The journey to a summit can range from a simple walk up hill to a complex series of challenges such as glacier crossings, steep rock climbing, exposed scrambling and route finding. The Canadian Rockies offer summits at a wide range of difficulty levels.
Below are Trip Reports for mountains I have summited starting in 2023. The Trip Reports are organized according to the alpine grade of the route starting with the most moderate, rated F2, and progressing to the most difficult routes we’ve climbed so far, rated PD+. The alpine grades are explained more fully below, under Trip Reports.
In 2023, I did a lot of the F2 routes alone as Dan was injured. In 2024, we started pushing the difficulty into the F3 and F4 grades. We also wanted to work on endurance so we did some back-to-back summit days. This culminated in a scrambling trip to Hidden Lake near Lake Louise where we climbed three peaks in three days, the most difficult being F4.
In 2025, we started attempting moderate alpine climbs. With the rock climbing skills, trad climbing and experience climbing multi-pitch routes that we’ve done in the past few years, we have a good base of knowledge for learning to climb alpine rock and identify and mitigate the risks in an alpine environment.
TRIP REPORTS
F – 2nd Class
F – 3rd Class
F – 4th Class
We did not use a rope for Pika Peak and in the other trip report I read, the climbers did not use a rope. There is a link to the other trip report in my trip report.
PD
We made two trips to Mount Burstall. The first time it was too early in the season and we turned around at the col. The second time, we made the summit. The approach to the col is described in the Col post and the remainder of the route, to the summit, is described in the Summit post. We did not use a rope for this one.
We did use a rope for the South Ridge route on Mount Lorette, as most people do.
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Summit Skills
1. Route Finding
Where there are no trails to follow, we must be able to find the route.
Route finding is locating a path or line, sometimes around or over challenging sections, to get from where you are to where you want to go. Often this is to a summit but sometimes to the top of a col or through a difficult feature like a rock face.
2. Micro Route Finding
Micro route finding involves finding the safest and most efficient way to move up or down a small area of off-trail terrain such as slabs, scree, or a boulder field.
For example, on Grotto, Sparrowhawk and Rundle, we used micro route finding to move quickly and confidently and use less energy, finding the best places to put our feet on different types of terrain.
3. Down Climbing
When you are in scramble terrain, down climbing is an essential skill.
Some routes require down climbing a short section in order to continue up to the summit. For many of our summits, the descent route is going back down the same way we came up. As we go up, we are thinking about coming down and how we will descend that terrain. Down climbing can be more difficult than climbing up.
4. Rock Climbing
As we venture up more difficult terrain, our rock climbing experience helps us move more confidently and efficiently, even when we’re not roped up.
Past Summits
There are no trip reports for these summits but I felt the photos are worth sharing. If you would like information about any of them, please send me a message by clicking here: Contact.
