| Author |
Topic |
|
Bellingham, Wa
USA
162 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 10:00 AM
|
I had been wanting to do Cougar Mtn. as an early season ascent since its a small (5052') but prominent(2149') peak but the drive to Whistler as a day trip was a bit much from Bellingham. John W. invited us to stay w/ them at a friends condo at the last minute. Nice plan to get this peak & some time to relax & check out the village, something I don't normally do.
The trail to Cougar mountain was mentioned in some older thread on CT as starting by the Whistler sign on the north side of Whistler by the Wedgemount pit. After a bit of looking we found this obscure trail which does start by the sign (go in the direction of the nearby Lions/Rotary sign & you'll pick it up). Took the trail, crossing a mountain bike trail & up a few slabby sections until losing it to snow at 2700', shortly after crossing a creek. We followed the creek for a long ways then descended off a ridge (about 300' drop) toward the peak & traversed around & up(& down) to the final ridge. There was a LOT of routefinding as this peak is a rolling massif with several highpoints and you are in the woods most of the way up. Going up later in the year when the trail is melted out would be a lot easier but this seems more like a shoulder season peak. Fortunately our routefinding was good and we made the top in 4 hrs. 20 min. Very cloudy day but no rain/snow and the clouds lifted as we climbed allowing for views all around from the top. The bigger peaks were all in the clouds but it was an interesting climb and my 50th P2K Canadian summit
 From the top Whistler area is visible
 Ice on Mtn. Hemlock needles  Luna is cold & ready to get moving again |
Edited by - gm on 05/09/2007 10:51 AM
|
|
 Terminator shade wearing, summit questing, double Grinding, Gordo voting self annointed 'dumb ass' and Aconcagua Bagga who dreams of Robson, Teton, The Judge, and.....and....
Port Moody, B.C
Canada
2210 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 10:19 AM
|
 |
|
|
Telkwa
1176 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 1:19 PM
|
| Cool trip - cool doggie |
|
|
|
Herbal tea drinkin, tree huggin, view seeking, tortoise paced, ultralite wannabe
Vancouver, BC
Canada
2847 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 3:22 PM
|
| excuse my ignorance but what does P2K summit mean? |
|
|
|
Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13465 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 6:37 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by gm
I had been wanting to do Cougar Mtn Luna is cold & ready to get moving again
It sure looks like he has great patience in waiting. Neat crystals on the needles.
Regards, |
|
|
Whistler, BC
Canada
1174 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 7:15 PM
|
P2K Prominence is over 2000ft
Info on this method of classifying mountains can be found on bivouac.com |
|
|
|
bandana wearin', pole huckin', view lovin', dog herdin', 4x4 navigatin', lake huntin', butt-slidin' bridge crosser, who enjoys postholing with an overnighter pack
Surrey, BC
Canada
4649 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 8:39 PM
|
Luna is so cute . Congrats on your 50th in Canada. You'll beat your American peak record in no time  |
|
|
|
Grouse Grinding, GPS carrying, lawn chair packing, bike riding North Shore tech addict who stares at Crown Mountain from his office window all day
North Vancouver
Canada
1905 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 8:51 PM
|
| That is one cute doggie pic! |
|
|
Coquitlam, British Columbia
Canada
1727 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 8:55 PM
|
| ...that's one cold looking dog... |
|
|
Bellingham, Wa
USA
162 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 10:28 PM
|
P2k is just a short way of saying 2000' of prominence. Sorry, I just get used to using that term with my friends that know it & many out there may not. You may not even know anything about the concept of prominence anyway but I don't have time to get into that right now,its late.....
|
|
|
Vancouver, BC
Canada
1126 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2007 : 10:54 PM
|
| Prominence is how much the mountain stands out from other mountains. So from the top of a P2K peak, if you wished to hike to a higher peak, no matter which route you take you would have to pass a point at least 2000' below your starting point. |
|
|
Bellingham, Wa
USA
162 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2007 : 08:39 AM
|
2000' of prominence is quite a bit, most mountains don't have that much. I don't know how many P2K mountains there are in BC but in Washington State there are 144 out of 3000+/- peaks.
As the prominence bar is raised higher the number of those that qualify drops dramatically. Ultra Prominence peaks are those that have 5000' or 1500m of drop to the next higher peak. In WA state only 7 make it; Rainier, Baker, Adams, Olympus,Glacier,Stuart, & Ambercrombie.
Check out Peaklist.org for lots of great info on this topic including an explanation of prominence & all kinds of lists of prominent peaks all over the world. You can get a list of all the 1500m prominence peaks of BC & Alberta of which there are 108. Thats a lot; the web page says the BC has among the highest density of ultra-prominences in the entire world! Just another way of indicating that its a really special place.
|
|
|
|
Herbal tea drinkin, tree huggin, view seeking, tortoise paced, ultralite wannabe
Vancouver, BC
Canada
2847 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2007 : 11:12 AM
|
| Cool. Thanks for all the great info, gm and others |
|
|
New Westminster, BC
Canada
1138 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2007 : 5:10 PM
|
Great dog shot with the closed eyes.
I have a shot just like it.
 |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Attack on Cougar Mountain
