Mount Chester Scramble

Lat 50 ; 48 ; 25 Lon 115; 15 ; 40 - Click for SATELLITE Image
Mount Chester belongs to the long Kananaskis Range located just north of
Kananaskis Lakes in the center of Kananaskis Country, a provincial park which
encompasses over 4,000 square kilometers of foothills and mountains bordering
Banff National Park in the central Canadian Rockies. Mount Chester shares the
range with many other climbs including: Gusty Peak, Mount Engadine, The Fortress,
Mount Galatea and Mount Lawson.

Mount Chester is one of the more common scrambling objectives in Kananaskis
Provincial Park due in part to Chester Lake being one of the more popular day hike
destinations.   Mount Chester was named after a WW I battleship which is common
for peaks in this section of Kananaskis.   It is an easy scramble by Canadian Rocky
standards.   The only published route is the scramble route.

The same access, Chester Lake Trail, can be used to access a variety of scrambles
including The Fortress, Mount Galatea and Gusty Peak.   Directly across Spray Lakes
Road is the common Burstall Pass Trail with access to Mount Murray and Mount
Burstall.   The views are far reaching in this section of Kananaskis. Directly
southwest you have uninterrupted views of Mount Sir Douglas.

Getting There
From the Canmore Nordic Center, drive 40kms+/- south on the Spray Lakes/Smith
Dorrien Road (gravel). Turn left at a sign for the Chester Lake day use parking lot.
You are almost guaranteed mountain sheep on the Spray Lakes Road and if you are
lucky a moose or two.   I witnessed a moose and her calf cross the road about
3kms past Goat Creek Trail.   I saw this same female without a calf two years prior.
Watch for hazardous rock fall on the switchbacks above Canmore. At times this road
will be closed due to rock and/or mud slides. There are restrooms at the Chester
Lake day use parking lot.

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. 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. The park headquarters is actually located on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail).

When To Climb
As with most climbs in the Canadian Rockies, the driest time is from June through
September. I scrambled Mount Chester in September and the route was mostly
dry.    There are no published backcountry ski routes on Mount Chester.

Camping
Kananaskis officials have closed all camping at Chester Lake.   The closest
camping is located back at the north end of Spray Lakes Reservoir across the dam
at random campsites marked on the west shore of the lake. 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.   A premium accommodation is the Engadine Lodge (back at Mount Shark
road) which is only several kilometers north.

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 is also
extremely relevant. (One of the most positive accident reports of all time)

Route
This is a 3800’+/- ascent day. Hike into Chester Lake on the Chester Lake Trail,
some 44 km south of Canmore on Spray Lakes Road (Smith Dorrien Trail). This is a
winter ski trail approximately 4 km long. The trail has several right turn options, but
you need to stick left on the main trail at all times. Eventually it narrows to a single
track as it starts to climb steeper ground. You could bike the ski trail to the single
track portion if you so desired. The single track portion is a pleasant hike up about
800' to scenic meadows. As you approach the lake, your view opens up across
meadows to the right. You see Mount Chester and an obvious saddle on its right
shoulder (southwest).

Break away from the trail well before it arrives at Chester Lake and cross the lake
outlet, meadows and some forest to start the gain to the saddle. This will be an
uneventful 1100’ of scree, welcomed on descent. You can find firmer ground if you
stay climber’s right where mountain sheep cut out decent steps. Once at the col,
head straight up the southwest ridge of Chester (left), skirting any real difficulties,
dealing with loose large scree and finding firm rock at times. This is uneventful
scrambling the whole day. You return the same. There was a register at the summit
in 2003 and terrific views give way to Mts. Joffre, Assiniboine and Sir Douglas.

This is a quick one to have in your back pocket if you are short on time. I ran across a
bear closure on another peak I planned this day, so backed into this scramble.
There are plenty of Pikas at 7700', a Canadian Rocky treat (if you can actually
observe one).   Enjoy Chester Lake on return and soak the dogs. This is abundant
wildflower country.

Crux- Nothing outstanding to point out. You gain the saddle to the right (1100'), then
start up the southwest ridge. Most of the route consists of a mixture of scree and
firm rock. Existing rock bands are not overly challenging.   I did 2500' from the
meadow in about 1:20.

Essential Gear
Compass, Map, Bear Spray, Helmet, Gaiters, etc