North America, Canada, Interior Ranges, Northern Monashees

Publication Year: 1972.

Northern Monashees. Looking for solitude, virgin peaks and genuine wilderness, we decided to fly into the Pancake Peak area during the first week of August. The economics of helicopter transportation dictated a large group. Members of our convention-sized party were Tom and Judy Dabrowski, Lee and Betty Davenport, Pete and Sally Owzarski, John Rowley, Martin West and John Young. Our climbing was centered about two base camps. From the first, at the head of Moose Creek, we climbed “Panorama Peak” (c. 8400 feet) on July 31 via easy rock, snow and heather on the west ridge. The peak lies immediately north of the large lake alongside the Foster Glacier. On August 1, we climbed the highest summit (c. 9900 feet) along the ridge running through Pancake Peak (incorrectly 9700 feet in the guidebook). We named it “Mica Mountain” in honor of the stuff which kept blowing into our eyes, lunch and cameras. The route was up the left of the east face, via the relatively unbroken glacier and then up a short class-3 rock pitch on the ridge south of the summit. Next day, from the same camp, we climbed “Mount Sérac” (c. 9400 feet), just south of Moose-Bone pass, by the moderately broken glacier on the northeast side. We spent two surprisingly easy days moving camp down Moose Creek and up to the northern end of Siwash Creek (almost no slide alder). We climbed the following easy peaks lining the valley head via the connecting ridges in one day: “Little Flapjack” (c. 8400 feet) just north of Pancake Peak and on the same ridge, “Leo Peak” (c. 8400 feet) immediately north of the Siwash-Pancake pass, and “Sandman Mountain” (c. 8800 feet) across the Siwash Creek valley from Little Flapjack. John Rowley led Martin, Les and Betty up the easy south side of “Mount Revenge” (c. 9400 feet) northeast of the Pancake Glacier and north of Oventop Ridge. John, Les and Martin also climbed to the east end of Oventop Ridge from the north. All but the latter were first ascents, and a cairn and register were put on each peak. The rock was generally rotten.

THOMAS DABROWSKI, Unaffiliated