the
slab corner and the ledges; I felt much better than I anticipated.
Instead of going down the loose rubble to our earlier traverse on snow,
Fab
suggested going through a rock flake and stepping onto the snow sooner.
At the snow's edge, we descended a bit before committing to the steep
slope. Fab was stomping good footholds in the snow as he traversed
closer to the middle of the slope, I was very aware of the steepness
and the unfavorable run-out. I found it difficult as I jabbed my axe so
deep with every couple of steps, I could barely get it out. I was
mentally and physically fatigued... After what felt like an eternity, I
turned around and boot skied down. I was happy, instant relief!
Note:
Our route differs slightly from Alan Kane's description. We gained
height then traversed climber's left as opposed to a climbing traverse
lower down on the slope. Both routes appear to meet in the vicinity of
the slab corner. |
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Making our way up to
the col. |
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Kiwetinok Peak. |
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Using rock to reach
the col. |
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It's hard to make
out the route. |
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Traversing to the
rock ahead. |
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Climbing to the
loose slope along the snow. |
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Looking down the
loose slope. |
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Alright, lets give
this a try! |
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Fab has to coax me
along... |
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Loose exposed
ledges lead to a "slab corner". |
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Slab corner as seen
on descent. |
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Same type of terrain
after the "slab corner". |
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The steepness
decreases on the upper part of the route. |
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We veered climber's
right (north) while climbing less exposed terrain. |
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I was ecstatic to
see the summit cairn! |
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The President (left)
and Mount Carnarvon (right). |
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I bloody made it!!! |
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Fab placed flags
around some cairns to ease route finding on the way down. |
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The view and our
position are exhilarating. |
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Carefully making our
way. |
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Fab waits for me as
we near the ledges. |
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Going around the
slab corner, yikes! |
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Backtracking with the
help of flagged cairns is a great idea for such a scramble; we
retrieved the flagging afterwards. |
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Along the loose
ledges. |
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Getting on the snow
a bit higher, that was unnerving without crampons. |
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We
descended through a rock flake and skirted the edge of the snow before
committing to the steep slope (lime). The red arrow indicates the slab
corner. |
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Another angle clearly reveals the
slab corner. |
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Continue
on to Pollinger |
| Back to home page |
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