Mt Assiniboine 3,618m
Mt Assiniboine is in the Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park which is sandwiched between the Banff & Kootenay National Parks in the Canadian Rockies.
Mt Assiniboine is THE Matterhorn of the Canadian Rockies with its pyramidal shape & steep technical ridges, but having the added beauty of being totally away from all the crowds and in a wild & remote setting.
The photo shows the North ridge, NE & NW faces of Mt Assiniboine seen when looking south from Mt Assiniboine Lodge.
It's here from Mt Assiniboine Lodge close to the shores of Lake Magog that you get some of the most spectacular views of this beautiful mountain.
Access into Mt Assiniboine Lodge is long, as it is when tacking any route on this mountain, so climbers usually fly in making the most of the good weather spells.
Mt Assiniboine Lodge (2,225m) is an historic Norwegian Style Lodge which sleeps 30 people in rustic rooms & 6 cabins with great hosts serving up its famous delicious gourmet food. From the Lodge it's still a good half day walk & scramble into the high mountain RC Hind Hut, situated conveniently on the flanks of the NW face at about 2,690m. providing great access to many of the routes.
From the RC Hind Hut we plan to climb the 900m long North Ridge of the mountain which will be very challenging but never too technical in difficulty. Much of the ground we'll be moving together on with short roped pitches in-between but the ground will be very exposed so some experience & competence of moving very sure footedly is a must.
Technically you need to be able to second Alpine AD confidently, as it's a big day and can take anything from 8 to 14 hrs, return to the RC Hind Hut.
The Bugaboo Glacier Provincial Park, is a very isolated & spectacular range of rugged granite spires & glaciers in the Purcell Mountains of BC Canada.
The Palliser Expedition in 1857 - 1860 first traversed the area and named it after their expedition sponsor Goodwin Purcell. In 1969, Bugaboo Glacier Provincial Park was created to preserve and protect this outstanding area of the Purcells. Now climbers from all over the world come to climb these amazing granite spires.
Pigeon Peak (3,150m) is one of these rugged granite towers & the super classic West ridge is a one of the best routes of its grade in North America, climbing immaculate granite, on a knife edge at times to a beautiful summit & inspiring views.
The climbing is moderate in nature but ability to second short sections of British Severe (IV) is a must.
This very isolated range of rugged granite towers & glaciers is actually only a 3hr drive from Banff & then a 3hr walk into the Conrad Kain Hut (2,230m) which gives great access to Pigeon Peak as well as many of the other routes & peaks here.
Castle Mountain
The Mountain was named back in 1858 by James Hector for its castle-like appearance and is the obvious mountain seen as you drive between Banff & Lake Louise. It is situated in more of a pre-Alpine setting, with easy access from a valley floor devoid of glaciers where it will make the perfect change from spending time in the mountains & will be a great culmination to the 2-week trip.
We plan to climb the classic Eisenhower Tower on Castle Mountain. The rock is Limestone and the route is purely a rock climbing/scrambling objective at a moderate grade.
The route involves a scramble up to a huge ledge system where we'll spend the night in a small bivouac shelter overlooking the Bow Valley. The following day we'll climb a steep & exposed ridge which leads to a steeper 250m headwall involving some moderate rock climbing to the summit. The mountain is long & has a number of summits but we'll make a number of rappels to descend back to the bivouac shelter & then back to the valley floor.
This makes a great 2 day trip at the end of a fantastic mountaineering & climbing holiday to the Canadian Rockies this summer.
Details
We run the trip on a 2 clients to 1 guide ratio.
The in-country cost of the trip excludes flights and insurance.
Dates - We convene on Sunday at around 7pm in Banff - however we advise flying out the day before to give time to get over any jet lag.
