Wedge Mountain
Via NE Arete
June 9-10, 2021
***Disclaimer for our mothers: The events and decisions described in this report have definitely been exaggerated for effect. All necessary precautions were of course taken and the level of risk never exceeded acceptable levels¹.
Now some may disagree with me and cite my often ambitions trip plans, but I don’t want to die. I want to live a long and healthy life. Long enough, in fact, to experience the cure for death so I can then go on to live forever. But there are certain risks in life. Every year there is an approximately 1 in 2500 chance of dying from a random accident. Everything we do has a risk vs reward calculation attached to it. From crossing the street, to physically assaulting a vending machine after having spent an already excessive amount of money on a half empty bag of pretzels only for it to get caught on the Slim Jim below it. These risks can of course be mitigated, but the cost for removing the chance of a sudden death by vending machine or vehicle is agoraphobia. A cost I am not willing to pay. Outdoor recreation of course significantly increases this risk, forcing us to directly evaluate this calculation. For the reward of nice mountains, there is the inherent risk of being dissected by some anthropology grad students in a few hundred years. It’s unavoidable. But what we can do is lessen this risk through knowledge and experience. Unfortunately, Wedge Mountain is me and Amanda’s first mountaineering outing, so experience was slightly lacking. That left knowledge, something the prudent may acquire from those who possessed experience. The thing is, we are both university students and glacier courses are pricey. So we opted for the more economical option: YouTube, where many (self claimed) experts offer up their experience for free. While one of my tenets in life is to make sure you don’t look like an idiot if you die in the mountains, it can be ever so slightly bent given financial incentive. So off we went armed with YouTube knowledge.
Wedge Mountain is the tallest peak within the Garibaldi Provincial Park sitting at 2,895m. Unlike Mount Garibaldi, it doesn’t stand prominently near the highway. But the promise of summiting the parks tallest peak was alluring. This summer I had also decided to get into mountaineering, and because the main route travelled over glacier and arete, this was a perfect first choice. I was itching to summit something so I planned a June 9-10th ascent. Amanda happily agreed to join me. The weather looked clear and the snow conditions good. No new snow, a low freezing altitude, and the glacier was supposed to be completely covered. We would camp at Wedgemount lake, summit early, then be back in civilization for dinner.
There are two (really three) main routes up Wedge. The West Ridge and the NE arete (and half arete). During the summer of 2020, I had tried to summit Wedge late in the summer without any glacier equipment. We scrambled up to the left of Wedgemount glacier gaining the arete. Unfortunately, it was icy, and with neither crampons nor microspikes we turned around. This time however, we were fully prepared and planned for the proper NE arete route.
We left mid-afternoon and reached the trailhead at around 4pm. We didn’t expect it to take too long as the hike up to the lake wasn’t very far, it was just a lot of up. After eating a lunch of Indian food which was just a bit too spicy, another car pulled up. We were a little surprised as it was quite late, but a couple of skiers hopped out. They had the same plans as us except on skis. We shouldered our heavy packs and departed ahead of them.
I pride myself on my ability to pack. For the past five years I have managed to fit all my trip needs into a 36L bright blue Tatonka hiking bag. This trip was no different. Having recently purchased a three axis dslr camera gimbal, I of course had to bring it. I managed to fit it along with all the other gear. Unfortunately, my bag came to around 50 pounds. Who knows where that weight came from but it was not pleasant.
The hike up to the lake was perhaps the hardest day I’ve ever had. I was really struggling under all that weight. My bag was 40% my body weight. Nevertheless, we made decent time. As expected we reached snow just before the second boulder field. We had borrowed a couple pairs of snowshoes from my friend Caleb but opted not to take them. That was a good decision as they wouldn’t have provided much of an advantage. Upon exiting the forest with the final steep uphill push coming into view, Amanda turned to me and uttered words I never thought I’d hear: “I am no longer a gaiter hater”. I took this as a sign from the camping gods that this trip would turn out favourably. I would later find out my outdoor deity-o-meter needed some calibration. We charged up the steep snowy gully kicking hands and feet into the snow finally reaching the lake just after 7pm. To our delight, the emergency shelter was open and empty providing us with a welcome refuge from the cold wind.
For a moment it appeared as if the sky would clear. An evening sun began to break through the clouds. Unfortunately, by the time we had finished dinner, all hope for the promised sun quickly disappeared.
YouTube is a great resource. There is so much knowledge there, much of it useless, but there are worthwhile videos hidden amongst the junk. The issue is that all of it is theoretical, and glacier safety is something in which you want the hands on experience. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the plans we made to practice crevasse rescue in the park were pushed back…way back. All the way back to 10pm in the emergency shelter by Wedgemount lake. I wasn’t expecting Wedgemount glacier to be particularly dangerous or difficult, but I suppose that’s why we need to know our stuff: for the unexpected. Shamefully, we practiced our last minute crevasse rescue skills hidden away in the shelter when suddenly the door swung open. Like children eating cookies in the pantry, we both jumped and stared wide eyed at the skier couple, a cold breeze disrupting the still air. After a discussion about our respective trip plans, they declined to stay in the shelter with us and headed off the make camp.
My alarm set for 4am… 4:05, 4:10, 4:15, and 4:20, woke us. We sluggishly crawled out of our sleeping bags into the icy morning air to boil some water for oatmeal and instant coffee. While packing and going over our gear, Amanda pulled out her crampons for the first time and realized that MEC had given her two left foot crampons. Oh well, they’d have to do. Just before 5am we departed into the grey and diffuse morning light.
The nature of the light plus the clean and smooth snow made for a very odd atmosphere. It was near impossible to make out bumps and divots which led to frequent stumbles. The clouds were sticking low and moving fast, but we retained hope for a view. Upon reaching Wedgemount Glacier we donned our gear, tied in, and made our way up the steep slope only for me to drop my brand new Nalgene. All I could do was watch it as it sped down the snow while Amanda cackled recalling how I’d lost my previous Nalgene to the sea just a week prior.
Even though the snow was pretty firm and we were barely sinking into a top layer of powder, it was tedious and draining work… at least for Amanda who was trail-breaking. I on the other hand was doing swimmingly, waltzing up her pre compressed footprints. The time dragged on as we slogged upwards and for the second day in a row I experienced the unexpected with Amanda. A day earlier she hopped wholeheartedly upon the gaiter train and now, that spin given gift of godly cardio couldn’t continue carrying her fatigue crippled cadaver any longer. It was odd seeing her tired.
We made our way up along the far left of the glacier. No evidence of any crevasses.
The up flattened out and our objective came into view to the south…at least it should have had there been no clouds. Massive seracs were just beginning to show right in front of us where the half-arete route brings you. We made a sharp left and began heading up again towards a steep looking couloir for the full-arete. It was my time to trail-break and I forged ahead. As the grade increased to 45-50 degrees, I began wondering if I should have opted to lead the first half instead.
Despite the undoubtedly large amount of lactic acid burning through my legs, the sun had broken through the clouds and spirits were high.
After what felt like forever, we reached the ridgeline and the beginning of the arete. Far below us, still crossing the glacier, were the two skiers. They had started a while after us.
Our eyes followed the knife edged arete all the way across then up into the clouds. Our chances for a view weren’t great but we continued on. I didn’t find it particularly sketchy but there were a couple of short sections where you needed great confidence in your feet. This risk was a little too great for Amanda so, after a small slip, she decided it was best for her to sit this one out. Close(ish) to the summit, I decided to push on.
I made my way up but the visibility only grew worse. I checked my map and I was within three hundred meters of the summit but with the crux still ahead, I decided to turn back. It would have been a bad move to continue. Besides, it was tiring hiking in the snow and the view would have been nonexistent. It’s fine. I don’t care. I descended out of the clouds to a waiting Amanda. It was then that the skiers caught up to us. Despite the clouds they decided to try for the summit. We began heading down.
As we made our way back, a bitterly cold wind began whipping up the powder. The clouds pushed lower and snow started falling in flurries. While we wished we had skis for the descent, we went quick enough without them. The time seemingly flew by compared to the ascent.
Back off the glacier, we untied and rock paper scissored for who would flake the rope. Of course the rope then decided to become weirdly tangled despite having been neatly coiled around us. We were making our way slowly back to camp when off in the distance a familiar shape rested peacefully but out of place on the snow. My Nalgene! I was very glad I found it. We continued on along the lake and reached the cabin under somewhat of a blue sky. Unfortunately, that blue sky did not reach all the way to Wedge. The skiers were enveloped in more cloud than ever2.
We took our time back at the shelter not wanting to move after the tiering summit attempt and the cold. So, over the course of a couple hours, we lazily packed our bags and finally headed out. The descent was pretty uneventful and very quick. Upon reaching the car we popped a bottle of sparkling apple juice in celebration. We hadn’t summited, but we were alive. I suppose that’s worth a drink. Especially when you consider our source of glacier travel knowledge and our last minute practice session.
1In my opinion
2We exchanged emails. They decided to turn around before the summit as well.