The original plan was to access Loder Peak via Door Jamb Mountain and to complete a circuit via Jura Creek and that route had been dutifully loaded into the coordinator's GPS. Of course there was a strong possibility that snow conditions might prevent us from completing parts if not all of the planned circuit.

Six scramblin' Ramblers arrived at the trailhead and a quick survey of Door Jamb Mountain didn't show any major deposits of snow on our proposed route. Of course we couldn't see the summit of Loder Peak so who could foresee what obstacles we might encounter there. The ascent to the summit of Door Jamb was fairly straightforward and a lot of fun. The route offers good rock and a variety of interesting problems to solve. The infamous slabs were bone dry and the footing was excellent.

Ascending dry slab on Door Jamb Mountain.

There was some snow on the summit of Door Jam,


Summit of Door Jamb Mountain looking north towards Loder Peak.

in the col between Door Jamb and Loder,


A snowy col between Door Jamb Mountain and Loder Peak.

and on the ascent up Loder Peak.


Ramblers kick-stepping up a snowy ascent to Loder Peak.

The summit of Loder Peak was covered with snow as was the descent to the col between Loder and Goat. The downclimb looked much too risky under the prevailing conditions so the remainder of the circuit route was aborted with absolutely no dissent from any members of the group. After a quick survey of the surrounding peaks, and of course - a summit photo of the group,


Susan, Charlene, Bill, Gord, Susan and Jim on the snowy summit of Loder Peak

we headed back to the col for lunch in a more sheltered spot.

On the way down we encountered several other groups ascending Door Jamb but most of them were content with that early season accomplishment and were leaving Loder for another more snow-free day. I guess it helps to be a snowshoer, as most of our group were, to appreciate the rewards of plodding through snow to reach an objective. Our descent was fast and trouble free and every bit as much fun as the ascent. Loder Peak via Door Jamb offers an excellent early season opportunity to work the kinks out and to practice some our long dormant scrambling skills. The mountains await, the scrambling season is upon us!

Participants: Susan; Charlene; Bill; Gordon; Jeannine. Photographer: Gordon. Coordinator and scribe: Jim. Trip Statistics: Distance - 7.3 km; Time - 6 hours; Elevation gain - 900 meters; Maximum elevation: 2095 meters.