Mt Bosworth Scramble on 1-Aug-2024

Mount Bosworth is a trip that gets done surprisingly rarely, judging from the lack of cairns and trails, especially given how close it is to the Trans-Canada highway and how spectacular the views are. The last time it was done by the Ramblers was in 2009, so 15 years ago. It also offers up some excellent scrambling and some challenging route finding. As well, it is interesting to see up close the permanent Gazex avalanche control system that has been installed on the mountain.

We were originally going to be a party of three, but unfortunately Sebastiaan had to cancel at the last minute due to a work commitment, so Tatyana and I decided to go ahead with the just the two of us. We parked at the entrance to the road into the Lake O'Hara parking lot, just off the Trans-Canada highway, and were on our way by 9:00 am. The first task is to cross the highway, not an easy or safe thing to do at this busy time of year ( but alternatives may be found); we then walked about 600 m east along the north side of the highway. At this point we headed up an avalanche slope (with little to no bushwacking) and from there followed the route described in Alan Kane's scrambles book. The most challenging route-finding is through the band of black rock below the summit. There is a proliferation of cairns here, and we spent quite a bit of time sorting out what we thought was the best route. We ended up going up some fairly steep and exposed scrambling to climbers left of the summit ridge, but on our descent we discovered that the easiest route is to stay on the summit ridge from the heli-pad on the summit ridge all the way to the summit and back. We arrived at the summit at about 1:00 pm, enjoyed the views from the summit until about 1:45 pm, and were back at the car at 4:45 pm. There is a lot of loose rock on the descent, so we moved very carefully through this terrain, and I would recommend a group size of no more than six with perhaps four being best for this scramble.

Thanks very much to Tatyana for your excellent company and for sharing your considerable scrambling and route-finding expertise on this challenging scramble.

Total time: 7.75 hours Total distance: 7.6 km Total elevation gain: 1170 m

The water fall (mostly dry on this day) in the more easterly gulley. This break in the lower cliff band provides access to the slopes above it.

Looking up at the gulley that leads to the summit ridge. Two of the Gazex exploders can be seen higher up.

Typical terrain in the upper part of the gulley leading to the summit ridge.

Tatyana climbing past the upper-most Gazex exploder just below the summit ridge. The summit of Mount Bosworth can be seen directly above her head.

Looking up at the crux from the heli-pad on the ridge just below the summit.

Looking for the best route through the crux.

Popes Peak and Popes Peak col from the summit of Mount Bosworth.

A closer look at what Popes Peak Col looks like in the winter.

Ross Lake and the new clear-cut area, Mount Niblock, Mount Whyte, Narao Peak, Victoria North Peak, Mount Temple from the summit of Mount Bosworth.

Mount Daly and the Bath Glacier from the summit of Mount Bosworth.

Mount Carnarvon and the Presidents from the summit of Mount Bosworth.

Cathedral Mountain and Mount Stephen from the summit of Mount Bosworth.

Participants: Jack,Tatyana

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