The weather report called for rain, but 5 of us set out at 6 AM thinking that if we couldn't climb the Lougheed peaks, we could at least do the Wind Tower. By trailhead the weather was great and we started bushwacking up through wet bush towards peak 1. The rock was dry and things went well. At the crux move, a 5 foot vertical section, one member of the group managed to loosen the key foothold, so future groups doing this peak may find the crux to be a short scramble 7 move.


Lougheed Traverse - Crux on Peak 1

At the summit we took a look at peak 2, thinking that it looked MUCH more difficult than the "scree heap" designation in the Ramblers' trip description. I had done it 25 years ago with an ACC group and remembered scrambling, but no overwhelming difficulties. Alas, it seems that with age everything seems easier in hind-sight. We decided to go for peak 2 mostly because the descent from the South side of peak 2 is easier. We soon checked out pretty well all route possibilities, none of which were easy.


Lougheed Traverse - Peak 2 from Peak 1

After scrambling across several crumbly and exposed rock ribs we finally made it to the top following the vertical limb of a syncline to the summit ridge. 3 members of the group needed a rope at one point (Dave's handy clothes line), so this peak, coming from peak 1, should definitely be rated scramble 7.


Kaare, Christine, Cordula and Rita between Loughheed 1 and 2.

We quickly signed the peak 2 register and started our descent because clouds were approaching from the East.


Lougheed Traverse - The Gathering Clouds

The weather dictated that we wouldn't do peak 3, which is much easier and lower than the first two. The scree descent to the col between peaks 2 and 3 was fast, as was the first bit down the mountain from there. We had been assured by a senior rambler that the way down from peak 2 was just a walk. About halfway down the walk abruptly stopped when we were on top of a high cliff-band and a cloud rolled in, obscuring anything more than 20 feet away. We were seriously worried about being forced to spend the night out in rain at this point. Out came the topo map and it told us that the contour lines spread out progressively if we traversed South. We carefully traversed along a ledge in complete white-out conditions. All of a sudden the cloud lifted for a few minutes and we could see breaks through the cliff bands which allowed us to scramble down quickly. What a relief it was to be on terra firma! Unfortunately we still had a long bushwhack out the valley ahead of us. We stumbled out onto the highway around 9:30PM and headed straight for food in Canmore. All in all, we had a great group who kept their good spirits and worked well together despite some major unforeseen difficulties. For the safety of future groups attempting the Lougheed traverse, the trip rating must be changed to Scramble 7 and the time estimate raised to 13-14 hours. Participants: Christine, Kaare, Dave, Cordula and scribe Rita.

In May 2020, David added a digitized slide.