Alpine Climbing and Mountaineering

Climber on Paddle Flake (5.10), Bugaboos, BC, Canada

Below are only some of the climbs I've done. The quality is based on a 5 star maximum and is merely my opinion. I've tried to put mountaineering and alpine climbs here - the rest is in the Ice and Rock pages.

Area/Peak	Route	Picture	Difficulty	Stars	Date	Comments
Sierra Nevada	North Peak, Left Couloir		grade 2-3 ice	***	November 17, 2007	Long approach, and a short little climb with a remote feeling.
Glacier National Park	Mt Sir Donald, NW Ridge		III 5.4	*****	August 1, 2007	The ultimate classic when it comes to ridge climbs.
Assiniboine	Mt Assiniboine, North Ridge		II 5.6	***	July 27-29, 2007	An aesthetic mountain, but poor rock quality and not much in the way of technical challenges. The highest in the Southern Rockies, so it's popular.
Banff	Mt Temple, East Ridge		IV 5.7	****	July 26, 2007	A very fun ridge climb. Some route finding needed in the Black Towers area, and a committing climb, but otherwise straightforward and easy in good weather.
Peru, Cordillera Blanca	Artesonraju, SE face (attempt)		6025m, D	****	June 30-July 3, 2007	A very fun alpine climb, sustained 50-60 degree climbing for a very long time. We wasted hours bashing through the glacier in the dark and only got up partway.
Peru, Cordillera Blanca	Chopicalqui, SW ridge		6354m, AD-	****	June 22-26, 2007	A very fun ridge climb, easy until the last few hundred meters.
Peru, Cordillera Blanca	Yanapaccha		5460m, AD	***	June 19-20, 2007	More difficult than the book describes it as, with an absolutely scary bergschrund crossing when we did it.
Peru, Cordillera Blanca	Pisco (attempt)		5752m, PD	*	June 16-17, 2007	Other than as an acclimatization peak, I don't see how this is an attractive climb. The moraine takes hours to get through and the climbing is just long and mostly low angle.
Banff	Brewer Buttress, Castle Mountain		12p, II 5.6+	****	September 1, 2006	A very fun alpine climb. We bivied at the small bivy hut, but due to the very short time it took us to get there, a one day climb is recommended... carrying less stuff. Be very careful finding the descent gully!
Kananaskis	Joy Route, Mt Indefatigable		10p, II 5.5	**	September 12, 2006	Monotonous slab climbing along a corner. Nice views of Kananaskis Lakes and Joffre, but not much in the way of actual climbing.
Kananaskis	Gap Mountain		scramble	*****	September 10, 2006	A very fun scramble... short, with spectacular views. Recommended for a nice afternoon outing.
Bow Valley	Ha Ling Peak, NE Ridge		7-10p, 5.6	***	August 21, 2006	A classic climb, but not as impressive as it looks. A must do, as you stare at it from the highway all the time!
Bugaboos	Pigeon Spire, West Ridge		II, 5.4	*****	August 26, 2006	Definitely a must do! Nice scrambling along a beautiful ridge.
Bugaboos	Bugaboo Spire, NE Ridge		IV, 5.8, 12p	*****	August 25, 2006	One of the 50 classics in North America, and deservedly so. A long day.
Bugaboos	McTech Arete, Crescent Spire		5.10, 6p	*****	August 24, 2006	A sweet climb with low commitment (can rappel at any point) for questionable weather days.
Tuolumne, CA	Cathedral Peak, SE Buttress		5.6-5.7	*****	July 15, 2006	Spectacular day on an excellent climb! Get up early because the amount of people can be insane... highly recommended.
Eastern Sierra, CA	Mt Russell, E Ridge		3rd class	*****	July 2-3, 2006	One of my favourite scrambles. Solid rock with tons of exposure. I stuck to the ridge religiously - it has some exciting sections for "3rd class". Camping at the lake was great!
Tuolumne, CA	Echo Peaks		3rd/4th class	***	July 1, 2006	Nice scrambles, I did not do all of them (one is 5.7?) but enjoyed the day out. Headed towards Bishop the same day.
Icefields Parkway	Mt Hector ski		ski ascent	****	March 17, 2006	Very cool ski ascent. Some big crevasses on glacier. The last little bit towards the summit can be tricky, especially in a white-out.
Banff	Helena Ridge (winter)		winter scramble	**	December 27, 2005	Bad snow and avalanche conditions combined with a snow storm and -30 windchill made for a long and taxing day. Easy scramble in the summer but boy did it feel different!
Banff	Eiffel Peak		scramble	*****	September 25, 2006	Excellent scramble with spectacular views in one of the best valleys to hike in. I did it in autumn and enjoyed the yellow larches.
Kananaskis	Mt Blane, NW Ridge		II, 5.6	****	September 8, 2005	Nice ridge climb, knife edge in a few sections. The loose rock makes it a bit scary and one needs to be careful, but there isn't much in the way of technical difficulties - more of a hard scramble.
Kananaskis	Mt Lorette, South Ridge		II, 5.4	***	September 6, 2005	Nice scramble with only 1-2 sections that could be called 5.4 - pretty easy but one has to be comfortable with exposure.
Kananaskis	Mt Joffre, N face		III	****	August 20-21, 2005	Aster Lake is one of my favourite areas to backpack into. Once there, it takes another couple of hours to get to the base of the glacier, and the summit isn't too far away. In perfect snow conditions, the climb is enjoyable and safe - it could be bare ice in the middle of summer and might present more serious climbing then.
Icefields Parkway	A2		III	***	June 11-13, 2005	Cool peak, right next to the famous Athabasca. Did it as part of a 3-day course with Yamnuska which was very fun.