BOU AVENUE
Pilot Mountain
On 9 August 2002, Dan Millar and I scrambled up
Pilot Mountain in Banff National Park. The steep access drainage
took its toll on us as we slogged our way up to the basin on the northwest
side of the mountain. The traverse below the rock band guarding the
northwest ridge was no cakewalk either. I was pretty hosed by the
time we reached the bottom of the chimney leading to the difficult sections
below the summit ridge. With the bulk of the scree and height gain
behind us though, the exposed scrambling on the upper part of the mountain
proved to be quite a lot of fun and seemed to perk me up considerably.
On our descent, we made one route-finding error going down the access drainage
and had to backtrack up the slope for about 50 metres to get back on course.
Overall, this was a physically punishing scramble for me, and I am awed
by the fact that some people manage to squeeze Mount Brett into the same
trip.
Dan traverses the northwest basin.
The scramble route essentially follows the right skyline.
Dan scrambles up some steep ledges
below the summit ridge.
Dan walks along the summit ridge.
The actual summit is out of view further along the ridge. Barely
visible in the distance at left is Mount Assiniboine.
Sonny gives a rather unenthusiastic 'thumbs up' on the
2940-metre summit.
