Bident Mountain - Apr 13, 2024 - Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Описание: Devan Peterson, Dan Zeidler, Rob Walker, Vern Dewit, and Doug Lutz ascend Bident Mountain via Boom Lake approach

This mountain has never really been on my radar, but when Devan Peterson proposed that we utilize a track that he got from Taylor Sullivan as an ascent route, I dug into the gpx file to ascertain what I could from the recorded track. I could tell that Taylor skied the route based on a few things (even though there wasn't speed recorded in the track). Luckily, Taylor was recording track points at a 1 second interval, and I could tell from his speed down from the summit that he used a couloir to ascend/descend the final elevation push.

Devan also had a photo taken from Chimney Peak that showed the couloir, and when I plotted the track on Google Earth, it all checked out! Taylor did get to the "official elevation" of 3084 metres, so clearly he either got to the summit, or was very close. I put my hat in to join whatever crew Devan assembled.

...And then a series of storms and warming cycles really knocked the wind out of our sails for ascending. Avalanche Canada was predicting serious avalanche conditions, and I simply was not interested in getting into a couloir feature with "considerable" avalanche conditions... so, we wait...

Then I spied a 1-day weather opening on Sun, Apr 14 to ascend, and I did my best to secure additional trail partners interested in ascending the mountain. In the end, Devan and I assembled a crew of 5 for the ascent, and we changed the date to Apr 13.

I felt that the snow conditions were great. There was a solid crust about 20 cm below the snow cover, and where ever we had to ascend steep terrain, it was obvious that there had been some avalanche cycles that had preceded our ascent. We all had 2 axes and crampons, prepared for anything we encountered in the couloir. Snowshoes were used by every team member.

What a great route and crew! Vern Dewit had attempted the mountain from the Consolation Lakes approach 17 years prior on a July attempt - this must have been especially sweet for him to get to the summit! I really liked Rob's approach to the ascent - he didn't have to stay back with me to ensure that I was feeling safe, and wasn't going to "stroke out", but he did - top shelf behaviour!

I hope you enjoy the video/photos - Thanks Devan for inviting me to take on this mountain, and Dan, Vern, and Rob for joining in on the fun!

Thanks Taylor Sullivan for providing the beta!