Mt. Niblock

Follow the well graded trail to Lake Agnes and continue on along the right shore until you reach the end of the lake where you get your first glimpse of the arduous ascent route. Expect to take one hour to here. Make your way to the lower talus slope and ascend to the first rock band. A gully gives you access to the slopes above. Note the small trickle of water at this point of the day. Once above the gully, a brief stint of scrambling up a bare hard slope provides some tense moments.

This photo was taken from the summit of Mt. St. Piran (2649m/8,691') which I ascended on July 30, 1998.

Trudge over the boulder field to reach the first bench. From here, it's mostly scrambling to get to the col. On a hot summer day, you might be tempted to take the extra time to get over to some shade provided along the steep wall.

These upper slopes look quite daunting from Lake Agnes but aren't too bad except for the loose scree sitting on the deteriorating rock bands. There seems to be several lines to choose from; it would be wise to avoid taking the same line as anyone ahead of you due to all the loose debris. If you decide to ascend on the right side, you will reach a rock band which you must scramble over. However, any fun you may have had there is replaced by extremely loose scree just before the col. Keeping close to the west face may provide you a more stable ascent. About four hours from the trail head, I reached the Niblock/Whyte Col (the "flat" ridge on the left side of the picture).

Finally, some fun to be had on the final section! I proceeded up the right side of the buttress (the left side is also possible although there might be more snow). The route is fairly obvious but some moderate scrambling is involved, especially at one point where you may encounter some exposure. I considered this section to be the most enjoyable part of the climb and you soon see the summit cairn. I reached the summit about 20 min after the col.

The views of Mt. Temple, Mt. Victoria and the entire Lake Louise chain are spectacular.

After more than an hour at the summit, I descended to the col using the left side (from the col) of the buttress. The descent from the col to the slopes above the lowermost rock band never seemed to end, so much loose debris and one short slip of 5-6 feet. I reached the aforementioned slope about 1h40m from the col. The descent through the gully was complicated by the now increased flow of water -- a slip here might be fatal. Another hour or so gets you back to the Lake Agnes trail. You can have a lemonade victory drink at the tea house. I would have liked to have spent more time on the col, perhaps taking a look at the Mt. Whyte route but I was running out of time by the time I got to the col (3 pm) on the descent. I would classify this scramble as the most difficult I have done to date.

On the day I did this, two other people also did the ascent.

Back to my scrambles/hikes history.

©1998 All images by Craig Knelsen. All rights reserved.

Created: Nov 16, 2002.