With Liz. Met Jake and Abram on the French Glacier.
Disclaimer: I think I got the summit.
We reached 2 high points with cairns, the second was slightly higher than the first. Beyond this second highpoint, was another point with a similar height. I thought it looked higher than my point (but I always seem to think the next point is higher), Jake and Abram checked the horizon, and thought our point was just as high/higher. Maybe it's all wishful thinking though...

I explored different options to get to that other point, but didn't find anything that looked like a scramble.

I was sort of bothered by this, and have examined pictures and google earth, etc. In high quality pictures, what I thought was a cairn now looks more like the top of a pinnacle. Google earth shows the summit at our location (however accurate google earth is). Topos have it all in the same elevation band.

So, I'll count it until proven wrong. :)



General trip report

The approach to the Robertson-Douglas col was mostly uneventful and straightforward. The route of French creek is now easy to follow with a good trail. We took the Dafferen approach and didn't need to cross the creek. The glacier crossing was also straighforward. Used crampons and roped up on the way in. Kept the rope off on the way out. Seemed mellow.

The haig glacier to the col was miserable with a mixture of very loose scree and hard-packed mud/dirt. A few rock ribs helped, but the rock was loose and unreliable. No real exposure, but a slip might end with a tumble and cuts and bruises.

The southwest ridge starts as a hike, and eventually narrows to a climber's scramble. Detour to the right or left (mostly) right as necessary to avoid pinnacles. We usually chose easy scrambling with exposure over harder stuff with less exposure. The ridge becomes more difficult as it merges with the south ridge. Here, it is very narrow. Massive exposure to your left (splat!), and still a deathfall (tumbling) to your right. We had a stiff breeze, so i crossed a couple of sections a cheval. There were a few pinnacles to cross, but most were okay..... Eventually we found one that blocked out path.

We backtracked a few meters and dropped down to our right on a slabby ramp. We required one exposed climbing move to reach the ramp below. In my opinion, this move upped the scramble from "climber's scramble" territory to "alpine climb". It was a bit nervy.....maybe more than a bit. Not difficult but it felt awkward and exposed. Our ramp is marked by a sling left by another party. I think there may be an easier way down, and would recommend all peak baggers look to your right for a way off the ridge as soon as it turns south-north. This may be where Kane suggests to drop your packs and descend to your right.

Once on the ledge, moderate scrambling took us up to the summit ridge, past the nasty pinnacles. We topped out near a false summit with a small cairn. A somewhat exposed ridge-walk leads to the next summit. Kane suggest descending slab here and going up a gully (if i am reading him correctly), but we all thought the ridge was fine. Quite exposed though.

This next "summit" is where we called it quits. We didn't find a register, but found an old wire in the cairn that looked like it was meant to secure the register. Did the register migrate across the way? I'm not sure.

I wanted to be sure to get the summit, so I looked for ways to get the other high point, about 100 horizontal meters away.

There is a reasonable scree ramp leading down from our summit to the col. We went down and I tried the narrowish slab rib. Got to the top and it didn't connect. I couldn't manage a downclimb to a lower rib from there, nor could I connect to a higher ramp.
Next, we descended to a nice ledge to the right of the this high point....against a huge featureless wall. There was a second rib coming up the backside. I hoped this would top our above my first rib...but it was the exact same place.

The only other way to get there would be taking a steep slab a bit (before) the first summit. This looked nasty, as did the scree/slab ramp leading to the high point.

Went back the same way. Not really harder or easier in reverse.


Tentative claim on this one. No real beta to show me if we were right or wrong. The other high point isn't conclusively higher. I'll count my trip as a "scrambler's summit", but it is probably (or at least possibly) the true one as well.

Lots of pictures and discussion here:



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