Canada's Mountains

Mount Whyte The route follows the ridge then to the left and up

Mount Whyte lies just to the south of Mount Niblock and is a more demanding scramble.

I set off for Mount Whyte after scrambling up Mount Niblock and was greeted by some of the best scrambling I've ever encountered.

Mount Aberdeen with Mount Temple behind

Although the route is rated as difficult in Alan Kane's book "Scrambling in the Canadian Rockies" this is so only if you end up off route. The route finding is fun but route finding is not everyone's bag. Personally I find it rewarding to find the weakness. One of my sayings is "Find the weakness in the mountain or the mountain will find the weakness in you.". How true! This proverb could be used in other situations in life too, but should only be applied to objects.

The last few meters to the summit are sharply crested, but by that time you've had a good warm-up for such terrain. If you like mountain photography, don't miss the opportunity to snap a few shots that illustrate the way people and the mountain interact. I like to show someone climbing a difficult section if I can.

Top: The descent route, the steep grassy ledges are visible near the bottom

Kane's explanation of how to descend the alternate route to the south has changed in his new book, so if you have the old one beware. I ended up with more that I bargained for, especially near the bottom where difficult and dangerously steep and slippery, grassy ledges had to be dealt with. I circumvented them by detouring constantly left, but I still found myself clinging to narrow down sloping vegetated ledges by just a twig at times. Not optimal conditions. Kane now emphasizes going to the west further, before descending.

 

Dangers bring fears, and fears more dangers bring.

Richard Baxter
1615-1691, British Nonconformist Theologian

As soon as there is life there is danger.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882, American Poet, Essayist