Wendell returns to the Canadian Rockies
After recovering from my trip to Peru in June I was now heading for the Canadian Rockies in July 2022.
Once again I returned to the annual General Mountaineering Camp with the Alpine Club of Canada which was being held in British Columbia near the Alberta and US borders. Logistics for this trip was stressful. Flying from Glasgow to Calgary, Alberta, (a night in Calgary) then a three hour bus ride to Golden, British Columbia (2 nights here) where the club met the following day to board the shuttle bus for a two hour trip to the helicopter staging area. Flying to base camp is an amazing and exhilarating form of transport! The camp was set up in the International Basin, an area south east of the province of British Columbia.
Left photo - Base Camp in Centre-left of photo. Right Photo - Helicopter landing site
Day one - Arriving by helicopter through some amazing scenery, surrounded by numerous mountain peaks with jagged rocky peaks pointing skyward, one can only dream of climbing as many as you can over a 6 day period. The camp runs from Saturday to Saturday which allows you to climb for 6 days if you have the energy and ambition to achieve a personal goal.
On day two we climbed Sandilands Peak 2736m & Strutt Peak 2716m. This was a glacier travel to gain the rocky ridge on Sandilands Peak 2736m. A little more than a scramble, this was a quality Difficult graded climb to gain the first peak and some down climbing to the col with just a simple walk to the next peak. Descending was more of a down climb back to the glacier in very fine weather all day.
Day three was an earlier start of 05:30 in fine weather conditions to climb International Mountain 3099m. A long glacier route with a small ice pitch brought us onto the narrow ridge of International Mountain 3099m. From the summit we could see our objectives for the remainder of the week.
Left photo - Battlement Mountain 2909m from Sandiland Peak. Right Photo - International Mountain 3099m.
Day four once again under fine weather I choose to have an easier day and climb a smaller but more challenging mountain called Miner's Peak 2619m. There was no glacier travel today but instead we battled with swarms of mosquitoes as a result of a late spring thaw. They were so bad, one of the ladies from Spain decided she had enough of the pesky bugs and withdrew from the climb and returned to base camp. This route to the summit peak was graded about a VD (very difficult) climb. Thoroughly enjoying the day on the rock I couldn’t be any happier with awesome scenery to fill your eyes. Pictures just aren’t enough!
Day five was another smaller mountain called Mary’s Peak at 2699m .This mountain was a mix of easy glacier travel and then light scrambling onto the rock for most of the climb. Just a relaxing day in the Rockies.
Left photo - Wendell on Minor’s Peak with International Mountain and Horseman Spire in background and in photo on right
Day six was my next big day out. Our goal today was Horseman Spire 3035m. It’s all in the name. A long glacier travel gradually brought us onto the spine of the mountain. From here on, it was a proper climb to the summit with ropes and belays. To top it off I was celebrating a milestone and had now earned the General Mountaineering Camp 25 Peak Pin. This was announced on the radio to base camp and cheers could be heard from the team. Getting off the mountain wasn’t so easy as we had three abseils from the summit. “Something Brian now knows all about”.!!
The long trudge back to base camp on the glacier with a hot sun chasing us was showing, as folk were looking for clean drinking water to get them off the mountain and back to base camp for some refreshments.
Left photo - Horseman Spire, 3035m. Right photo - 1st of 3 pitches to summit of Horseman Spire.
Day seven - I chose to do a simple mountain . It’s called Mount Sibbald North & South Peaks 2699m. This mountain had some easy glacier travel and some simple scrambling with very little exposure. Just an inspiring day in the mountains. Today was the first sign of the weather changing. Rumble and lightning in the distance suggested we shouldn’t be hanging around for too long. We were lowered two rope lengths onto the glacier where we regrouped to get off the mountain. Getting into camp earlier than planned allowed us to escape the heavy rain and thunder that followed. It only lasted for about an hour. The sun returned and everyone started drying out boots and gear for our departure the next day.
Left Photo - Mount Sibbald 2699M. Right Photo - Wendell on Summit of Mount Sibbald - Base Camp in Background
Day eight was a day of waiting for our lift back to the helicopter staging area. I was out around lunch time. The shuttle bus got us back to the meeting area mid afternoon in Golden B.C. My tradition after a long mountain trip or expedition is to have steak, chips and a cold beer! Which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Wendell Martin