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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1195 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2012 : 7:54 PM
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2012-06-16
Elevation gain: 900m
Time: 8 hours
Distance: 16 km
On this trip I was accompanied by Amelie, Brittany and Greg. We left Calgary around 7 am and followed Hwy 1 and Hwy 66 to Powderface Trail. We drove about ten kilometres on the Powderface Trail until we reached a pull off spot on the east side of the dirt road. This is right where Prarie Creek can be seen snaking through the meadow to the east.
The plan was to do the most efficient route to the Compression Ridge summit. I had read several trip reports and was sure I had figured out the best way. A number of people had used the south facing slopes east of the summit to descend. My plan was to use these slopes to make the quick ascent and avoid unnecessary traversing. I figured this route would also allow us to see the most interesting pinnacles along the ridge.
As we were getting ready, I think most of us were not feeling too keen. Two in the group had very little sleep, the terrain was wet and muddy from the heavy rains and the dampness combined with the wind made it feel like a winter start. But we didn't want to drive all this way just to turn around.
There is a good trail along Prarie Creek, but this trail soon turns south and we continue west. Animal trails are abundant and difficult to distinguish from any existing trails. I referred to my GPS often, but while negotiating the marshy meadows and bushwhacking through patches of thick forest, I was surprised to find myself in the wrong gully.
I could see through the trees an open and straight forward slope leading up to the summit of Nihahi Ridge. We could have backtracked a hundred meters and gone up the correct gully, but I knew that the rest of the group had not bagged Nihahi Ridge and since we were on the way, why not continue? The ascent was quick and straight forward. The only difficulty was near the summit, where a short section of hands-on moderate scrambling is required.
As soon as we reached the summit of Nihahi Ridge, we could tell it was going to be a windy day. We spent enough time to look through the register and sign it. The register was in pretty bad shape and in several pieces. We left the summit and continued on along Compression Ridge. The ridge was pretty straight forward, but it seemed like the more distance we made, the stronger the wind got.
I always check the forecast before setting out and on this day the forecast called for wind speeds ranging from 30-45 kmph. This is what it felt like when we topped out on Nihahi. But as we closed in on the Compression Ridge summit, we were getting hit by gusts closer to 100 kmph. It was not pleasant and with a narrow ridge ahead of us, it was not safe. At one point a gust made both Amelie and Brittany lose their balance. I grabbed Amelie's hand, while Brittany found herself two feet away from where she was standing. We were thinking it was time to look for an exit.
We could see that a good portion of the slope to the east could be descended without difficulties, but there seemed to be a good possibility we would get cliffed out near the bottom. As we got further down, we were definitely looking at cliffs. We skirted around to the north, until we found a weakness that was no more than moderate scrambling. This lead us down the the creek bed and it wasn't long before we rejoined with our original route up.
While we didn't make the targeted summit, I think we made the right decision. It's always tough to turn around, especially so close to the summit. I'll most likely return in the fall and may even take our descent route up.
Photos:
         
Map:
GPS track: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rhen3kt9g89oiho/2012-06-16%20Compression%20Ridge.gpx |
Edited by - Marko on 06/17/2012 7:54 PM
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
467 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2012 : 9:59 PM
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In January on Red Ridge, wind was like 80-100kph, and at one point, I got knocked off balance and my right foot stepped on a cornice and it broke through to my knee... In March on Coffin Mountain, wind speed was like 120kph, and I got completely knocked off ground for more than 1m away... Under this condition, it's not very safe to do a difficult scramble though. There's always next time, and good to know you guys successfully bagged Nihahi Ridge.
If you want to ascend the way I decent (The south facing slope), be prepared of lots of loose scree bashing. It's a fast scree ski on descent, but could be tedious on the way up. If you use your descent route to ascent, you can enjoy more about the narrow ridge scrambling including the rock fin. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1195 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2012 : 09:26 AM
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Steven, looking at Google Earth and reading several trip reports, I think there would be several ways up or down those south facing slopes. But yes, it would be nice to continue where we left off.
The part I find most interesting are the window pinnacles and they would be after the summit. The "rock fin" doesn't look like safe scrambling to me, at least from the pictures I saw on So's website. It looks too loose and perhaps not the smartest thing to scramble. Especially if it can be easily avoided.
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1195 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2012 : 09:37 AM
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This is one of the pics I'm referring to:
http://soistheman.com/diary/2009/09_09i/09.jpg
It's all fun, until you grab on or step on to something that looks like it will hold but it doesn't. I've had enough close calls like that to prefer to avoid them. :) |
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155 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2012 : 6:37 PM
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Marko,
Another option for you is to gain the southeast end of Compression Ridge first from Canyon Creek. This way you can spend most of your time high up on the ridge and enjoy the scenery from high above. This route also avoids the bushwack on the Prairie Creek approach. In fact, this approach requires very little bushwack and it takes you into the alpine in no time. Just make sure you do it on a sunny, windless day in order to enjoy it fully. After completing the traverse you can either retrace your steps (which is what I did; I like staying high) or take down the scree slope towards Mt. Howard and then descend to Canyon Creek. You can then hike out via Canyon Creek directly to your car. This is a great loop in my opinion, requiring only one car. You start and finish at the exact same spot. It worked for me. You can even bag Mt. Howard, if you do this route. I think it would add an extra 1.5 hrs to your trip.
https://picasaweb.google.com/RPaul444/COMPRESSIONRIDGE2500M |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1195 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 09:38 AM
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Raff, I'm not sure I understand. Something like this?
It seems like a much longer approach!
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155 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 4:59 PM
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Hi Marko,
The blue line shows the route I took to the summit of Compression Ridge. I was going to retrace my steps along the ridge back to my car, but descended via the gully shown in yellow in order to avoid elevation gain. It was fast and efficient. The lines in black mark your other possible descent routes including an optional ascent of Mt. Howard, if you so desire.
Hope this helps.
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1195 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 5:31 PM
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Ah I see what you mean. Is that not the NE ridge? That looks faster!
You mentioned in you photo album that the decent was not so good. Would you in hindsight go back down the same way? |
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155 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 6:53 PM
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| I don`t know if I would have come down the same way. It all depends on conditions. The descent was a bit tricky. You have to make sure you access the correct gully, otherwise you will get cliffed out. The gully was filled with snow and ice, but I managed to get down it. It would have been much easier if it was dry. I then hiked out via the drainage. Lucky for me the drainage was dry. I wouldn`t count on it this year. You`d be taking a chance right now if you decide to get off the Compression ridge this way. Personally I would play it safe and simply retrace my steps. The elevation gain that I avoided by using this gully wasn`t that big. I was lazy, that`s all. If I hadn`t done Howard, I would have combined it with the traverse of Compression Ridge. |
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Nihahi & Compression Ridge
