Red Ridge

Red Ridge (Direct Approach)
Kananaskis, Alberta
March 10, 2006

We had planned to snowshoe up the north ridge of Mount Buller which I hiked up in the fall but a navigation error caused us to climb Red Ridge instead. We set out for a waypoint for the lower section on Buller Ridge that I had set, but for some reason – a combination of GPS error and inattentiveness – we ended up on the wrong ridge. And that was okay as it was a beautiful day to be in the mountains!

But the conditions were terrible for snowshoeing. The deep, sugary snow provided no traction or support for ascending, and on our descent, we often slid out of control. It took us 2.5 hours to reach the treeline and it was miserable going the entire way. Our difficulties in the snow played a part in distracting me from concentrating on our original goal: I spent too much time trying to get around deadfall and gullies.

Fortunately, our unplanned ascent served us well. Although we had done a winter ascent up Red Ridge two years ago, this route proved to be more direct albeit steeper. It took us above the treeline where we could view the surrounding peaks buried under snow and gleaming in the sunshine. When we reached bare rock, we removed our snowshoes and continued up the ridge.

We stopped well short of the summit, however. Having already bagged the peak in winter we felt little impetus to do so again. Also, bad weather was moving in fast. Some nearby peaks were already hidden by snowfall. By the time we returned to the trees, the skies had turned gray and it began to snow.

Despite the error, we had a great day. We climbed nearly 100 m more than we had planned and spent more time above the treeline which was fine by us!

Soon after starting, we crossed the drainage