Wiwaxy Peak, Grassi Ridge

By: Author: Gary Clark | Climbers: Gary & Lynn Clark |Trip Dates: August 18, 1999

Photo: Author: Gary Clark

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We simply picked this one out of the book: Doughtery's "Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies," an essential part of any North American alpinist's library. We were mid-way through Road Trip '99 and looking for a route that could be done in a small window of good weather while waiting for the big North Faces to freeze up and become less-than-certain death traps. And, of course, it had to be a classic.

My eyes lit on Wiwaxy because of Doughtery's enthusiastic endorsement as a Canadian classic. I systematically searched the guide to see if this might be a designation he bestowed easily, and it was not. In fact, the word "classic" appears only a few times in the entire book. OK, now for the other criteria: "Impressive appearance from afar?" Definitely - the photo showed a sharp ridge reminiscent of Sir Donald's West Ridge, but this climb was more technical at 5.7-. "Excellent climbing?" The guide seemed to confirm this. "History"? The area was the headquarters for the first Swiss guides to come to Canada on behest of the Canadian Pacific Railroad to bolster tourism. Although the Swiss did not climb this route, they did all the major summits around Lake O'Hara in the 1890s, including some routes that would be considered serious even today. It looked like we had a winner. Now to go check it out.

Hmmmm . . . seems the area was closed to automobiles years ago in order to help preserve it. We could take a bus, though. A few phone calls and finally a visit to the Park HQ confirmed that this is easier said than done. The bus is typically reserved months in advance, so unless there was a cancellation, we'd have to walk. OK, seems it is 13km to the campground - a good afternoon's hike. Now for reservations at the campground - same story.

Dealing with officialese is not my strongest suit. A reservation system with strict quotas may be completely necessary (indeed, this seems the fate of all our public lands as the demand continues to skyrocket). However, in the game of alpinism, one climbs when and only when the conditions are right. I've never seen the point of planning to be on a given route at a given time when fickle conditions and weather can veto these plans. So, we came up with plan B. We got up early enough to hike in the road, which had the benefit of shortening the distance to 11km. Waking up at 4:30a in the town of Field, we drove to the trailhead and were on the road at 5:30. We were crossing Cataract Creek to start up to the base of the climb by 7:15, and to our surprise, we were still first on the route! I would not have expected this from such a well-known classic, but no other parties attempted it that day, which was perfect in all respects.

The approach was routine at first, but we had some trouble about 2/3 of the way up when we couldn't immediately find our way past a steep cliff band. We finally figured it out after wasting some time exploring, and were at the rope-up tree at 8:45. The route was all we hoped for - very fine steep climbing on good holds with excellent ledges. Most significantly, though, the scenery was beyond compare. Several times we remarked that this was just the sort of thing we envisioned when we planned the trip. Lake O'Hara gradually appeared below as we gained elevation. The turquoise color set against impressive peaks all around created the kind of scene that postcard companies look for.

The climb went smoothly and uneventfullly and we summitted at 2:00pm. We knew that the next bus down to the parking lot was at 3:30, so we couldn't make that. The next and final bus was at 6:00. We had some time to enjoy the summit, the descent, and the Lake after we got down. The day was flawless, with no sign of storm. I guess we deserved a few of these after 9 similar trips to Canada, a couple of which have been total busts because of inclement weather and conditions. On one memorable trip in 1992 we flew to Bozeman and rented a car to drive to Lake Louise, only to find that an early winter had set in and nothing we wanted to climb was in any kind of condition. We made a pathetic attempt to salvage the trip by walking up the backside of Mt. Hector. After I fell to my waist in about the 15th hidden crevasse through 2 feet of fresh snow, I said "This is my birthday, I don't have to do this!" We turned around only halfway up the peak and drove all the way to the Tetons to get some climbing done.

The descent was not as routine as I had hoped. But then, I always hope for routine descents. My ideal climb has all the adrenaline rushes on the ascent. It's supposed to be 'Miller Time' then - a nice paved trail would be acceptable, or perhaps a tram. Instead, we found ourselves doing one difficult and exposed move after another. I could see that the terrain was only 4th class and would have been easy going up, but it seemed simply dangerous on the way down. We wandered about looking for cairns and occasionally finding them, but I finally grew weary of the game and decided to put our twin 60m ropes to good use. I found a good solid flake of rock, wrapped a sling, and shortly thereafter was on easy ground close to the saddle. The trail across the face of the adjoining peak looked pretty exciting, but when we got there it was routine and pleasant. Thousands of feet of talus shuffling later, we gratefully intersected the maintained trail that runs around the Lake. This trail, we were to learn later, was actually built by Joe Grassi, for whom the ridge was named.

At the lake we found a small wooden dock where a few row boats and canoes were tied, kicked off our shoes, and laid back to rock on the riffles and stare at the clouds. A bat was working the space above the dock and we cheered his efforts to decrease the mosquito population. In about an hour, it was time to catch the bus, and we were first on. Back in Field we celebrated the Day with a very fine meal at the Kicking Horse Lodge. I told the chef afterwards that this was the best meal we had eaten in Canada. It's just possible that my appetite and mood after a perfect day of climbing enhanced the perception.