Mt. Waddington Circumski
Mt. Waddington, also known as Mystery Mountain is the tallest mountain that sits fully within the confines of British Columbia. The waters from Mystery Mountain flow into the Bute Inlet to the South and the Knight Inlet to the north. Both spectacular regions that the Kwakwaka’wakw people have been using to hunt, fish, and survive for thousands of years. There surely was countless first nations people crossing these massive glaciated regions long before we arrived using only long sticks tied to themselves to keep them from falling into the many deep crevasses. The first recorded ascension of Mystery Mountain was by Frits Weissner and Bill House in 1936 and then followed by a young Fred Beckey and his brother in 1942. I’d encourage anyone interested in traversing this striking area to try this route or a variation of it. It’s an absolutely incredible place with many possible ascents and ski descents along the way. Moreover, this trip can be done with much less logistics due to its circular nature than many other traverses in the Coast Mountains. My hope is that sharing some more information on the route will encourage a few more people to explore the area.
Looking towards Mt. Waddington from Bifrost Pass.
The traverse took us 16 days but could be done much quicker or extended to take advantage of the many skiing and climbing opportunities along the way.
We started the traverse in late April and finished through the beginning of May and that timing seemed to work well. The Chilcotin’s have far less snow and pushing the trip later may increase the amount of bushwhacking to be done. On the Western side of the divide there was no shortage of snow however the contrast after passing through Fury Gap was stark. The Eastern side of the Waddington divide is a much dryer landscape.
This trip required only one food cache and one helicopter drop. The cache and the food drop were done strategically to minimize flight time. It could be done with more drops(or less) and still be a fairly affordable trip which I think puts this trip in the realm of your average skier with the skills to traverse such a rugged range as the Waddington. Mike King at White Saddle helicopters was very accommodating, easy to work with, and very experienced in dealing with skiers and climbers flying into the range. They have installed a repeater tower and supply you with a radio so that you are able to contact them for an exit or an emergency. It’s an amazing service to have in such a remote place and we are super lucky to have such a resource. Without the King’s, accessing the range would be much more difficult and make this trip far less attainable as well as make it a higher risk endeavour.
We began the trip by flying from Whitesaddle Helicopters to the Scimitar Glacier where we cached a supply of food and fuel. From there we bumped up in the helicopter to the ridge just north of Unicorn Mountain to about 2400m. We descended east down to the Cataract Glacier where we transitioned and continued climbing east up the Cataract to the North of the Four Guardsmen. The Icefall can be passed on the South without much trouble but caution needs to be taken as there are many crevasses one could punch through here. We set up camp on a col just NE of Mt. Schultz.
The next leg took us to the comfortable Plummer hut. First thing we went up and around Mt. Schultz and then passed through a blow hole SE of Mt. Hall. The rest of the day was a fairly straightforward day of travelling across the Tellot Glacier to reach the Plummer Hut. The Plummer Hut is hidden behind the ridge directly to the W of Claw Peak. A short boot pack brings you to the beautiful vista provided above the Tiedemann Glacier including incredible views of Mt. Waddington and Mt. Munday.
Jonas heading towards the Plummer Hut which is hidden just behind the ridge to the left of him.
From the Plummer hut we descended to the Tiedemann Glacier. This part was pretty tricky. It’s a very large and complex slope that rolls over in all directions. We let the slope warm slightly in the morning so we could get an edge with our heavy packs. Noted on the map below is our route, which worked but put us at risk near the bottom where we passed between two moraines leading to the Tiedemann. In hindsight I would take a line as I have marked on the map in blue which is steeper near the top but provides a more direct and cleaner line to the glacier. If you take the skiers left route that we took, at the top if you hang far left you can get into a windscoop that takes you cleanly past the glacier. Once below the glacier and above the moraines, traverse skiers right above the moraines to reach the cleaner exit at the bottom. On the Tiedemann Glacier, the views are incredible and the relief stunning. Cruise down the glacier and enjoy the sights until you are able to exit the moraines on the South at about 1000m elevation. To climb the moraine with our sleds and heavy packs we hauled our gear separately to ease the climb. Above the moraine there is a beautiful sheltered spot to camp amongst the trees.
Our route down from the Plummer in purple. A suggested alternative is the green line which is steeper and may have some serac fall hazard.
The roughly drawn in alternate route over Mt. Munday that was climbed by another group a few years earlier. Seems like a fun route with a lighter pack!
The next leg took us up and over a col next to Smoking Canyon Peaks. The climb is fairly straightforward although has a long steep section. We went a little too close to the peaks and ended up traversing lower on the col to find a notch to pass through. It is noted on the KML and an alternative is drawn in that would avoid any extra climbing. At the notch, a short rappel or downclimb was warranted and then passing through a large wind feature gets you out onto the Smoking Canyon Glacier system. Once on the glacier we set a right trending traverse and a few nice turns down to a notch that made for a good camp where we weathered a brief storm.
The traverse across the Smoking Canyon Glacier and continuing below Fascination Mtn was a large unknown in our route. There was little information in regards to this section of travel besides John Baldwin briefly noting that he thought it might be possible. That made this section very interesting but was also the crux considering we weren’t sure what those things that looked like seracs on the map would actually look like in person. Crossing Smoking Canyon Glacier was quite straightforward and then there was a steep climb to a ridge to gain the traverse across Fascination Mtn. We climbed up to the ridge and then hauled the sleds with our food. Once on the ridge we travelled uphill towards Fascination Mtn and transitioned higher up to enable us to ski across the bowl. The seracs in the summer satellite images were buried under the deep snowpack however there was a large glide crack opening up from the granite slabs beneath we had to ski under quickly. Once turning the corner onto the toe of the Waddington Glacier system travel was straightforward. We climbed up to the edge of a ridge at 2200m with fabulous views of the Whitemantle Range and setup camp.
After crossing the Smoking Canyon Glacier and traversing across Fascination Mtn. Looking towards the Homathko River down the valley.
Crossing the Waddington Glacier was straightforward. We started traversing from our camp and then skied down next to some spectacular three story high seracs which made us feel incredibly small. Once onto the main flow of the Waddington, travel up to the Agur/Munday Col was straightforward and fast. From the col we continued down the Ice Valley Glacier and had a siesta to wait for shade to climb up the Corridor Glacier and onto the Dais below Mt. Waddington. This portion of the trip is about as good as traversing gets in the Coast Mountains with huge vistas towards the Whitemantle Range and the massive relief of Mt. Waddington towering above you in the opposite direction. Really beautiful country!
Leaving camp on the Waddington Glacier.
We had hoped to ski and climb Waddington via the Angel Glacier but unfortunately were dosed with a healthy amount of snow, wind, and visibility about as good as the inside of a ping pong ball. After four days of that, the sky cleared and we began to head for our food cache on the Scimitar Glacier. We headed up beside the icefall to Fury Gap. This section had some very thin snow bridges as this area constantly gets bombarded with wind. From the top of Fury Gap it is a very steep, and exposed slope. I was very happy to be descending this rather than climbing it as the Baldwin book describes. Once down onto the Scimitar it is just the right angle to cruise all the way down. We reached the food cache without issue and it was a pleasant cruise with lots of good views of potential climbing lines I would love to return to someday.
Heading towards Fury Gap.
From the food cache on the Scimitar we skied down towards the end of the Scimitar and then went NW towards Bifrost Pass. Its fairly straightforward travel with a few short steep sections to surmount but nothing too technical. The views from the pass are some of the best of the trip. You get an amazing panoramic view of the Waddington Range that is up there with one of the best views I’ve ever seen. There is one tricky section as you come through the pass at Delusion Peak where it is a little unclear how to get off the glacier. If you traverse across the glacial bench you can use the lateral moraine on the far side which cuts back skiers left once you have crossed the glacier. We kept pushing to Twist Creek to set ourselves up to head to the Pantheon Range. The next day was forecast to be cloudy with some precipitation so we thought it would be a good day to do some walking through the trees on the way to Nirvana Pass.
Bifrost Pass views with Mt. Waddington in the back.
Rather than head up to Nirvana Pass we decided to head home via Twist Creek. This was a big mistake! I may have lost a few years of my life on this bushwhack, mostly due to the heartache and frustration one can experience while bushwhacking through over the head blowdown with skis, equipment, and a week of food on ones back. Character building to say the least! Mike King told us that Outward Bound students would travel up to Waddington this way and then up and over Fury Gap. Quite a lesson in humility I’d say! I didn’t take any more photos from this point but it took us many days to exit. We crossed Twist and stayed on the north side of the creek so we would not have to cross in higher water further down stream. Once you reach Twist Lake there is a rough trail along the shore that was pleasantly maintained by the Foster’s.
The last leg of the trip.
The bushwhack exit down Twist Creek is not recommended. Finishing with a variation of the Pantheon Traverse would be a spectacular way to finish the route and can be done with far less bushwhacking by exiting either Sand Creek or Hell Raving Creek. The Hell Raving Creek route is described in the John Baldwin book. Sand Creek seems to be the shortest and fairest option however all bushwhacking in this area has been cursed by a widespread Pine Beetle kill many years ago. The beetle kill has littered the forrest with downed logs. Avoiding as much of the bush as possible is highly recommended. If you choose to exit down Sand Creek please be considerate of the family that lives at Sand Creek Ranch which you may inevitably cross. The family that live at the ranch amazingly maintain the road to the ranch themselves. If you plan on exiting through the Ranch it is a good idea to let them know your plans. Mike King was kind enough to let them know our plan and we left our truck outside their gate on the road.
Tempei Takeuchi, Jonas Delogne, Brandon Hartwig, and myself completed this trip May 5, 2021.
