Elpoca Mountain - North Couloir/North Ridge, 5.8, Alpine IV

Nearly 15 years ago, in August 2003, I set a new alpine rock route (5.5) to the west summit tower of  Tombstone Mountain (main, highest north summit); a thunderstorm chased us off before we could summit the main tower.  Later that summer, Karen and I spent a full day wandering around the beautiful alpine meadows of the Piper Pass area, including some bouldering on some of the big beauties that are dotted around the meadows. Since the summer of 2003 I have wanted to climb the great northern couloir of Elpoca Mountain.  Over the intervening years, I glazed longing many times on this great feature.  Started the approach with John in June 2015, but a raging snow storm turned us back just beyond Elbow Lake.

My friend from San Francisco, Scott Berry, is super stoked to climb Opal Range summits, and after our ascents of South Schlee and Little Tombstone in September 2016, Scott was keen to try the couloir on Elpoca.  I had never heard of an ascent of this route, and was hoping to set a first ascent.  Scott and I were successful on our climb of the couloir and North Ridge (just west below the ridge line) to the summit of Elpoca Mountain on June 26, 2017.  Turns out we missed the first ascent by one year, oh well, we had an absolutely spectacular alpine day on our trip.

North Face and North Couloir of Elpoca Mtn. from near Piper Pass.
Great Northern Couloir obvious line on right.
Photo taken Sept. 2016.

Sunday June 25, we did a casual approach and arrived at our bivy site within 2.5 hours from the busy Elbow Lake parking lot.  Perfectly situated underneath the scree slopes below the great northern couloir in the Piper Creek drainage.  Set up camp, did a hike up to the base of couloir and across scree slopes to gain a better view.  Pumped for the early start.Thinking back to the ascent now, I have broken up the ascent and descent into three sections each.  Ascent sections, The Great Northern Couloir, Scrappy Traverse and the Rock Pitches (rock steps to gain standard south ridge route, then 5.5 ish terrain to summit).  Descent sections, south ridge descent, big snow slope (Golden Gully) and scree to trees.

View to North Face and Great Northern Couloir from camp.
Base of couloir snakes right, then left out of sight.

Kevin (OSWB) scoping route.
Photo by Scott Berry.

Zoom to lowest section of couloir.

Middle section visible from above camp. We stayed climber's right of the "island" and the "fin" on our ascent.
Left side of fin lacked snow on top of fin.

View again to couloir.

Tent at bottom of this scree slope.
Perfect spot. 2.5 hour walk from Elbow Lake, so a day tripping should be doable.

View south from kitchen near camp.

The Great Northern Couloir
Relatively straightforward snow plod to summit ridge, but not to be taken lightly.  About 350 metres of gain, slope steepest at about 50 degrees, but lots of potential for rock fall.  Would recommend ascending all the snow in the dark.  We started on the snow about 2am and ran out of snow, very close to North Ridge, about 4:30am.  We solo’ed the snow slope, didn’t use a rope or any snow pro. We did use two technical axes and wore crampons for the ascent.  Exit to our chosen low point on the ridge required some moderate mixed snow/ice/rock climbing to hit the saddle, did set a solid picket anchor to belay this pitch.  About 50 metres to gain ridge. Our original plan was to gain the proper North Ridge as soon as possible, but the couloir exit had near vertical walls above and any rock exit to gain the ridge proper would be difficult, I would guess at the lowest 5.9 or even 5.10, with no easy protection.  May have been easier exits part way up our mixed pitch, but no obvious line, so we gunned for the low point on the ridge.

Scott pumped to run up this thing!
(also worrying about rockfall)
At the narrow section at beginning of couloir.

Almost out of snow, very near the start of mixed exit pitch.

View down from near mixed pitch, sun starting to give us some light.

Just above mixed pitch, easy terrain to gain low spot on North Ridge.

Sunrise views north to Mt. Jerram (l) and Cats Ears (r, double summit).

More cool morning light.

Scrappy traverse including, manky ledge below summit block
We were both happy to be on the ridge and out of the serious rock fall hazard zone before the sun was fully up.  We had a quick breakfast break and picked an easy looking line that would keep us about 70 metres below the highest ridge line we could see. The majority of this next section was moderate terrain with a mix of scrambling loose rock, small snow slopes and a raising ascent line that would drop a bit into a gully system, then up over a rib to gain another gully edge, then repeat a few times. This travel was quick and we were unroped. Didn’t know it at the time, but we reach a traverse ledge below an overhanging wall, this ledge was directly below the summit block. This traverse ledge also had a very exposed overhanging/vertical drop beneath it.  We did belay across this ledge since it was so loose and any fall would be very unforgiving.  At the end of this ledge traverse was a short, but steep, rock step, our crux.

View to gain skyline North Ridge.  Looked loose and tough.
We bailed to easy ground below ridgeline, on the west side.

Just leaving our low ridge point, starting traverse south.
Photo by Scott Berry.

Start of traverse, typical terrain for first half of traverse, up and over a few ribs.
Unroped and straightforward terrain.

Scott enjoying the views to the west.

View up to ridgeline above.

"Mt. Roberta" to west.
Photo by Scott Berry

Outlier tower and Gap Mtn.
Photo by Scott Berry



Nearing end of the traverse, start of manky ledge below summit block.
Photo by Scott Berry

Scott crossing manky ledge. He is likely directly below the summit at this point.
Our crux, the 5.8 ish step, is at the end of this ledge.
Our exit was just left of the small nub on the skyline.

The Rock Pitches
As is often the case, the rock step didn’t look that bad, but it was solid 5.8, or maybe even 5.9, on downsloping ledges with very little protection available.  Glad Scott was keen on this pitch.  He did a fantastic lead and placed all our skinny pitons (knifeblades and bugaboos), I think about 10 pins and a few wires. About 40 metres from belay to belay. The top of the step put us very near the final section of the south summit ridge route.  Above this station was another pitch of solid 5.7 climbing to gain an in place anchor station. 

View across mank ledge to crux pitch.

Base of crux pitch. Didn't take enough pics. Solid 5.8/5.9 downsloping ledges to belay.
Basically up the middle to the notch left of the nub.
Scott's fine lead.
Photo by Scott Berry

Kevin on second of crux pitch.
Photo by Scott Berry.

Kevin heading up 5.7 pitch.
Photo by Scott Berry.

Summit pointy bit upper right.
Our manky traverse was just below the big overhand.

From this station it was about 60 metres to the summit.  We pitched using existing stations in place and one sling station where I left my pack.  Scott did the final push up to the summit, about 5.5 downclimb on ridge (crux of south ridge route?) and about 5.4 up the short steep summit block.The summit yeah, yeah.  Apparently we have the second ascent of the Great Northern Couloir.  I guess I shouldn’t have waited 15 years ;-)

Kevin at an intermediate station.
Ditched my pack here.Summit over my shoulder.
Photo by Scott Berry.

Nearing downclimb crux of south ridge, near summit block.
Photo by Scott Berry

Cruxing. Wind was whipping the shit out of the rope.
Photo by Scott Berry

Scott B. rocking the summit of Elpoca Mtn.

Final steps to summit for KB.
The absolutely gorgeous Elpoca Tower below.
Photo by Scott Berry

Boys on top.
Photo by Scott Berry

Summit register entries.

Our summit entry.

Tombstone summits from summit.

Elpoca Tower.

Rappelling off of the single summit bolt.
Photo by Scott Berry.

South Ridge Descent
Overall not too bad, but the thunderstorm and not having ascending it made the final exit more problematic.  We rapped off the single summit bolt. Scott ran to the fixed station, belayed me, then we returned to first fixed station we found, rap, then more downclimbing, another rap, then a bit of confusion, wasted some time finding another an easy downclimb, couldn’t but eventually found another rap station.  Trying to figure when the top of the snow slope, aka the Golden Gully was a bit confusing, then we got hammered by a thunderstorm complete with hail, good times.  Eventually found the top of the Golden Gully after slogging up hill to a little smooth saddle.

Old man Barton at rap station.
Photo by Scott Berry

View back to summit ridge.

Kevin down climbing near last rap.
Photo by Scott Berry

Last tricky rap.
Photo by Scott Berry

Post thunderstorm.
The end is in sight. The top of the "Golden Gully" is visible, just left of the biggest snow patch.
Photo by Scott Berry

Approaching the exit slope, just left of the big snow patch.
Photo by Scott Berry

Big snow slope (Golden Gully)

This is access up the East Face to the South Ridge, famously named the “Golden Gully” by Orvel Miskiw. Highly recommend that if you ascend Elpoca, and this slope, do it when this slope is covered in snow.  Other reports of ascending and descending this rock/scree slope sounds miserable.  I prefer kicking steps in snow.  This slope is also long with a lot of vertical gain/loss, we had snow from the ridge, all the way to Elpoca Tower, about 300 metres. Simple snow descent. We had another thunderstorm hit us on our descent of this snow slope, very cool echoing surrounded by the big walls.

View down big snow slope (golden gully).

OSWB near slope of big snow slope.
Photo by Scott Berry

The luscious Elpoca Tower
and the left trending snow slope (golden gully) heading to the ridgeline.
Photo take on our exit hike.
Regards my friends. Long life.

Scree to trees

From Elpoca Tower back to tree line above the Elbow River was a simple hike, but, after the long day, this section seemed to take forever.  Beautiful sunny conditions as we hiked across the meadows north of the Elbow River to find the trail back in Piper Creek and back to camp.  All in, we were about 20 hours camp to camp. Super happy to have finally climbed this cool looking line.  Great times with an impeccable climber. Scott and I had a blast.

A very approximate line of our ascent.
Photo from highway 40, near Elpoca Creek.

Chester Lake - Ski Tour

Short fun day out to get some cardio with John. We did a brilliant cruisey ski to Chester Lake, up to Elephant Rocks and high speed exit to beers in Canmore.  Great time.

I totally think Mt. Galatea would be a great ski after this view.

GR378107 "Mt. Roberta" - Solo ski ascent via west slopes

Great solo ski day up the small and obscure “Mount Roberta” (GR378107), northern most end of the Elk Range, just north of “Mt. Pocaterra”.  There seemed to be a furry of the famous local scramblers heading up this minor summit in 2013 to about 2015.  Seems like a great shoulder season or winter trip that would provide a great view to the southern end of the Opal Range; views of the Opals, count me in.

Seeking an easy solo ski trip I thought it was time to check out this little summit. The standard approach trail off of highway 40 is not accessible by car from December 1 to June 15. I have skied up the closed highway many times over the years, so I thought I would an approach via the network of crosscountry ski trail in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, near the Kananaskis Lakes, would be a nice change.  In the end I think both approaches are likely equal in time and distance.

View up Packers ski trail with "Mt. Roberta" in the background.

For my trip, I parked at the main Boulton Creek parking lot and skied to the “Packers” trail, then connected onto the “Pocaterra” trail.  I spied the western slopes of Mt. Roberta looking for the lowest angled slope with the thinnest trees, then end up at the intersection of Pocaterra and Whiskey Jack.  I think I end up too far south, so I decided to use this clear landmark as my exit.  I skied up slope from here with a variety of thick and thin trees, with mostly a solid and supportive sun crust and no ski penetration, with the rare bottomless facetted uphill slog.  The upslope was a bit of a grind, but eventually reached tree line and open wind blown scree.  When I reached the summit ridge line, turns out I was quite a bit south, and higher, than the summit of Mt. Roberta.

Typical terrain that I ascended and descended on the west slopes.

At tree line, scree hike to summit ridge.

From my ridge position, view downhill to summit.

Great views of the southern Opal Range summits, Elpoca Mtn. shows it prominence in this view.

First big bump before main summit bump.

Summit bump, Elpoca Mtn. behind on right.

View up ridge to "Mt. Pocaterra".
I bet a traverse from highway 40 to Roberta, Mt. Pocaterra to Mt. Tyrwhitt would go.

Cat's Ear's (north and south towers)

The mighty "South Schlee"

Old guy on little summit, Elpoca Mtn. behind.

Quick boot run , downhill mostly, to the northern end of the ridge and the summit of Mt. Roberta.  I was keen to see the old 1949 summit register and old summit note, but it was gone.  I carefully disassembled the summit cairn and the only thing I found was an old mason jar with a rusted out lid.

Used without permission from Vern Dewit.
http://www.explor8ion.com/scrambles/roberta.html

Rebuilt the cairn and ran back to my skis, an interesting and challenging tree ski back to the trails. I skied down the Whisky Jack trail and it was the right choice, mostly downhill and very direct back to the parking lot.  Interesting, my time to reach the summit, and disassemble/rebuild the summit cairn, was just under 6 hours. Time from summit to car, under 2 hours. Got to love ski descents.

Blue Cheese - WI3, 20m

A last minute chance to get out for some ice cragging. Had the opportunity to get out with my old friend Raff. Raff wasn't looking for a big day and the weather was quite cold and snowy so this easily accessible and quiet crag was the prefect fit for a fun day of easy climbing.

Once we found the proper drainage, which was easy since we followed an old snow shoe track, the tight creek bed soon revealed the cool little ice sheet.  About 30 metres wide and about 20 metres at highest point. The ice ranged from steep 3+ on wet featured ice to dry, brittle and dinner plating grade 3.  I lead a few times up the ice wall and we both enjoyed top roping for a full arm and calve pump.  

We spent about 5 hours climbing at this cool crag and had the place to ourselves.  A great Sunday out, close to town.

Green Monster - WI5, 30m and Yoga Monster - M5+, WI4, 25m

John and I were looking for an ice and mixed climbing crag day and decided on WD40, Slurpee and some potential easy trad mixed routes in upper Evan Thomas Creek. Colin was able to join us last minute and we still set our sights on upper ETC.

WD40

Colin had never been up past Moonlight before and was keen to lead up Green Monster, so we did that. Colin is a solid off the couch WI5 leader and even though he is recovering from a broken hand and hadn’t been on ice for a month, he easily led up the WI 4+/5 curtain of Green Monster. John and I were happy to do top roped laps on this big curtain and the three of us did laps on various lines on the steep wall for a few hours.

John TR'ing on Green Monster

To finish up the day, Colin led up “Yoga Monster” a 25 metre M5, WI4 bolted route.  This route was set in 2008 as part of the larger mixed crag of Rehab Wall, just after Jason and I did the first ascents of the three new ice routes in this section of the canyon in January of 2008 (WD40, Slurpee and Green Monster).

Stiff M5 route, short, and well protected by bolts, but super technically and strenuous, I think a + is warranted.  Colin led the route, John and I top roped, solid route, but once you know the move and tool placements, comes together really nicely.  Recommended little M5+. Ice on the upper section of the route was fairly brittle, but took good screws. An enjoyable day out at the crag with the young guns.

Colin heading up Yoga Monster