Red Peak

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Red Peak

On 12 November 2016, I headed out with Asieh Ghodratabadi, Ali Shariat and Zosia Zgolak to climb Red Peak in Alberta's Kananaskis Country. This hike is described in Gillean Daffern's Kananaskis Country Trail Guide, but we drew most of our inspiration from Bob Spirko's trip report. Starting from Buller Pass trailhead, we followed the main trail across the junction with the new High Rockies Trail and continued to the turnoff for North Buller Pass (unsigned just beyond a footbridge). Increasing snow cover made it difficult at times to follow the trail, but Ali had Spirko's GPS tracks which helped to keep us on the right track. Below North Buller Pass, Asieh decided to turn around due to the windy conditions and cold temperatures. Although Ali made it up to the pass with Zosia and me, he decided to forego climbing Red Peak, and instead, he dutifully retreated and accompanied his wife back to the trailhead. Zosia and I temporarily escaped the wind by dropping down the east side of North Buller Pass and working our way northward to bypass an intervening bump between the pass and Red Peak. Snow was abundant everywhere in this back bowl, but most of it seemed stable enough for Zosia and me to feel safe about venturing onto the slopes. A large snow cornice guarded the low point of the ridge between the intervening bump and Red Peak, but we managed to surmount it without too much difficulty. From there, it was a long but simple plod up to the summit of Red Peak. Tragically, Zosia lost her beloved down jacket here when a strong gust of wind plucked it from between her legs just as she was about to put it on. The jacket is now probably being used as a warm bird's nest somewhere in the vicinity of Sparrowhawk Tarns. As a result, we did not linger for long before commencing our descent. We stayed a bit higher this time while traversing to North Buller Pass under the intervening bump in order to avoid unnecessary elevation gain. After descending from the pass, we retraced our steps without any issues and reunited with Asieh and Ali back at the trailhead.

	Asieh and Ali follow Sonny into the valley leading to North Buller Pass (not visible here). Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	North Buller Pass (left) is in sight.
	Ali and Asieh come up the open slopes below North Buller Pass. Mount Buller is partially shrouded in clouds at right.
	Zosia climbs up toward North Buller Pass.
	From North Buller Pass, the route cuts across this slope and climbs toward the corniced ridge at distant right.
	Sonny carefully drops down the east side of North Buller Pass. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia climbs up a mix of snow and rubble.
	Sonny approaches the cornice guarding the ridge. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia pops out onto the ridge crest beyond the intervening bump behind her.
	Zosia hikes the easy south ridge of Red Peak.
	A rainbow appears unexpectedly beyond the summit ridge.
	The clouds lift slightly to partially reveal Mount Bogart.
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the summit of Red Peak (2781 metres).
	To the southwest is Mount Buller (right).
	Mount Kidd South Peak and Ribbon Lake grab all the attention to the southeast.
	On descent, Zosia aims for North Buller Pass (right of centre).
	Total Distance: 17.7 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 7 hours Net Elevation Gain: 977 metres GPX Data