Slightly detached from the southern edge of the Columbia Icefield, Mount Bryce (11,507') is a trio of icy peaks.
Traversing the three peaks of Mount Bryce's Northeast Ridge, requires a hard lead for a standard route up an 11,500+' Canadian Rocky*. Highly recommended for over a century. Just B's photo of Mount Bryce @ Summitpost.
The newly popular South Glacier Route dodges the old 5.6 crux! Like the Southwest Face of Mount Assiniboine, new logging roads have caused the rediscovery of an old and once forgotten route. Rockfall hazard in the South Glacier Couloir is a risk reported by some who have written about this shortcut.
The west face has been climbed from Rice Brook by at least one obscure route. Photo by wlloyd @ summitpost
The North Face climbs 7,500 feet from Bryce Creek. Similar to Robson's North Face; loose rock for the first half and steep alpine ice to the top. Bryce's middle peak has a nordwand route too.
TRAIL MAINTENANCE
The decommissioned logging road up Rice Brook is overgrown and needs to be recommissioned for climbers. Finding a volunteer trail crew might not be that hard for Mount Bryce. Same for the shorter hike in to the North Face.
*The Canadian Rockies have only a few 11,500 foot plus summits:
Mount Alberta (11,874')has ten long rappels. The Japanese Route was also rated 5.6, now some are calling it 5.8. The dogma still holds Alberta as hardest because being sustained counts. I wonder if the steep smooth sixty foot face that Christian Kauffman "4th classed" is harder than any pitch on Mount Alberta? Please comment if you have knowledge of both the Japan Route and Northeast Ridge.
Assiniboine (11,870) was once a 5.5 up the North Ridge, but the rediscovery of the 4th class Southwest Face decreased the mountain's required grade.
The Goodsirs (11,686' N Tower) are both rated 5.4.
Robson (12,972'), is a sustained 45 desgree, multi-pitch, ice climb. Dodging the Mousetrap via the crest from Resplendant Col is said to have low fifth class pitches.
Columbia (12,294'), North Twin (12,085'), Clemmenceau (11,991), Forbes (11,902), and Temple (11,636') are easier scrambles and glacier climbs.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Mount Bryce (3,507m):
INTRODUCTIONJones and Grassmann traversed the Columbia Icefield to get to the face, a super wilderness adventure. The first 5,000 feet was accidentally climbed under a "thousand ton groaning monster" ice cliff where the north face glacier calves into the gullies below. On the upper North Face, the Chouinard Ice Hammer proved its superiority to the Pterodactyl. Jones thought the ice was at least 55 degrees, steeper than Athabasca's North Face: "Convenient to rest the forehead on the ...[more]Browse More Classics in International
RSS Feed
3 more...
