Mount Prince George

Mount Prince George – July 20-21, 2005

Mountain height:       2,880 m (9,446 ft)
Elevation gain:           1,058 m to bivy at toe of glacier; 494 m from bivy to summit
Ascent time:              1:20 (from bivy)
Descent time:            1:05

Backpacking with Kevin Barton and solo scramble.

Quite obviously, our primary goal for this part of a five-day mountaineering trip was an attempt of awe-inspiring Mount King George. The three-day trip started badly and ended badly, but had some unbelievable moments in between and even though we didn’t even set foot on Mount King George, I’d have to classify it as one of my most memorable and enjoyable mountain experiences (at least the middle part anyway).

The best part of the approach was the harrowing log crossing of the raging Palliser River . Fortunately, a guide rope and some wooden planks placed across the log took all the “harrowing” out of it – a big thanks to the individual(s) responsible for the workmanship. The approach went downhill from there. As Bill Corbett points out in his guidebook “The 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies”, there is a multiplicity of trails in the area and unfortunately, we took the wrong one. This trail did eventually take to the bivy site in-between Mounts King George and Prince George, however, it took a circuitous route alongside a hill, well east of the suggested route, and long before we were scheduled to arrive at the bivy site, darkness was about to set in. We settled for a night beside a small lake at GR169038, which actually turned out to be a very pleasant experience.

The following day, we completed the hike in and set up a bivy site on a snowpatch, about 20 metres from the toe of the glacier. The weather was perfect that day and hiking into the area was absolutely astounding. The breath-taking beauty of the grassy meadows, backdropped by the rugged moraine, backdropped by the awesome glacier, with stunning Mount King George and Mount Prince Albert rising majestically out of the ice, was a rare and incredibly satisfying treat. I, for one, was thoroughly satiated by these views alone and making any summit would just be “icing on the cake”.

Since an attempt of King George was out of the question for the day, we decided to go up the glacier and check out the described southeast ascent route. Again, the scenery for this little reconnaissance mission was simply unbelievable. Unfortunately, we were also to discover that the first part of the ascent route was going to be a severe problem. Of the two “chockstone" couloirs of the mountain, the first had a torrent of snowmelt running down it and the second was simply too steep. We therefore continued up the glacier, enjoying incredible scenes of snow and ice on the east side of King George, and decided that the following day, we would ascend to the King George/Prince Albert col, to see if an ascent of the northeast ridge was possible - if it wasn’t, then we could opt for an attempt of Prince Albert.

Returning to the bivy at 4 pm , I decided to see if the summit of Prince George was attainable via the south ridge. It was, and provided a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable ascent (moderate scrambling). Gorgeous towers of blocky rock lined the south end of the ridge and I had great fun scrambling on and alongside them. After the towers and pinnacles, a hike led easily to the summit. I can’t rave enough about the panorama from the top of this relatively small peak (to his Dad anyway!). The cloudless sky gave unfettered sightlines to 11,000ers Assiniboine , Sir Douglas, Joffre, Harrison, and of course, King George and seeing mountains like Birdwood and Warrior from this unique viewpoint was very interesting. Most impressive, were brothers Albert, Edward, and Henry, lined up like obedient children (the way kids should be!).

I chose an alternate descent route, going down rubble slopes to the northwest and then traversing south along snow slopes and eventually onto the beautifully, glacially-carved moraine. Fun scrambling and outstanding views in a truly unbeatable area.