Page Type: | Mountain/Rock |
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Lat/Lon: | 50.73550°N / 116.7798°W |
Elevation: | 10050 ft / 3063 m |
Snowpatch is not just a decoration and a landmark; it's a terrific climb. Several, in fact. Green and Benson's Bugaboo Rock lists 37 routes on the peak. The easiest goes at Grade IV, 5.6. On one of the two ascents I've made of it, we shared it with one other party. The other 36 routes are less crowded. But don't throw your gear in the car and head off after mastering 5.6 at the local climbing gym. Besides 17 pitches of delightful granite, it involves walking around three quarters of the mountain on 3 glaciers in weather that may range from blazing sunshine to thunderstorms (or snowstorms) on the same day.
If you're flying, the nearest major airports are Calgary, Alberta and Cranbrook, BC. See the entry for Bugaboo Spire for more details, including important notes about protection from porcupines.
The approach to just about every route on the peak will involve some glacier travel. While much of the Crescent Glacier, under the E face, is flat and almost devoid of crevasses, the area nearest the peak is more broken, especially near the glacier's foot. Many parties swing wide of Snowpatch on the Crescent to reach Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col without roping, though the bergschrund just below the col is often hazardous. A climber was killed in 1985 when she was swept by an avalanche into the bergschrund and crushed. Sidestepping the schrund gets you onto steep, gravelly, unprotected rock. Beyond the col, the Vowell Glacier close under Snowpatch's W face is remarkably safe, as glaciers go. You'll probably return that way after climbing the standard (SE Shoulder) route. The Bugaboo Glacier passes under Snowpatch's S face; you'll skirt between them approaching the SE Ridge route. I've stepped onto the glacier for easier travel in spots, but at least one climber has suffered major injury requiring helicopter evacuation after a crevasse caught him there.
As mentioned above, it's a mountain environment. You don't grow glaciers without dropping a few snowflakes now and then. Some routes can be climbed without roping for glaciers or wearing crampons (in early summer), but you'll definitely need an ice axe. Bring crampons and crevasse rescue stuff, and you'll be ready to explore the whole group. The upper Vowell Glacier drops to the Bugaboo Glacier in an icefall between Snowpatch and Pigeon Spires.
Here are links to the Weather Underground pages for Golden (2575 feet / 785m) and Nakiska Ridgetop (8343 feet / 2543m), above Invermere.