Mt. Waddington

As part of our 10 Tallest Project, we’re offering trips into the ruggedly beautiful Mt. Waddington, join us!

The highest mountain entirely in BC (Mt. Fairweather is technically only half in BC) this mysterious peak is found in the heart of one of the most ruggedly beautiful areas of the province. Even better, the area is also home to Mt. Tiedemann and Mt. Combatant, numbers 5 & 6 on our list of BC’s 10 Tallest, not to mention the plethora of other amazing peaks. This mean's there's lots of options to tag more 1 summit depending on weather and interest!

The Ten Tallest Project:

What is the 10 Tallest Project? Well it refers to BC’s peaks and is exactly what it sounds like: Climb the 10 highest peaks in BC. Some are easy to reach and not overly technical while others are quite involved and seldom climbed. But each and every peak is worthy! The plan is to offer trips on a few of these amazing peaks every year until we’ve done them all! For more information on the 10 Tallest Project can be found here.

About Mt. Waddington:

Mt. Waddington is a unique and mysterious peak that's found in the heart of one of the most ruggedly beautiful areas of the province. There are two main summits on Mt. Waddington: the True Summit, which is quite an involved route, and the NW Summit. The NW Summit is ideal for intermediate mountaineers and/or ski mountaineers that want to push into bigger and more remote areas. It's just a bit shorter than the main summit and a proud peak for any mountaineer. It can be undertaken in the spring by approaching on skis or in the summer on foot via a long ridge traverse. The main summit is quite a bit more technical and better suited to more experienced alpinists that can follow 5.7 in mixed alpine terrain with mountain boots and crampons. Of course BlackSheep Adventure offers trips to both the NW & Main summits!

We offer 3 different types of trips to Mt. Waddington:

1. Ski ascent of NW Summit
2. Mountaineering ascent of NW Summit
3. Mountaineering ascent of the Main Summit (Bravo Glacier Route)

Ski Ascent of NW Summit:

This 7-day adventure starts in Bluff Lake, as do all our Waddington trips. More info on finding your way there is provided below. From Bluff Lake we fly into the Dias glacier and set-up our base camp. From there we can acclimatize by skiing some of the adjacent mountains like Jester and Cavalier before making a push for the NW Summit. Tackling the summit from basecamp typically takes 3 days. The first day we use to climb up onto the northwest ridge of Waddington and establish a camp. The next day we summit and then the final day we pack-up camp and ski back down to basecamp.

Mountaineering Ascent of NW Summit:

After meeting at Bluff Lake we fly into Fury Gap on the NW Ridge of Mt. Waddington. We establish a camp near the heli landing and acclimatize on a climb up Mt. Chris Spencer, a 3000m peak located just north of camp. Then, weather permitting, we move camp over to the Angel Glacier and try for the summit.

Mountaineering Ascent of the Main Summit (Bravo GL: TD-, 50deg, 5.7):

The we will ascend the standard route for the main summit, also known as the Bravo Glacier Route: TD-, 50deg, 5.7. The route starts from the LZ / basecamp at Rainy Knob. From there we ascend the Bravo Glacier to the Bravo Col then up to the Spearman Saddle and finally the summit tower. Depending on the weather, conditions and how everyone is feeling, we will use the best possible window of opportunity to ascend Mount Waddington. However, in an ideal world we would be able to work up to it by acclimatizing on the nearby summits of Mt. Bravo & Spearman.

Mt. Tiedemann:

While the cherry of this trip is of course Mt. Waddington there’s the option of spending a little extra time and try for Tiedemann as well. There are a number of route options for summiting Mt. Tiedemann from down on the Tiedemann Glacier. Of course weather and current conditions would play a big part in any decision on a specific route as would group skill. Some specific routes that we’re considering include:

• NW Ridge of Combatant to W Ridge of Tiedemann: AD+, snow/ice to 45 deg, easy 5th class
• The Great Couloir: D-, snow/ice to 60 deg, 4th class
• Carl’s Couloir approach up the Asperity Couloir: D+/TD-, snow/ice to 50 deg., easy 5th class

Getting There:

We will be accessing this remote area by helicopter from White Saddle Air Services in Bluff Lake, B.C. Of course there are a few ways to get up to the Bluff Lake area:

• Driving from Vancouver (or anywhere in southern BC for that matter): Definitely the easiest way to get up to Bluff Lake but not quick, plan to be on the road for about 12 hrs if you’re starting in Vancouver or Calgary. Basically you head up to the Williams Lake area, then turn west to get to Tatla Lake before heading south a bit. Here’s a link to Google maps with directions from Vancouver for reference.
• Flying from Vancouver: There’s an airstrip in the area at Anahim Lake. Pacific Coastal airlines flies into from YVR. It’s still over an hour drive down to Bluff Lake though so you’d want to schedule with us to be sure you can get a ride as it’s a bit out of the way.

Regardless of your choice we can help you team up with another guest or catch a ride with your guide.

Waiver & Risk Management:

As you know, outdoor activities involve numerous hazards including, but not limited to, avalanches, crevasses, rockfall, slips and falls, equipment failure, poor weather, etc. And while we do our best to anticipate and mitigate these hazards we cannot completely eliminate them. So, as with anything fun, you will be required to sign our Participant Release to take part in one of our courses or trips.