Click to hear me sing
South Rhondda
Elevation:
Height Gain:
Location:
 9,891 ft (3015M)
2,247 ft (685M)
Wapta Icefields
Note for 17 Feb 02: My ACC trip with Tom McMahon, Jim Everard and Ian Graham. Whiteout conditions, but we navigated to the southeast shoulder by map, compass, and contour lines. We turned around at 9800ft, and about 1km from the true summit.

Note for 02 Mar 02: I went with Tom McMahon as a trip from the hut. Not a cloud in the sky, but the snow was crusty, windblown, and avalanche prone. We had to carry our skis up a portion of the upper shoulder and we skied down with our skins on.

Note for 12 Mar 05:I went with Blair Piggot as a day trip car to car. Sunny, clear, but a tad windy. Hard windpack up high on Rhondda, nice powder on the slopes above the hut.Click here for a detailed trip report
  Date Ascent Time Descent Time
1st Time 17 Feb 02 incomplete incomplete
2nd Time 02 Mar 02 4:10 From Hut 2:35 To Hut
3rd Time 12 Mar 05 4:50 From Car 2:07 To Car
This picture was actually taken from the summit of Crowfoot Mtn, but it shows the route quite nicely from the Bow Hut. On 17 Feb 02, the Wapta was a big whiteout. Visability was around 50 yards. We "felt" our way across the Wapta and onto South Rhondda. As we neared the top, we were nervous about the summit ridge, so we turned back. The red line shows where we turned back. On 02 Mar 02, we completed the route under much better conditions.


On 02 Mar 02, we completed the route under much better conditions. This time we had great weather but really crusty snow. Here, you can see our tracks toward South Rhondda. Because of a large dip, you kind of 'arch' your way to South Rhondda. If yuo go straight at it, you end up with some elevation loss.


Here we see Tom at the summit with North Rhondda behind him. It was a little windy, but otherwise a great day.
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This is looking back down the summit ridge of South Rhondda. In the background, you can see Mt. Gordon, Olive, St. Nick, Vulture Peak, and Mt. Hector.
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Looking west, you can see Mt. Collie. The route goes up the bench on the left side of the peak.
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Directly across from South Rhondda is Mt. Ayesha. In my opinion, this is the jewel of the northern Wapta.
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After all of that picture taking from the summit, it was time to head back to the Bow Hut. Here we see Tom making his way down the slopes of Rhondda.