Mt. Sir Donald North Face

[Braydon]

Has it been climbed? Any beta?

 

Thanks

[G-spotter]

Beckey-Chouinard 1960s

 

Loose

[Dane]

Loose?

 

Better rock than most anything in the Rockies. Quartzite is a lot better there than on the N Face of Cavell. Not really a classic north face (not enough ice) but a decent rock climb. If it gets harder than 5.6 look around.

 

Decent down the NW arete is a bit long

 

 

[AlpineK]

Just so you know. Sir Donald isn't in the Canadian Rockies. The Canadian Rockies are east of the Rocky Mountain Trench (Golden). Sir Donald is west of the trench.

 

There is quartzite in the Canadian Rockies. It is less scary than other rock there. The key word is less.

[G-spotter]

I saw rockfall pretty much every half hour down the north face. That's loose enough for me.

[Buckaroo]

Has it been climbed? Any beta?

 

Thanks

 

Isn't the rock really slippery when wet?

 

I only have done the approach to NW Arete and remember the wet talus being really slippery, like no traction.

[Braydon]

seems like a good early season mixed route...hopefully the cold temps and snow/ice will reduce rockfall as well.

[G-spotter]

seems like a good early season mixed route...hopefully the cold temps and snow/ice will reduce rockfall as well.

 

there is a very good reason why only three peaks out of the hundreds in the southern selkirks have ever had winter ascents.

[AlpineK]

I've never climbed there even though I've been there a bunch in the winter. The skiing is usually too good to be bothered with climbing.

 

There's a nice run down from the base of the west face of Sir Donald.

[Dane]

Hey Braydon! Feck is right, better skiing there than climbing early in the year. Many climbs actually in the Rockies...just a short drive away from Rogers Pass and Sir Donald, are better goals. And don't get the huge dumps of snow Rogers Pass is famous for.

 

Hang around Dragontail and Stuart on the wrong day and you'll hear similar rumblings of loose rock. But not Mtns generally known for it. Comparing Sir Donald to something like Temple, Kitchener, Hugabee, Deltaform really isn't fair. Really shitty limestone for the most part on all of them, although the lower 1/2 of the central buttress on Temple is very good. Decent quartzite on Sir Donald and mid face on Cavell. Both offer exceptional climbs. Go at the right time and they can be a lark...at they wrong time you could easily die.

 

The NW arete is a better outing imo.

[AlpineK]

If you want good quartzite in the Rockies I've found it on Edith Cavell and in the Tonquin Valley (Oubiette). I remember a couple of really scary events while climbing Oubiette.

[marc_leclerc]

if you try it im guessing it will be loose and run-out, thats just by lookinga t close up shots of course.