Believe it or not, alpine season is still in with no real amount of snow forecasted for the next week!

The main plan for this trip will be to climb the SW ridge of Mount Mike on Sunday, Oct 16.  Mike is a 3,300 m (nearly 11,000') peak just SW of Mount Harrison in BC.  Mount Mike is said to be one of the best scrambles / easy alpine climbs in the Canadian Rockies!  Jones' Rockies South book rates the SW ridge of Mount Mike as a PD+ 5.0 route, with 3 quality stars out of 3 (very highly recommended route).  Expect up to a 12h day, 7km return distance with 1,600 m elevation gain, plenty of exposed 4th/low 5th class climbing & scrambling on slabby limestone.

General Itinerary:  Leave Calgary at 2:00 PM on Saturday, drive 4h to the base of Mount Mike thru Canal Flats past Whiteswan Lake.  Car camp at the base of Mike.  Wake up early on Sunday, start climb on the SW ridge of Mike at about 6am.  10-12h pace brings us back to the car at 6pm, 4h drive to Calgary means we get back home at 10pm on Sunday evening.

Note 1:  If the group wants to, there is an option to leave early on Saturday to go for a morning of easy sport climbing.  The likely destination would be my newly developed sport climbing crag - a 5 min approach with easy climbing (5.4-5.8), also a great place to practice our multi-pitch skills and rappelling for the next day on Mike.  The idea would not be to push ourselves too hard so we have plenty of energy for Mike. 

Note 2:  The plan for Mike will be to bring 2x 30m ropes, a small rack and perhaps a few pitons for protection on the upper mountain, as necessary.  That said, you should be comfortable climbing / scrambling exposed limestone slabs. 

Note 3:  The upper SW ridge consists of slabby limestone.  I plan on bringing climbing shoes for the upper scrambling/climbing and I'd highly recommend bringing shoes that you are willing to scramble/climb low 5th class terrain with. 

Note 4:  This trip is weather-dependent.  The weather forecast looks solid and dry at the moment - but if that changes, the trip will be cancelled or changed to a new objective.

Note 5:  Carpool location TBD in Calgary. 

Harness, helmet, rappel gear, personal anchor, suitable footwear (climbing shoes or approach shoes recommended) food, water, backpack large enough to fit all of the above plus a 30m rope. 

We will be car camping at the base of the mountain, so bring a sleeping bag and a pad as well as dinner for the night.  I'll bring a 6 man tent. If you want to sleep separately, feel free to bring your own tent. 

Please email the trip leader for any additional questions / concerns!