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Mount Sir Donald  3298 m

Glacier National Park, British Columbia

The Classic: Sir Donald's west face seen from Abbott Ridge.

Mount Sir Donald is well described in the guidebook, Fifty Classic Climbs in North America, and the peak sees a fair amount of activity. The classic ascent route is rated 5.2 or 5.3 and follows the airy northwest arete (left skyline ridge above). This famous route grants bombproof holds of beautiful, warm (if you're lucky) Selkirk quartzite. The exposure on this ridge is significant, and the route is an epic in the making if not free of snow. And the views? We could see the Bugaboos, Goodsirs and possibly Robson from the top!

Kris, in camp below the west face, probably making noodles or some such delight.  Uto Peak rises in the center of picture. Sir Donald's classic route starts from the col between these two. In the early 1980's, a huge rock avalanche peeled from Sir Donald's' west face and dumped tons of debris around these camping platforms. Rockfall narrowly missed  Alpine Club of Canada members camped below. We camped here anyway, figuring it probably wouldn't happen again for another ten thousand years...

A promising sunrise at the Sir Donald-Uto col, where the climb begins. We moved together up much of the ridge on a full length 9mm rope, looping slings over big blocks and placing the odd chock for protection.  Some 4 hours later...

Ta -da! Click photo to enlarge

On the summit of Mount Sir Donald

Fast ascent, eh? Now all we have to do is get down. The descent involves downclimbing the NW ridge, with the possibility of rappels.

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© all photos copyright by the author 1999.