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Date |
Ascent Time |
Descent Time |
| 1st Time |
05 Nov 05 |
9:12 car to car and incomplete |
We were attempting the alternate descent route of Television Peak. We parked at the
Projection Mountain Campground, which had a locked gate at the entrance. We actually
parked on the legal side of the locked gate, geared up and headed out. Here we see
Television Peak on the left and the far end of Castle Mountain on the right. |
|
This is a similar picture of just Television Peak. The approach is much more involved
than it would appear in this picture. While it's only about 4km of distance, it involved
nearly four hours of bushwhacking to reach treeline. |
|
As we got closer to treeline, we kept coming across little cliff bands with lots of blocky
rubble at the base. The rubble was covered in black moss, and a lot of snow. It was
treacherous to say the least. This is Sonny in the picture, slowly picking his way across
the bolder field. |
|
This is Linda starting her way across the rubble. |
|
Behind Linda, we were treated to the rare view across the Bow Valley. |
|
On the uphill side of these boulder fields were cliff bands. They were just as slick as
the rubble below them. To make matters worse, when you cleared them, you were rewarded
with more bushwhacking. Here we see Sonny carefully climbing through the rock band. |
|
Finally, we cleared treeline. This is what remained. More snow on rocks. We made our way up this
slope to the top center of the photograph. That would get us within 150-200m of the summit. |
|
As Sonny and I contemplate where the route goes through the crux, Linda takes the
opportunity to catch up to us. |
|
As a result of our contemplation, Sonny decides to have a closer look at the crux. Linda and I decided
to sit back and watch. |
|
Suddenly, the visibility cleared. The crux still looked difficult. Sonny would eventually clear this part,
only to be cliffed out just above it by a vertical wall with downsloping holds. |
|
So, we turned around. Rather than take our ascent route, we followed a drainage to the skier's right.
This proved to be a bit quicker. Still though, we were reminded about just how long of an approach
this was. |
|
Despite wasting over 9 hours of scrambling, and ascending over 4,200 ft, and coming back empty
handed, Sonny is still all smiles. |
|
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