North America, Canada, Canadian Coast Range, Ogre Mountain and War Drum Peak, Bella Coola Area

Publication Year: 1986.

Ogre Mountain and War Drum Peak, Bella Coola Area. In August Mark Bebie and I spent two weeks in the glaciers and peaks southwest of Ape Lake, then hiked out along the uplands of the Noieck River valley to a new logging road in the valley of Nutsatsum Creek. The weather was marvelous the entire period. We reached the glacier between Taleomey Tower and Embers Mountain by a helicopter flight from the Bella Coola valley, then climbed and packed out in a succession of camps and stages. Our first climb was Ogre Mountain by the northwest face, a new route. We climbed a spectacular glacier, then negotiated crevasse problems to a protruding rock ridge west of the summit. Here we climbed some rock pitches on sound granite to reach the final summit ridge and the original route. The descent was by the same route. We studied Taleomey Tower, but decided not to make an effort on this rock fortress because of the apparent poor rock and seemingly tenuous traversing problems. A climb to the summit ridge of Embers Mountain brought to attention the poor nature of some of the volcanic rock in this area; a continuation to the summit would have been hideous. We encountered good rock on a final climb, the southwest ridge of War Drum Peak (P 8800). This spectacular peak, located east of Snowside Mountain and along the northern fringe of War Drum Glacier, has seen few ascents. Our new route involved a great deal of scrambling, some serious, then a section of steep snow to a final section of technical rock. A steep buttress and a headwall provided enjoyable climbing on good rock (up to class 5.7). We spend parts of the next three days hiking out to the road, traversing some of the most magnificent alp slopes and meadows in the Coast Mountains.

Fred Beckey