During a spell of excellent climbing conditions in December, four new winter routes were climbed on Sutton Peak (1,874m).

Ryan Van Horne and I completed routes on three separate days throughout the month, the first of which was Blackbird Ragging (350m, AI 3) on the far right side of the east face. Liam Gilchrist joined us on the next two windows, when we found excellent névé in gully and chimney features and climbed Sutton’s Seasonal Ale (350m, AI 4+), to the right of East Rake (Van Horne–Piché, 2015), and then Talisman (350m, AI 5), taking a direct line up the left side of the face. Sutton’s Seasonal Ale has the crux during the first pitch and is quite run-out on thin ice. Talisman is a classic in the making, with spectacular, techy, run-out climbing, great belays, beautiful steep ice with good pro, and some snow slogging to give a well-rounded island alpine experience.

Van Horne and Marie-Lou Piché also put up line called Twas the Night Before Xmas (350m, AI 3+/4) at the north end of the face, following a cool gully feature into the easy upper section of Blackbird Ragging. PHOTO

— Max Fisher, Canada