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Mount Whymper attempt

  • August 27, 2002

Scrambling with Colleen.

One bear encounter in one day is more than enough, however, two is unheard of. That's exactly what happened to Colleen and I. I was very much looking forward to ascending the rockbands on Whymper and so I was somewhat disappointed (and exhilarated!) when Colleen spotted a black bear and her cub about 120 meters from us, as we approached the bottom of the ascent gully. We made plenty of noise, but the mother just stared at us and then started moving parallel to us to keep us in her sights. We weren't going to take any chances, with the presence of her cub, and so we hastily retreated. 

 

To try and salvage what was left of the day, we decided to do the Stanley Glacier Trail. There was a sign up warning of a grizzly sighting the previous day, however, a group of people with a warden were on the trail and so we didn't feel terribly nervous about going. We met up with a very nice couple (Anne and Joe) from New Jersey at the trailhead and left together. About three quarters of the way in we saw scattered berries on the trail, which probably indicated that a bear had been here. The girls wanted to go back, however, Joe and I convinced them to go on a little further. Five minutes later Anne spotted the bear about 50 meters away, heading towards the stream. It was a huge grizzly and had obviously heard all the noise we were making. Unfortunately, by the time I got my camera out, the bear had disappeared into the trees. We turned around at this point and headed very noisily back to the parking lot. A day that I will definitely not forget!

 

 No pictures from this trip

 

Mount Whymper

  • June 29, 2003
  • Mountain height: 2,845 m (9,332 feet)
  • Elevation gain: 1,250 m
  • Ascent time: 4:50
  • Descent time: 2:30

Scrambling with Mark. Mount Whymper (named after pioneer Edward Whymper) offers great hand-on scrambling, amid rock formations of stunning colours and shapes. We got a little more than we bargained for on this trip. At one point, I bounced a 20 pound rock off Mark's head - luckily he was wearing a helmet and didn't even flinch!! Higher up, lingering snow patches forced us way over to the left side of the mountain and some tricky manuevors and difficult scrambling, including a tricky, vertical 5 meter rockband. Mark managed to squirm his way up, but had to send down a rope for me! 

The summit was very spacious and the view was great. Mount Ball was especially stunning. For descent, there was no-way we were going down the way we came up and so we used the gentle south-west slopes. It became more difficult and tedious towards the bottom, but was still a darn-sight easier than our ascent route would have been.        

    
Mount Whymper from the roadside. Don't be deceived - the route is far longer than it looks!

 

    
A scenic diversion atop a large pinnacle. The snow-covered mountain behind is Stanley Peak

 

    
Typical terrain on Whymper; tons of great hands-on scrambling and lots of room for exploring and variation

 

    
Mark ascending very tricky and dangerous terrain right before the summit ridge. At this point, we were way off-course, on the left side of the mountain. Stay in the middle or to the right if you are heading up. Note the helmet: about 15 minutes after the "rock incident"!

 

    
The summit boasts a terrific view in all directions; the pointed, tall mountains towards the left are The Goodsirs

 

    
A telephoto view of the dome summit of 3,311 meter Mount Ball 

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