Jer and I took a crack at Mt. Blane in K- country. The "Selected Alpine"
guidebook describes it as good rock by Rockies standards but we both found
it to be rather crappy and we are both Rockies guys. I would certainly not
add it to my list of recommended climbs. Just in case you are determined to
want to head up this choss heap of deteriorating rock, here is some beta
that may save you some time.
Ascending King Creek it is presently necessary to make 15 single and double
log crossings over the creek due to high water. This makes for a rather
sporty start to the day and wastes a fair bit of time. Bring a ski pole for
balancing on the logs and for the scree and trails above.
The beginning of the climbers trail out of the creek is marked by cairns at
the start of the third gulley. If you ascend immediately out of the creek on
a good trail right at the fork of the creek and pass a bunch of ceremonial
flags in the trees then you should just follow the trail back along the
creek and descend back down to follow the trails along the creek to the
cairned start of the climbers trail.
The pretty good climbers trail does bring you to a section of quartzite
scree after which your are indeed forced into the gulley. At the moment
there is still a bunch of rock studded avalanche debris still in the gulley
but watch out as a couple of sections are badly undercut moat type affairs.
Otherwise the debris affords good travel in many places for the time being.
Once it melts it will leave a generally chossy gulley.
The guidebook mentions to ascend to the col, but really since the route does
not go up directly from the col it is a waste of time unless you want to go
there to rest. With all the stream crossings and carrying on we took three
hours to the col.
>From just below the col it is quicker to head right (West side) around the
first tower on the ridge to a small chimney. Depending upon your ability you
may rope up here and short rope for a while. This is a really brutal peak to
try to short-rope however and you should be really competent on crappy rock
before heading here.
The ridge is followed for a while and as the guidebook suggest another tower
farther along can be by-passed on the right (West) as well on a good ledge
with a cairn. On this route sometimes the easiest scrambling / climbing is
on the left, other times on the right and sometimes along the ridge crest.
Look around corners before deciding which is the easiest line.
When you encounter a single piton on a short wall the climbing begins in
earnest. We eventually got tired of the crappy nature of the rock and
decided that the whole affair wasn't worth finishing so we did some rappels
from blocks and pitons and bailed about 100 - 200m before the end. We didn't
find the quality of the rock all that appetizing and we were constantly
being buffeted by very gusty strong winds. This coupled with the long
runouts on loose rock made the whole affair a gong show in our opinion.
If you do this route bring some pitons and lots of webbing and cord for
rappelling off plus a sense of humour for dealing with the choss.
Some movie shows rate movies by "kernels of popcorn" on a scale of 1 to 5
kernels, with 5 being an academy award winning film. I would give this route
ONE kernel of popcorn, only because the views are stellar and some of the
exposed positions on the ridge are very airy and cool. Otherwise I would
recommend doing something else if you have a choice.
Cyril Shokoples MG
Rescue Dynamics
5109 - 17A Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA T6L 1K5
http://www.rescuedynamics.ca
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These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The
ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in
continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information
provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions
Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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