Mount Brett Scramble

Lat/Lon: 51.16°N, 115.81°W
Mount Brett is part of the Massive Range along with Mount Bourgeau, Massive
Mountain, and Pilot Mountain (this group of mountains reveal the appropriate naming
of the range) located in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park. Banff National
Park is one of four connecting national parks in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.
Mount Brett was officially named such in 1916 after a prominent Banff surgeon and
Alberta politician. Brett was first ascended in 1916 by A.H. Bent, C.F. Hogeboom, K.D.
McClelland, James Outram and E.G. Ritchie.

Alan Kane suggests in his guidebook, Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, to climb
Pilot Mountain and Mount Brett together.   I concur with this strategy being an avid
peak bagger, but it makes for an athletic day in the mountains, gaining a total of
8400’ via my altimeter.   When investigating the climbs on the internet and reading
the actual summit log on Mount Brett, I found no evidence of anyone else combining
the two. However, it worked for me.

The key views from Mount Brett’s summit include looking back north at Pilot
Mountain, Massive Mountain and Copper Mountain, west towards the Goodsirs,
Mount Ball and Isabelle Peak and of course Mounts Assiniboine and Joffre in the
distance to the south. The route from the base of Pilot Mountain’s summit block is
fairly straight forward with one suggestion for improvement over the route I actually
did.

Getting There
The Trans-Canada Highway dissects Banff National Park east to west as you come
in from Calgary. Continue past the Banff and Sunshine Ski Resort exits. Trans-
Canada is a four lane interstate type of highway, but it will let you turn left across
traffic into several different trailheads. The second one you come to at 30+/-kms
beyond Banff is the Redearth Creek Trailhead. There are restrooms at this location.

Red Tape
You will be required to purchase a national park pass as you enter the park. This
pass is good for all four national parks. If you plan many visits to Canadian National
Parks within one year, you should purchase an annual pass. There are no permit
requirements to climb in Banff National Park, but all camping is regulated. There is
also a backcountry permit required if you plan on spending a night in the
backcountry. Even if you use a hut, you will need this permit. This can be obtained via
the parks website which is included in the camping section below. Park
headquarters are located in Banff and you will drive through the manned kiosks as
you enter the park.

This is active grizzly country, therefore, you should always have bear spray on your
person. I advise checking with Parks Canada for any area and/or trail closures.

When To Climb
As with most climbs in the Canadian Rockies, the driest time is from June through
September. I did Mount Brett in August and the route was free of snow on the summit
ridge. There are no published backcountry ski routes on Mount Brett, but I could see
skiing to the summit via its western slopes. This would be extreme backcountry-
athletic skiing.

Camping
The closest camp site would be the Lost Horse Creek, RE6, backcountry site in Banff
National Park and would make for a great base camp if you wanted to bag Pilot
Mountain, Mount Brett and/or Copper Mountain on separate days. It is 7.2kms in on
Redearth Creek Trail. You could really live it up with a reservation at Shadow Lake
Lodge another 6kms west on Redearth Creek Trail. They feed you well and even
have a homemade sauna (live fire) which I have experienced on a winter ski trip.
There are several more backcountry sites in the area. You can go on line at Banff
National Park to pick a camp site and obtain your camping permit. You will also be
required to obtain your backcountry permit which is separate, but can be obtained
simultaneously if you plan on camping at a backcountry site.

Mountain Conditions
The Banff National Park website has weather, wildlife reports, trail closures, etc.
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
The full ascent of both Mount Brett and Pilot Mountain is an 8200’+/- ascent day. (I
recorded 8400’+ total on my altimeter.) The ascent portion attributed to summit
Mount Brett, after you descend Pilot Mountain by several thousand feet, is 2800’+/-. I
am only going to give my version of the traverse as that is what I did. Most summit
Mount Brett as a separate objective from Pilot Mountain and would have a more
thorough explanation of the approach from Redearth Creek Trail.

After descending Pilot Mountain’s summit back to the chimney, continue to descend
the easier scree directly down to the glen to avoid more difficult talus slopes to
your left. Once down to level ground, head south for Mount Brett over volcanic barren
rockscape keeping Mount Brett’s northwestern ridge in sight. I took the first break
(which I clearly observed on my descent of Pilot) through a significant rock band on
the southern slopes of Pilot. Once I gained the northwest ridge of Mount Brett, I could
clearly see there were two more opportunities contouring further southeast. After
studying all three options from this bird's eye point of view, I recommend
descending the second break you come too. It looks to have a fast descent, avoids
bush and sets you up at a higher elevation to start your Mount Brett ascent.

After descending through the rock band, I descended on quick scree and contoured
above tree line to the left to avoid losing any more elevation than I had to. Looking
across to the northwest ridge of Mount Brett, you will clearly see a dip in the ridge.
This is your target to gain the ridge.   I eventually descended down into the grassy
basin seeping drainage from Mount Brett’s north face and shot back through tree line
on the opposing slopes to gain the dip in the ridge at about 8100’.   Follow this ridge
to the summit.   At first the ground is incredibly easy, but the last 400’ is quite the
hands on challenge and serves as the crux of this scramble. Several breaks in the
ridge are met head on. There is little relief and at moments the ridge is razor thin.

There was a summit register on Mount Brett on 2005, despite not being one on Pilot
Mountain. The summit views included Pilot Mountain, Massive Mountain, Copper
Mountain, the Goodsirs including North and South Towers, Mount Ball, Isabelle
Peak, Mount Bourgeau, Mount Assiniboine and Mount Joffre. You are also treated to
a broad view down the Bow Valley towards Banff.

Now for the tricky part:
I had little to go by for descent but knew the western slope looked fast so I took it,
dropping 1000’ in a hurry, but also knew I needed to contour around the west back to
the north. There is an obvious col I noticed while ascending and it soon came into
clear view thus I angled over to it. Some of this traverse is not the best ground, but
the quick descent versus having to return the ridge made it worth it. Once back at
the col, you have choices. Continue to contour around north on a trodden sheep
trail to where I gained the ascent ridge to begin with or drop down towards Lost
Horse Creek and bushwhack your way north to Redearth Creek Trail. I opted for the
new experience of Lost Horse Creek.

Once down to tree line, I followed a drainage which led to Lost Horse Creek and then
I turned right and followed the creek close until eventually I found a faint animal trail
that gained some ground above the bank on the right side and took me on a slow
journey through fallen logs, etc., to where Copper Mountain came into full view. I
then descended and hiked due north to catch Redearth Creek at a decrepit log cabin
structure. When I came onto the trail, I was over 3kms further west than my bike and
it was approaching dark, but this trail is wide and clear making the journey uneventful
back to the trailhead. I believe either descent option, both northwestern valleys, will
require the same amount of time.

Essential Gear
Alpine Ax (if snow prevails), Helmet, Bear Spray, Gaiters (for descent), Fairly Dry
Route therefore Plenty of Water.

Trip Report
I chose to combine Pilot Mountain and Mount Brett for an 8400’, 12.5 hour day. Not
recommended for the faint of heart, but worth knocking out Brett if you are already at
Pilot’s summit. The descent route I chose from Mount Brett was a pain. However, I
enjoyed the summit ridge on Brett the most. Pilot’s summit block was a fun
challenge as well, just not as scenic. Kane’s book could really use some updating
and revising on this one. Cheers.