What started as a straightforward hike and scramble, turned into a full day expedition of some exciting mountaineering. Given the miserable weather forecast (cloudy with snow flurries in the afternoon), our initial plan was a practice climbing at Wasootch Slabs. When we arrived at Wasootch Creek parking lot, however, the sky was still generally clear, and so we decided to attempt the unnamed summit to the west of the parking lot (actually the northernmost summit of a long ridge that includes Old Baldy Mountain and Mount McDougall, further south). It looked to be a relatively straightforward scramble with some bushwhacking at the beginning, followed by the ascent of an avalanche gully, and then a steep hike to the summit. A long ridgewalk to several higher points was also visible, but we didn't plan on doing much of it.

Although the deep snow made the ascent lengthy (about 2 hours), it was easy and we chose to stay in the tress throughout, avoiding the avalanche gully. At the first summit, we were given terrific views of Wasootch Tower, Mount Allan, Mount Lougheed, Mount Lorette, and last week's Mount Collembola. From there, a short, easy, and enjoyable scramble took us to a second, slightly higher summit.

The next section of the ridge looked considerably more difficult and it was! At first, the ridge was wide and easy to negotiate, but quickly it became quite narrow, with significant drop-offs on both sides. A fair amount of snow didn�t make things easier. We eventually came to a section with a short downclimb followed by a very steep wall that might have been possible to ascent, but would have required climbing gear to descend. Unfortunately, because of the snow, we couldn't even get passed the downclimb. Luckily, we had brought with us a 25m length of rope and after backtracking a little, we found a steep snow-filled gully that would take us down and around the difficult section. A tree at the top provided a great anchor and we set up a rappel, with the intention of leaving the rope there so that we could use it to ascend the gully on return.   

After rappelling down, we tried to stay on steep avalanche slopes to shorten the ascent, but the extremely deep snow made travel excruciatingly slow and we were forced back onto the ridge. Up higher we did actually cut across the slope - a big mistake! We came to an impasse and had to ascend a very steep and dangerous rockband to regain the ridge.

Now, we were confronted with another near vertical rockband that we would have to circumvent on either side. Neither route looked promising and I thought that this would be the end of the line. We decided to take a look at the left side. This involved traversing a very steep snow slope, where a slip would have sent you on an involuntary glissade hundred of meters down the mountain. The longer rope would have been nice, but we were forced to use our short rope and ice axes. Mark went first and I followed. We made it safely and then a found a good route back onto the ridge.

The summit was now in view and after another half hour of interesting travel across corniced ridges and up short rockbands, we made it to the top. Aside from the increasing cloud cover and a viciously cold west wind, the summit view was beautiful. Of special interest were Old Baldy (not to be confused with much higher Old Baldy Mountain) and the subsidiary peak of Mount McDougall that we ascended almost two years ago.  

Descending the more difficult sections was easier than I thought it would be and the sun came out eventually, highlighting stunning surroundings. Overall, a fantastic day! We got far more than we bargained for the were both thrilled to make a summit that we didn't even expect to get close to.  

    
The summit and ascent route, as seen from the ascent slopes of Mount Baldy

Mark, on the ridge, with the first summit above       After the second summit, heading 
                                                                            along the ridge towards the third 

Mark, rappelling down a gully

Heading up the ridge, with Mount Lorette in the background to the left; the gully that we rappelled down is visible to my left (a small, single tree it at the top of the gully)

A view from the third summit; Wasootch Tower is far below, in the foreground

Mark, at the third summit, with Lorette behind

Approaching the crux - the rockband ahead is almost vertical and had to be circumvented on the left side

Traversing a steep snow slope around the rockband

    
The rest the ridge and the summit, from above the crux

At the summit, with a slightly lower summit behind; the high point in the center is Mount McDougall and is part of the same  ridge

Mark, at the summit, with the Nakiska Ski Hill at the left and Mounts Allan and Collembola just visible behind Mark

Dark clouds and a little sun over Kananaskis Village; The Wedge is in the center

    
Another south-looking view of the ridge and the summit of Mount McDougall behind

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