Peaks

 

88

 

 

Pursuers

 

310

 

 

Finishers

 

4

 

 

The definitive challenge of non-technical "scrambles" in the northern Canadian Rockies based closely on Alan Kane's 2nd edition of the seminal "Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies". Most peaks are accessible in day trips from the Calgary/Banff area. This challenge includes only peaks in the northern areas of the book, specifically Canmore/Bow Valley, Banff area, Lake Louise area, Skoki area, Field and Little Yoho, Icefields Parkway, and Jasper area; the southern peaks can be found on peakery in the companion challenge 'Canadian Rockies Scrambles South' here: https://peakery.com/challenges/canadian-rockies-scrambles-south-challenge/

Note: Kane has since published a 3rd edition which includes many new peaks (featured on peakery in the 'Canadian Rockies Scrambles Encore Challenge' for the truly committed). The 2nd edition is out-of-print but you can still view it here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/AKkhMLqtENIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP1

 

Highest peak

Mount Temple

11,630 ft / 3,544 m

Most prominent peak

Mount Ball

3,982 ft / 1,214 m

Most summited peak

Ha Ling Peak

363 summits

Most difficult peak

Sunwapta Peak

Class 2

Difficulty breakdown

Class 1/2 5 peaks

Class 3/4 16 peaks

Class 5+ 4 peaks

Top climbing months

August   21%

July   20%

June   13%

Highlights
"Less than ideal conditions. Being familiar with the traverse as well as the blue markers helped with the poor visibility. Ice axe and crampons were necessary for the hard packed steep icy slopes.The vertical chain was totally buried. I had to dig around with the ice axe to find and dig it up. I would not of found it if I hadn't known it was there. First time checking out the new trail." — Randy • Mar 28, 2024
"Haven't been up this mountain since 2016 (I think?). It was nice to revisit it again. It was the first mountain I ever climbed and I recall it being rather exhilarating with the chimney and chain, and I struggled descending from the summit on hard pack rock/scree. Fun to come back with years of mountain experience under my belt and not have any of those feelings. Felt rather special to be back up there again after all these years, a reminder that we all start somewhere in this mountain summit baggin' thang. Yam, I'm proud to have you as my first." — hollywilliams • Oct 14, 2023
"Met two groups of two traversing from Richardson. I ascended from Hidden Lake. The first group were going to give Ptarmigan a try. The second group met Alan Kane in the parking lot they said he was heading up Ptarmigan. " — Randy • Sep 22, 2023
"Scramble route up the bowl. It was a good day for me to go check this route out. Fairly moderate with one short section that felt only slightly awkward, but that could be because of the line that I choose. Lots of people at the summit. Talked to a couple from Minnesota." — Randy • Sep 21, 2023
"A beautiful day to grab the non-technical peaks on Mt Rundle. We found some fun scrambling by sticking to the ridge proper. On the return, we tried to utilize the bypass trails. Some successfully avoided gaining unneeded elevation… some ended up being torturous side-hilling on scree. My ankles and knees would have preferred the additional elevation. Instead of regaining Rundle 8, we dropped down into a bowl south of the col between 8 and 7. We figured we’d give an alternate descent line a try. After down climbing a series of cliff bands, we found ourselves on the lower plateau and on the main trail. It worked! Although I’m not sure it actually saved any time. " — ivo • Sep 16, 2023