Mount Blane Alpine II 5.6 Climb

Lat/Lon: 50.72°N, 115.07°W
Mount Blane belongs to a unique set of three mountains that are part of the Opal
Range, hidden from the Kananaskis River Valley to the east by King Creek Ridge
and Mount Wintour. The approach through King Creek Canyon, an ice climbing
mecca called King Creek Seepages, is nothing short of spectacular. This is one
of my favorite approaches in all of Kananaskis. Kananaskis Provincial Park
encompasses over 4,000 square kilometers of foothills and mountains bordering
Banff National Park in the central Canadian Rockies. The Opal Range is rather
extensive including Mount Evan-Thomas to the north running down to Mount Elpoca
and Gap Mountain to the south. The other two mountains that sit with Mount Blane
are Mount Brock and Mount Hood. Mount Blane is the highest of the three.

Mount Blane was officially named in 1922 after a WWI Royal Navy commander,
typical for peaks in the area. It was first ascended in 1955 by Duffy, Hohnson,
Kennedy and Koch (killed during the descent). The alpine route we climbed was first
ascended by Prinz, Jungnitch and Schmidt in 1962. The only published route in the
local guidebook is the northwest ridge, an Alpine II-5.6 route. There are no viable ski
routes up the mountain.   The ridge is not the “quality” limestone suggested in the
local guide book.   It is as large and loose as any ridge climb I have been on. The
summit itself is a deteriorating collection of debris.

The most immediate views on ascent are Tombstone Mountain and Mount Rae to
the south. Once high up on the ridge, the big three of the region come into
extraordinary view, Mount Sir Douglas, Mount Joffre and Mount Assiniboine. Mount
Remus, Mount Romulus, Mount Cornwall and Mount Glasgow fill up the eastern
skies.

Getting There
Take the Kananaskis Highway (Highway 40) exit off of the Trans-Canada Highway
between Calgary and Canmore. Travel past Kananaskis Park headquarters and
Barrier Lake on your right and continue quite a distance to the intersection with the
Kananaskis Lakes Trail road on your right. There will be a winter gate in front of you
and King Creek Day Use parking area will be on your left. Pull into this trailhead
parking lot. There are restrooms at this location.

Red Tape
There are no permit requirements to enter, climb and/or park in Kananaskis
Provincial Park. This is active grizzly country however. Take bear spray. The grassy
slopes leading up to the climb are prime bear habitat. There have been numerous
2005 trail closures in Kananaskis due to mountain lions and grizzlies. Therefore it
would be prudent to check recent notices posted on the park’s website. You will
pass the park headquarters en route on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail) several
kilometers south of the Trans-Canada (on your right). Notices are posted outside if
they are closed. This is a solid information center with good staff and beta.

When To Climb
As with most climbs in the Canadian Rockies, the driest time is from June through
September. We did this climb in September and conditions were completely dry.
There are no published backcountry ski routes on Mount Blane, nor would it be
conducive to skiing.

Camping
There are campsites galore in the Kananaskis Lakes complex across Highway 40,
backcountry and camper sites. You cannot camp outside of the marked specific
camping areas in Kananaskis. Refer to the Kananaskis Provincial Park website for
more information regarding camping and/or lodging.

Mountain Conditions
The Kananaskis Provincial Park website is a very thorough park website, including
trail conditions or closures, wildlife notices, weather conditions, avalanche
conditions, camping permits, whitewater conditions, etc. It is an excellent source if
you are going to spend any time here and comparable to any National Park website I
have used. Outside of the parks web site, Canadian Avalanche Association is also
useful, particularly for winter travel. Canadian Alpine Accident Reports are also
extremely useful.

Route
Follow the King Creek Ridge trail through King Canyon. You will notice markings on
the wall relative to the sport ice climbing routes formed by seepage into the canyon
from above. You will cross back and forth through King Creek as you work your way
east to a fork at the opposite end of the Canyon, less than a 30 minute hike. Turn left
and follow a faint trail on the east side of this portion of King Creek.   Proceed up to
the third major gulley on your right and start your ascent aiming for a large flake
that hides the col between Mount Brock on your left and Mount Blane on your
right. The northwest ridge comes into full view (left to right) as you start up the
grassy slope.

As you ascend, it appears at times that your route will be blocked by a steep blade
looking feature in the middle (the flake). But continue straight up until you top out at
the steep wall and then traverse a short distance left into a narrow gully with steep
walls. Ascend this gully, keeping right to avoid objectionable hazard. After ascending
a few water worn sections, the gully starts to open up to the ridge.   We ascended
climbers right on better ground to gain a western ridge that tied into the
northwest ridge, requiring a 5th class move or two to gain it. Once on the
northwest ridge, it immediately provides for a scenic grassy spot (if not windy) to take
a break and enjoy the views at about 8400’.

To complete this route, I recommend sticking to the ridge for the majority of the climb.
The first several hundred feet were nothing overly remarkable. There was some flake
edge climbing with exposure, but decent rock (as this ridge goes). There is one early
section here that can be bypassed on the left. On ascent we did that, on descent I
down climbed it. So you could stick to ridge here without much difficulty.   Eventually
you come to a significant corner/crack slightly to the left of the ridge. There is a
rappel station at the top of this feature. We broke out the climbing shoes and soloed
to the top. On descent this was our only rappel of the climb. This rappel station is
really nothing more than a large boulder with a few slings. There are very few if any
dependable cracks to place gear. I placed none the entire day, relying on natural
formations the few times we roped up. This solid feature would be the last good rock
on the entire ridge.

We continued moving efficiently along the ridge until we came to a thinly exposed
section. The exposure on the west side was dramatic, the east side was not a huge
improvement. There is a small cairn here and a flat chariot like hole that makes for a
good belay station. Thus, we broke out the rope and pitched this section of the ridge
for about 45 meters. Keep the rope on the west side and your feet on the east
side. Eventually you ascend over a feature and descend into a good stance area.
This is a solid spot to belay the second. We packed the rope for a distance and
eventually pitched out a similar section for about 30 meters. Then we put the rope
away for good. There is one problem that is bypassed via the east. It is short. Do not
get drawn onto the eastern ledges. Stick to the ridge. Plenty of short-exposed 5th
class lay ahead, but nothing daunting for an experienced climber.

As you break out on the final summit ridge itself, it will become apparent that the
summit is no more solid than most of the ridge. It is mostly made up of large
segregated blocks of limestone. We made it to the col in 2.5 hours and it took us
another 2.5 hours to make it to the summit. We moved fairly efficiently. I heard of
someone having to bivy on Mount Blane and was a little dumbfounded about that. But
if you pitch much of it out, it could take quite a while to complete. There are a few
intermittent pitons.

The views from the summit to the west were mostly dominated by the big three,
Mount Sir Douglas, Mount Joffre and Mount Assiniboine as well as the Royal Group.
Mount Blane is squarely situated for viewing these larger objectives. You can
practically reach out to Tombstone Mountain to the south and Mount Rae’s northern
glacier sticks out as well. The front range mountains are also easy to spot from this
vantage point, Mount Remus, Mount Romulus, Mount Fullerton, Mount Cornwall and
Mount Glasgow to name a few. There was no summit register and it appears Mount
Blane sees limited traffic.

The descent took us 4 hours moving steady. This ridge is no easier to descend
obviously then it is to ascend and unlike Mount Brock, there is not an optional
descent. You will find several rappel stations, although I found none of them to be
time saving options. We chose to solo downclimb the entire ridge including the
sections we pitched out before with the exception of that long corner/crack feature
more than halfway down the ridge. Once back to where we hooked into the northwest
ridge, I found a route that was easier to downclimb (narrow chimney gully) than
where we ascended, just a few meters south. Traverse over scree back to the west
ridge and descend back down into the canyon-gully system you ascended.   Stay
close to avoid perilous rock fall. Remember to traverse back left towards the
bottom and back onto the grassy slopes for descent.

Essential Gear
60 Meter Rope, Harness, Several Runners and Biners and a few pieces of Medium
Pro, Helmet, Bear Spray, Alpine Ax and Gaiters if Snow is Prevalent

Trip Report
Peter and I were looking for a stepped up experience from Mount Lorette which we
had completed two days earlier. Although Mount Blane’s northwest ridge definitely
makes for a longer day, technically it was not abundantly challenging. The exposure
does deserve the 5.6 rating however. The Mount Brock route looks to be much better
rock. There is no comparison regarding that issue. I cannot say enough about the
approach and views from the ridge. Two thumbs up regarding the remote feel.
Cheers.