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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Wind Mountain (Lougheed Peak 4)
  • Location: Kananaskis Country (Highway 40)
  • Activity: Scrambling
  • Height: 3,108 m (10,197 ft)
  • Elevation Gain: 1,850 m (6,070 ft)
  • Distance: 24.0 km / Round Trip (14.9 mi)
  • Avg Steepness: 8.8°
  • Estimated Time: 9-12 hrs
  • Technicality: Advanced
  • Fitness Level: Athlete

GPS went little wild near creeks at lower elevation. Probably because trail was surrounded by cliffs. Please consider some inaccuracy from my track.

By the way, Garmin is releasing new eTrex models next month. I might buy new one!!

Approach Trail:
Joined COC event to Wind Mountain AKA Mount Lougheed 4th peak. Even though it was COC, it was pretty much private team with Ben, Heather, Wil, and I. We parked at Ribbon Creek parking and headed out to Ribbon Creek Trail. 3.5 km into the trail there is a single track trail marked with rocks (not cairn) on hiker’s right. We followed the trail to about 5 km on the trail we arrived near a waterfall. We followed a trail on the right side of a creek to the valley bottom of Wind Mountain.

To Summit:
At the beautiful valley the trail faded and didn’t see any trail until near the summit, so pick your line. We took direct route described in “More Scramble” book by Nugara (page 5 for route line). I think this peak can be broken down into 4 sections. The bottom scree section is nothing but scree or snow in our case. Then rockbands in middle. This section is moderate scrambling as book describes. Some route-finding skill required. The 3rd section is another scree. We took more direct route than direct route described in the book and which means it was slabby with loose rocks. We only did that in order to avoid snow slope. The last is the ridge. Once there, only little more elevation to go, but had to clear a slab. This slab was about 30 m, but reminded me of the slab on Mount Fable. It is ok for climbing up, but has to be careful on donwclimbing.

This summit was doubtlessly not average moderate. It’s difficult of moderate scrambling or some might say difficult scrambling. However the reward is big!! What a beautiful trip it was.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Flat and wide Ribbon Creek Trail.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Skipped everything else between and suddenly at the beautiful valley. Nice place to tent.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

ヽ(ヽ(`ヽ(`д´三(`Д´)三д´)ノ´)ノ)ノ

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Bottom of scree. Time to sweat. Mouseover for route line.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Leaving Wil behind.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Kick steps kick steps.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Cliffy section.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Out of cliffy section.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Three of us taking slabby slope. I didn't bother bringing crampons. Heather and Wil brought them but decided to leave them in car after a discussion. Ben took snow slope since he secretly brought crampons even after the discussion.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

On the ridge. Right before the slab climb. Sparrow is massive and magnificent. Mouseover for peak pointer.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Wil on slab.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

More slab.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Heather at the summit.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Sparrow and Lougheed 3 peaks. I didn't know this peak Lougheed 4th peak is actually 1 m taller than main peak of Lougheed.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

I wasn't expecting to see a homeless at 3108m altitude.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

I wish all weekends are like the day like this.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Group pic. From left: Heather, Ben, me, then Wil.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Downclimbing the slab. Again, Ben secretly brought climbing shoes. ○`ε´)=○)゚O゚)☆ POW!

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

On descent we took Ben's steps. Higher up, there was ice underneath snow, so we had to downclimb for a while. This is familiar… Ben, Wil and I did the same thing a week ago at Lefroy…

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Where is my crazy carpet?

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Ass!!

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Having fun with boot skiing.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

Very friendly sheep family. Little ones were jumping around and around playing.

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Wind Mountain | 2011-07-17

One of the best trips. I highly recommended.

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