Monday, December 19, 2022

GR279343 “Spoon Needle (Aiguille de la Cuiller)” - South Ridge

Many of us mountain enthusiasts have looked at the cool sharp ridge of this interesting feature heading north on Highway 40 from the Kananaskis Valley. The first ascent known to me was by the venerable Sonny Bou. His trip report from 2004 is available here. Over the years, as much of Kananaskis, this hike/scramble was become very popular with frequent ascents in all seasons. Had a great day out on November 19 with Curt and Taylor heading out for a snow shoe approach and hike up Spoon Needle. 

Photo from https://peakery.com/spoon-needle-alberta/ 
View to Spoon Needle from Highway 40.

Approximate route.

Near Fortress Ski Resort area, view down the road we walked up.

Cool view to the Fortress.

Easy bushwach from road to tree line.

Great views to the south.

Views

Getting near tree line. 

Curt and Taylor.

OSWB, photo by Curt. 

South Ridge looks pretty easy from here.

Hiking up to the final rock section.

Time to leave the snow shoes.

Great views,

Taylor running for the top.


Curt enjoying the views.









Signing the register.

Like all of us, the summit register is showing its age. Our summit visit was super windy and it was very difficult to keep the pages from blowing away. We signed the register and carefully packed it back in the tune. Was too windy to read through it. A few photos from Sonny's trip and Vern/Steven's trip; you can really see the staples rusting and the paper quality deteriorating. 

From Sonny's Sept. 2004 trip.

From Steven's Feb. 2014 trip.

From Vern's Feb. 2014 trip.

Our summit register entry.

Heading home.
Photo by Curt.



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