Sir Donald Alpine Climb - Summer 2024
Mount Sir Donald is the great beauty of the Rogers Pass area of Glacier National Park in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada.
This trip was my first alpine climb in which I climbed the ridge of Mount Sir Donald with two friends, Alex (website) and Chris. As a first time alpine climber, the trip was all of exhilerating, scary, beautiful, exhausting and a great time with freinds! The hike up from the parking was a little over three hours, with lots of spots to rest, snack and drink water from the river that snaked along next ot the trail.
Nearing the campsite, the trail turned from your average dirt hiking trail to an mainly large rocks and boulders, signifying we had reached alpine territory. A small clearing near a small lake marked the camping ground, and we set up our tents for the night. Early the next morning we began the climb with other groups setting out a little before and after. The ascent to the mountain’s ridge was a scramble up loose rocks with large sections of the ground shifting under each step. This was one of the scarier parts of the hike with a large, fast-moving rock from a group above coming quite close to hitting us.
Upon reaching solid ground, the hiking quality improved greatly. The first view of the ridge was completely daunting and beautiful. The climb up was not physically difficult, but was instead mentally very scary as we were free solo-ing most of the climb. The hardest parts were roughly equal to a 5.7 climb, and at the shallowest points, it equated to walking on large rocks. I am a confident climber, but the idea of getting tired and making a single miss-step, or looking down at your feet and grabbing the wrong handhold was a lot for my first alpine climb.
I eventually told the group I needed to bail and at the next rappel point we anchored in. You might be asking, how could you anchor in if you were climbing without gear? The rappel points were designated routes down to clip in gear for a safe retreat, the nominal trail had no such points unless you build some yourself from trad nuts and cams. After nine rappels and some scrambling down, we made it back to camp. Flash rain showed up shortly after our return, and I’m glad to have avoided being out on the mountain in the rain.
Takeaways from the trip:
- Alpine climbers are crazy
- An easier alpine climb would have been a better introduction
- Sir Donald is beautiful and from it you can see many more beautiful views
- Hiking with a heavy pack is draining, mentally and physically
- Don’t get the cheap water tablets if you don’t want your water to taste like chlorine
- Climbing with friends is fun, even if it is scary
Pictures from the trip:
|
|
|
Sentence of the trip: I roll 20.
all-trip-reports