Mt. Andromache

I made my first attempt of Mt. Andromache in July 1995 but was forced back due to snow and high winds just as I reached the summit ridge on the left. 1995 was a poor year for weather and after waiting several days at Mosquito Creek for better weather, I took a chance on a mostly cloudy day.

Fortunately I had much better weather on my second attempt in July 1997. From my campsite at Mosquito Creek, I walked along the highway to Noseeum Creek (15min). There is a faint trail at best through the forest but the way is fairly obvious before reaching boulders and the bottom of the lower slopes about 1/2 hour from camp. I scrambled up the lower slopes, easy to semi-moderate in difficulty, to top off at the lower bench after another 75min. There are numerous paths leading up the lower slopes to this bench, pick one that suits your fancy. I ended up topping out near a rock wing.

From the bench, ascend over talus and boulders, angling towards the very left side of the summit ridge. Unfortunately, the higher up you go the looser the scree but I found that keeping closer to the right side of the route offers a bit more stability.

As I finally neared the slope leading to the lengthy summit ridge, a snow field appeared to cover the width of the ridge. I decided to scramble up a rotting rock band rather that tackle the snow field head on. However, after getting onto the slope above the snow field, I discovered that the snow did not cover the entire ridge -- oh well, the rock band scramble was a pleasant change after the scree slog. Once on the summit ridge, I followed it as it made its way to the summit. This is pretty much hiking here although don't get to close to the edge or the Molar glacier on your left! This section took about 20min.

Finally, the summit comes into full view. After a bit of downclimbing into a somewhat exposed section, I took a few minutes to decide on a route to the top. A gendarme appears to block progress to the summit but this is circumvented by a chimney running through it. An alternative would be to climb onto snow on the edge of the Molar glacier. I didn't take an ice axe with me so I decided not to pursue this route. By the way, if you come across a black water bottle holster on the summit ridge, think of it as my gift to you! I scrambled up beside the snow on my left and made my way through the crack. While this final section may look rather intimidating there are few problems as long as you keep close to the snow on your left.

I reached the summit @ 1:40pm just as another party of four arrived from the glacier. Views from the summit are spectacular. To the west, you can see almost all of Hector Lake with Pulpit Peak, Waputik Peak and Bow Peak forming its backdrop. The high point in the photo is Mt. Daly which sits in the Waputik Icefield.

Directly south are the northern slopes of Mt. Hector. I esssentially retraced my ascent route on descent although I descended the lower slopes much further to the left of where I topped out on the ascent. There are several good descent gullies on the lower slopes.

Back to my scrambles/hikes history.

©1997 All images by Craig Knelsen. All rights reserved.

Revised: Nov 11, 2002.