Went with Steven and Alan to climb Begbie and Tilley near the headwaters of the Columbia River in the Monashee Mountains. The Monashees are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains. These ranges extend into Washington. If you have ever driven through the town of Revelstoke on a clear day, you have seen Mount Begbie.
Revelstoke and Columbia River
On day 1 we hiked up to the slabs at the base of the northeast glacier. Begbie features a narrow exposed north ridge with small glaciers on either side. We ditched our overnight gear and crossed the glacier.
ledge visible
party of 2
At the margin we climbed steep ice. Another party of 2 made it this far but turned around. My aluminum crampons were not ideal. The glacier was separated from the rock wall by a moat. Walking along an icy knife edge brought us to the start of the ledge.
The crux of the ledge was near the beginning. Several narrow sections about a foot wide have an overhanging roof. Some crawling is required. I was not able to photograph the best part. Our beta indicated that two old pitons could be found along the ledge, but newly placed bolt anchors were a nice surprise.
The second half of the ledge was just a walk, but still thrilling. We came to the crest of the north ridge and began the scramble. The entire upper mountain is quartzite which chunks off in nice blocks and makes for great scrambling. There was more snow present than we anticipated.
After the summit we returned to the ledge and decided to skip the first crux crawl area with a rappel back to the glacier. We returned to camp on the slabs around dusk and a full moon was rising. Steven slept under the stars, with no bivy sack. I wandered away from camp in the dark to catch a glimpse of the lights of Revelstoke far below.
On day 2 we crossed talus and slabs below the northwest glacier. This glacier forms a natural hourglass with vertical ice between the upper and lower half. On the way down to Tilley Lake we began noticing signs of bear activity. Mount Tilley was visible and looks similar to Luna Peak from this vantage.
Beyond Tilley Lake we descended further to reach Revelation Lake. The Davis peaks and Big Apple across the valley are quite a sight. From the west shore of Revelation we ascended brush to reach a small basin below the east face of Tilley. Some minor cliff bands to negotiate.
Above the upper basin we traversed a half kilometer to the west to reach the south ridge of the main peak. Near the top of the ridge I could see a large diagonal ledge blocked by a cliff. I suggested we traverse left below the cliff to access this ledge, but the guys wanted a more direct line.
Both Steven and Alan are more accomplished climbers and couldn't care less about loose 4th or what some people in WA might call low 5. We came to a very exposed corner and the guys went up, trundling a rock or two. I needed a belay here. Above the crux there was some more class 3 and 4 and then we were on top.
Big Apple
English
Begbie
Views from Tilley are better than Begbie. The Sir Sanford group, Rogers Pass peaks and other very isolated Selkirk peaks further south are beyond my ability to describe with words, so just make use of the photos. Take home message: Mount Sir Donald is a drop in the bucket and not even moderately impressive when you see the rest of the surrounding area.
towards Odin
Tilley summit
Revelation, Heart, and Surprise lakes
We found a small metallic register, complete with lightning entry and exit hole. The lightning also burned two holes in the ziplock baggie inside, but was considerate enough to spare the paper register. I rappelled the crux while Alan went to explore the class 2 ramp alternative and Steven made a bold down-climb to save the sling.
It was unusually warm for an October day in central BC and I even contemplated swimming in one of the lakes. We returned to camp around dusk and prepared for the descent. Unfortunately we missed the time cut-off to stay with my family nearby, but the 2nd peak was totally worth it.
Damn. I visited Mt. Revelstoke NP years ago, don't remember seeing interesting alpine stuff nearby. I guess I was really missing out. Looks like some outstanding terrain, beautiful lakes and tarns up there. Interesting variety on Begbie--slabby approach, glacier, narrow ledges. Canada....yep, lots of good stuff there.
Nice photos dude. I've been waiting for a couple years to do Begbie and finally went to pull it off. It's at roughly halfway between Vancouver and Calgary so grabs attention from everybody whether you are based in Vancouver, Interior BC or the Canadian Rockies. Tilley was a bonus but turns out to be much more than what I expected. That exploration down to Revelation Lake itself is worth a shot.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases when you use our link(s).
