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Rocky Mountain Ramblers Association

Trip Report
Trip Date:
13-Aug-2017
Activity:
Scramble
Trip name:
Storm Mtn (Highwood Pass)
Coordinator:
Kevin
Report:
We headed up the trail opposite the Lost Lemon sign at 8 AM. After about 30 minutes we found ourselves in a small hanging valley. At the end of the valley, we headed up the the left side of the valley to gain the ridge leading to the false South summit of Storm. We chose to follow the left side of this scree/talus slope as this allowed the group to use the firm low angle slabs for about 70% of the way up to the ridge.



David heading up to the ridge

From the ridge we continued up to the false South summit on crappy talus/scree.



Scree on slab terrain leading up to the false summit of Storm mountain




Roseroot below the South summit

The group took a well deserved break at the South summit.



Bill and Arnold taking a break at the South false summit

While there were blue skies to the North, the West and South were quite smokey. We descended to the access ramp, which was snow free and in great shape. A well beaten 'Kane Effect' trail led the group to the base of the summit block.



The access ramp and summit block of Storm Mountain




At the base of the summit block after traversing the ramp

We scrambled up diagonally left on good rock, to gain the ridge leading to the summit.



Scrambling up the summit block ridge

Once on the summit we enjoyed a long lunch break. With clouds coming in fast from the West, the group decided it was prudent to begin our descent.



The summit ridge with a smokey Mist Mt. in the background




Summit photo with Mount Rae in the background

There is no nice/good descent route off of Storm Mountain. All options involve significant loose rock and scree on slab. After a group conference, we decided to do a variation of the Kane 'fast descent' route and descend directly from the notch adjacent to the summit. We stayed in a tight knit group to minimize rockfall. This descent option led us down into a hanging valley North of our ascent valley. Just before the group reached the valley bottom, a light rain started and we donned our rain gear. We followed the right side of the drainage down to the road, hitting a good trail about half way down the drainage. The rain had stopped the time we returned to our vehicles at 3 PM.
Thanks to Bill, Arnold and David for joining me Kevin (S/C) on an interesting scramble in the Highwood Pass area.
Net elevation gain 1050 metres, total distance 7.5 km and total time 7 hours