[TR] Mount Assiniboine - North Ridge 8/8/2009

[spotly]

Trip: Mount Assiniboine - North Ridge

 

Date: 8/8/2009

 

Trip Report:

We drove up to Invermere on Thursday and spent the night at a cheap hotel to help break up the drive. No problems at the border with my brand new enhanced drivers license. The Canadian border lady was as friendly as I remembered. I wondered if the US guards were still asses.

 

Since our check-in at the Mount Shark heliport wasn't till noon thirty, we headed into Banff on Friday to do the tourist thing – shop at the climbing store and wander around. I picked up a few gifts for the kids and Carl bought a new helmet. Afterwards, we drove over to Canmore where we had breakfast/lunch at a street-side joint before making the dusty drive up to the heliport. There were several dozen people waiting for the chopper; mostly well-dressed tourists speaking a variety of foreign languages. Since the heli only held 6 passengers, we had a bit of a wait. We spent our time taking in the most excellent views and making friends with a few other climbers.

 

Searching for a new helmet in Banff

 

It's only this big. How hard can it be!?

 

My first helicopter ride arrives

 

Team Bear-bait

 

 

Getting to Assiniboine Lodge is a 20 mile hike but took only 10 minutes via helicopter – well worth the $300 when you’re short on time. It was pretty cool swooping in above the lodge with Lake Magog and Mt. Assiniboine in the background. Even cooler to see that our route up the north ridge looked to be snow-free all the way to the summit.

 

We deboarded the chopper and wandered through cabins on our way up to the Gmoser Highway, which is an exposed set of ledges that lead up to the R.C. Hind hut, which sits at the base of Mt. Assiniboine at roughly 9,000'. About a mile down the trail, Carl (who was behind me) said "we need to back off slowly". At the same time, I heard a rush of activity coming towards us, accompanied by a growling sound. I looked up to see a huge grizzly about 100 feet away coming towards us. The bear had slowed down and was now creeping towards us with its hair standing on end and its head lowered. I was intimidated...to say the least. We slowly backed away and the bear stopped, though it was still facing us. We were whispering to each other to come up with a plan (sneak by, turn around or wait for more people) when the bear turned to look behind it and out wandered three cute little cubs. All four of them wandered off a short ways and went about their bear business of digging and such. They were still uncomfortably close to the trail but we felt their current lack of interest would enable us to sneak by, ignoring our basic instinct to go over and give the cute ones a hug. We decided (from the comfort of distance) that this would be one of the high points of the trip.

 

Assiniboine Lodge. Smaller than expected but very nice

 

After a few miles, the trail faded and the more technical part of the approach started. We followed tracks through scree and cairns up through cliff bands, encountering both solid and chossy chimneys and ramps to gain each level. We eventually reached a high band that began a long traverse towards the col below the hut. This was mostly third and fourth class. All of it was very exposed with loose sloping ledges that were one to three feet wide. Solid hand holds were present for most sketchy areas. After the traverse, the approach ascended a steep but short snow field where the ice ax came in handy. We continued upwards onto a morraine, which we climbed up to reach the hut. There were already 6 people in the hut and with three more behind us, the climb was shaping up to be a little dicey due to the loose nature of the route.

 

The approach trail.

 

The approach trail.

 

Getting up to the Gmoser's Highway. At the end of the path, start up this easy gully.

 

Above the gully, continue on a faint path through scree to an easy 4th class chimney.

 

The ledges are narrow, loose and downsloping in many spots. They didn't seem too bad though with careful stepping.

 

Slow and steady progress.

 

A few spots required use of hands.

 

Nice cool spot along the ledges.

 

First view of the R.C. Hind hut.

 

Carl and I were the only Americans present. The others were Australians (one from Tazmania) and Canadians and one young man from France. They were all very pleasant to be around...until they fell asleep. Then they (or at least a few of them) weren't. I put in the handy-dandy earplugs and tried to breath through my sleeping bag. I beleive that first night in the hut was the crux of the climb.

 

Mt. Assiniboine from the hut.

 

The privy.

 

Inside the R.C. Hind hut.

 

We started out from the hut at about 6 on Saturday morning. It took an hour to cross talus and snow fields and ascend steep scree to the start of the north ridge. We caught up with three Canadians on the ridge and looked behind to see 4 other climbers starting out from the hut. We continued up the route, working with the Canadians to limit the risk from rock-fall. Before too long, the other four climbers had caught up to us and eventually passed somewhere below the red band. The climbing was pretty easy through the lower section. Mostly very loose rock but with occasional islands of solid stuff – just enough to make us feel secure. We worked our way up this lower section more on the face than the ridge. On the way down, we discovered a good path that stayed nearer to the ridge. Either way works going up but the path is the best bet on the descent.

 

Gaining the ridge.

 

The hut from the ridge.

 

The red band was the first section that required more than a few stiff moves to negotiate. It was easy 4th class stemming up a secure but exposed chimney. We all stopped somewhere near the red band to hydrate and eat and just enjoy the views. It was a large flat spot on the edge of the ridge, which overlooked the east face. The sun was hitting the spot and we were sheltered from the cold breeze so we stayed for a bit and soaked it all in.

 

Climbing through the red band.

 

Taking a break.

 

We continued on into a darker shaded rock where we were force nearer to the ridge crest. To the right was very difficult terrain but directly above looked like doable, solid rock. I headed up on excellent holds, passing a piton near the bottom. The section went straight up to somewhat of a overhang, which was avoided by taking a few steps left. A mantle move got me onto easier ground, which led to a rap anchor. This section was very spicey and had oodles of exposure - other than the final ridge-run, this was the best section of the route. I tied a rope in and chucked it down for the others to ascend. It turned out to be easier to just belay everyone up but it did consume more time.

 

Above the red band.

 

We reached the summit at about noon. The wind was calm and the sky was clear. One of our new Canadian friends built a small stone privy down the open ridge and was preparing to leave his special gift when a helicopter loaded with tourists did a close fly-by - too funny...."And here to your right is...ah..." After about an hour, Carl and I started down. The Canadians suggested we team up...Yeah I know, time to epic - 5 people sharing raps, blah blah. Having done this before, I knew it was going to take some time but what the heck, we had all day, the weather was clear and we were sharing good times with new friends. On the mountain or sitting in the hut - what's better?! Besides, it avoided some potential rockfall issues anyway.

 

Easy ridge walk to the summit.

 

Carl and Me.

 

Views.

 

Views.

 

Views.

 

We took forever getting down and the clouds began to roll in. At one point, we got a small amount of hail but the clouds moved by quickly so as fast as it fell, it disappeared. There were many rap stations available and we made use of them to avoid much of the loose crap, downclimbing sections where the rock was more solid. We reached the hut and threw down our gear late in the afternoon. All but two of the other climbers had headed back to stay at cabins at the lodge. I'm not sure if that was their original plan or if they were forced down by the pungeantness from the previous night. We ate dinner around a much less crowded table and talked about the climb and past and future adventures for several hours. Most of us had freeze-dried meals. The french climber (Thomas) had a huge plate of spaghetti topped with cheese. Once he brought that to the table, all talking ceased. We stared at that plate like Sméagol staring at the One Ring.

 

Descending.

 

Descending.

 

Descending.

 

Descending.

 

Around midnight or so, I stepped outside the hut to a moon-lit landscape. Mt. Assiniboine was covered in clouds from the grey band on up. It looked like a shark might look as it cruises just below the surface of the water. The night was cooler and fresher than the previous so I felt more rested the next morning.

 

Back at the hut.

 

We ate breakfast, packed then headed down to catch the chopper ride back out. The Gmoser Highway was more sketch on the descent. For some reason, my nerves were frayed by the time we got off that thing. I expected it to be a cake walk compared to descending Assiniboine but I found it just as bad. I was glad when we finally reached solid ground.

 

Sunrise at the hut.

 

Back at the lodge we were greeted by the hordes (ok, just a few) wanting to know if we were the "slow" team that was descending the mountain Saturday afternoon. Appearantly, a group of 20 tourists had gathered around the telescope at the lodge, watching us descend for several hours. "I think one of them may be injured.", "They better hurry before that lightning reaches them or they're gonners for sure." Jeesh, I felt like we just walked onto the set of The Eiger Sanction or something.

 

The flight out was blazing fast, after which we stopped at Canmore for a burger then zoomed back to Spokane.

 

The flight out.

 

Gear Notes:

60 M double or twin for raps, which can be doubled if needed for leading the grey band.

 

We didn't place gear but the grey band looked like it would take cams in the .5 to 3" range. Like most teams we saw, we carried a small rack of 4 or 5 cams and half set of nuts.

 

Approach Notes:

Watch for bears. The Gmoser Highway seemed well-marked and obvious.

Edited August 15, 2009 by spotly

[gertlush]

Nice Seems like it all went smoothly, gotta love that.

[Le Piston]

Glad all went well for your climb. It looks like there was even less snow than when I climbed it. I saw bear tracks but didn't see Mr. Griz. Nice TR...much more comprehensive than my maiden effort. Did you get hooked on Canadian alpine climbing?

[tazz]

NICE Tim!! WANT......

[spotly]

Did you get hooked on Canadian alpine climbing?

 

It was my second summit in Canada - the first rock route. I'd say this was one of my favorite climbs to date. To me it's about the setting AND the rock quality among other things. This climb had so much going for it though that rock quality could be somewhat overlooked....somewhat.

 

NICE Tim!! WANT......

 

Go get it! Just remember to bring your "eh" game

[Fairweather]

Very nice. CC.com trip report of the summer, IMO! I've wanted this one for a long time--and now I want it even more! Was the heli easy to arrange?

[Peakpimp]

Climbing through the red band.

Wow the rock strata up there are really wild! Very cool.

 

 

[spotly]

Very nice. CC.com trip report of the summer, IMO! I've wanted this one for a long time--and now I want it even more! Was the heli easy to arrange?

 

Thanks. My trip of the summer maybe but until I get some better writing skills, I'll settle for TR of the hour anyway

 

The chopper is easy to arrange. My partner took care of all of that but here's a link to some info: Linly. There's a $20 cancellation fee if you cancel at least 48 hours prior. We did cancel due to weather but when it improved overnight we easily got our reservations back again. It's a much busier heliport than expected.