Mt. Robson (South Face)

Grade IV
Mt. Robson Provincial Park
3,954m
25-27 August

It's not exactly a scramble - some would call it mountaineering - but the guidebook says something to the effect of "actually only a hike, though a grunt of a hike at that". The climbing isn't technical, it's just sustained 4th class with a bit of glacier thrown in, on a big, committing mountain. Jeff and I had been to 11,600', 3 years ago but the weather didn't allow us to go higher then. This trip was initiated on Thursday afternoon when Jeff had a break in his residency (year 1 family practice in Ontario) so he called to see if I was up for an adventure and arranged a flight to be in Prince George the next day. I borrowed a mountain bike, ice tools and a light weight rope Thursday night (from 3 different people), then left work early Friday to pick him up at the airport and head to Robson. It was drizzly Friday night so we slept in the valley and headed up the next morning. We were pretty lucky to have the weather clear and it was completely calm the whole climbing day. It was absolutely calm on the summit, which almost never happens, so we felt pretty lucky. The weight of the commitment was pretty heavy so we didn't linger or relax much. It was a LONG way down. We had hoped to descend the whole thing in a day, but that didn't happen ...

Participants: Sean & Jeff

Trip photos