The Passionate Hiker: TOP TEN (9): Up the Crowsnest (August 1987)

TOP TEN (9)

More than three decades ago, between 1983 and 1987 the Passionate Hiker was busy setting the foundations for his career, and his family, in Alberta, but it didn't stop him from going on a number of exciting adventures in the Canadian Rockies.

Here is the ninth of his selected "Top Ten" trips during that time frame. The narrative comes from his diaries, written at the time. He took very few photos on this demanding trip, and so has turned to the internet for suitable shots of the climb.

Crowsnest Mountain (9,137 ft./2,785 m) from the south - looking impregnable

FRI. 7TH AUGUST 1987:

UP THE CROWSNEST

Background to this Story:

From the Crowsnest Highway running west through the southern Canadian Rockies, this mountain looks impregnable. But there is a steep ascent available from its northern side. In anything but perfect weather, it would be foolhardy to attempt it. Luckily we picked a perfect day. This was day one of an energetic 2-day weekend.

Our steep ascent is from the north side of the mountain

My Diary:

It is safe to say that the view from the top of Crowsnest Mountain (9,137 ft.) is one that I shall see only once in my lifetime!

This is one challenging mountain. The trail guide is perhaps not sufficiently cautionary – or maybe I’m out of shape. Despite it being August, this is my first hike of the year.

The Crowsnest Pass heads east-west across the Rockies about 150 km south of Calgary. Crowsnest Mountain rises dramatically on the north side of the Pass, seemingly an impossible climb with steep vertical sections. The logging road (Allison Creek road) – complete with speeding logging trucks – leads up round the west side of the lower forested slopes of the mountain, to our starting point – a clearing in the trees.

From here it’s upwards all the way – in only 4 km we will climb 3,400 ft. There are three very different stages. The first is an increasingly steep path through the forest up the slopes, passing by pretty streams and colourful wildflowers. Finally coming out of the trees we find ourselves in the bottom of a bowl. Above us the steep scree slopes end below towering cliffs. Without the benefit of a guide book, we would happily stop right here, have lunch and then return down to the car.

But our book insists that there’s a way up. So we scramble up the steep scree slopes until I have to leave my walking stick behind in favour of two hands. We pull up onto an outcrop. There’s no obvious route from here. We drop down and around the cliff, up another scree then climb up into a narrow and steep chute. This is tricky going up and probably dangerous going down, but we are committed now. At the top of the chute is a ledge along the cliff. Luckily this leads onto another scree slope at the very foot of the cliffs, which are black from constantly dripping water.

Just beyond this black cliff we find the so-called “chimney” – maybe 20 feet wide and 150 yards long, at an angle of about 45° upwards. Each side of us are the steep cliff sides. At our feet is loose rubble.

As we reach the top of the chimney, several times sending rocks tumbling down, we have to do a tiny bit of climbing to get out onto the bare mountainside above [I see from the internet that there is now a fixed chain up this most difficult section].

The final stage of our climb is an unexpected and unwelcome section of rubble and scree contouring up an increasingly steep slope onto the summit. There were times when I wondered if we’d make it. Probably the worst surface imaginable and designed to twist an ankle.

Finally the summit! Spectacular, and today the 360° unrestricted views are unspoiled by any cloud or haze. West across the BC Rockies; North to glacier-clad peaks; East to the distant prairie; and South to the jagged Waterton peaks. Below lies the Crowsnest Pass and the villages of Coleman and Blairmore, a vertical kilometre below.

On the summit is a plastic tube containing the names of those plucky people who made it up here. Some humorous comments. It’s clear that most people shared our feelings about the dangers of this mountain and quite a few expressed concern that they may not get down safely.

The average time to the top appears to be 3½ hours (our time) but one guy made it in a staggering 1 hour 50 minutes! Another man writes “My wife made it up here last year and said I couldn’t do it – so there!”. One climber came up in May, noting that he “had to use both ice axes to detour past the chimney”! It’s clear that the difficulty would become extreme in anything but perfect weather. Luckily today was such a day – only a light breeze on the summit and cloudless skies.

To our great surprise, we share the summit with a gutsy 7-year old boy and his dad. I’m not sure how he made it up and I’m still worried that he didn’t get down.

We charge down the rubble slopes, bringing part of the mountain down with us. The descent back into the chimney requires steady nerves and all the experience gained hiking in Scotland, England and Canada. I really don’t enjoy having to cling on by 2 hands as well as 2 feet.

It’s all relatively straight-forward from here on, except that it’s very steep. We’re thankful to reach the treeline and disappear into the cool forest.

This afternoon we drive south to Waterton National Park for the next adventure in this jam-packed weekend. [See my final Top Ten story: “Crypt Lake Classic”.]

STATISTICS:

Summit Elev. = 9,137 ft./2,785 m

Height Gain = 3,400 ft.

Hike Distance = 8 km

Time on Trail = 6 hrs. 00 mins.

Time to Top = 3 hrs. 30 mins.