Mount Lowell Alpine Climb

Lat/Lon: 52.5°N, 117.83°W
First ascended in 1927 by Alfred Ostheimer, Mt. Lowell is located between Fryatt Creek and
Lick Creek; 1.5 km southwest of Mount Brussels and is part of the Fryatt group south of
Jasper. Lowell was named by Ostheimer in 1924 after Abbott Lowell who was a
mountaineer and president of Harvard University back in the day. The cool aspect to this
tidbit was that I found an old Harvard tin box, used as a summit register of sorts (no longer
on the summit). Inside was the old original register from the initial climb. The summit party
had their information pre-typed "Harvard Mountaineering Club" and it was still legible. I
turned this over to the Banff Museum and they were thankful to have it. It had moved off the
summit a couple of meters and this mountain is so rarely visited, that no one had noticed it.
There is a current register at the summit dated to 1960. We were the 36th party to sign this
summit lot. There is only one established route on the mountain, the South Ridge, an Alpine
II straight forward ridge climb.

Getting There
Follow the Columbia Icefields Parkway 31 km south of Jasper to the Athabasca Falls turnoff
on your right. Follow the Althabasca Parkway 1.1 km to the Geraldine Lakes Road on your
left. Drive along this road for 2.1 km to a signposted trail leading left (east) toward the
Athabasca River. This is where you park and either hike or bike in to the Lower Fryatt
Campground 11.4 km. Pick your poison. Biking with a 65lb pack on single track is no joy,
but it is faster than hiking. Another option is to portage the river saving about 6 or 7 km off of
this trial. I biked in. Leave your bike at the Lower Fryatt Campground and proceed on the trail
as it follows Fryatt Creek west for a total of 22 km past the Brussels campground, Fryatt
Lake, Headwall campground, Fryatt Creek Falls and finally to the Sidney Vallance Hut
gaining several thousand feet of elevation. This hut serves as a great base for considerable
variation in alpine climbing. My group planned a week back here. I know few climbers willing
to hike 22 km for one mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

Red Tape
Jasper National Park is one of four Canadian National Parks adjoined in the heart of the
Canadian Rockies. You will need a Parks Canada pass for your vehicle and that is obtained
as you enter the park(s) from any direction. You will also be required to obtain a backcountry
permit. As always in this neck of the woods, you are in bear country and need to hike and
camp appropriately. The mosquitoes are actually more scary though.

When to Climb
This is a summer area, best to climb from July through September. The Canadian Rockies
Summit Alpine Ski Tour book does not mention any of these Fryatt Valley Peaks as
objectives, however, ski touring is encouraged from the Sydney Vallance Hut.

Camping
The Sydney Vallance Hut received a major facelift and interior makeover in the summer of
1999 and is now a much improved version of the former cabin. It is open summer and
winter with a limited capacity of 12 humans or 1 large bear. It has a propane system for
cooking and lighting and a wood stove for heating. If you prefer camping, the last
campground into this area is the Headwall campground. I don't advise this campground for
any objective. It is poorly placed below an avalanche gully, meaning good bear habitat. It is
best to either use the hut above the headwall and focus on Fryatt, Lowell, Olympus,
Belanger, etc., or camp at the Brussels campground more than halfway in (very nice) and
focus on Brussels and Christie. Campground reservations can be made through the Parks
Canada link above (Jasper National Park).

Mountain Conditions
Outside of the parks web site, Canadian Avalanche Association is also useful.

Climbs in this Area
I climbed five mountains in five days on this week long trip. My group was fortunate in that we
had only one rainy day, our first day in the hut, which worked out since we just hauled our
supplies 22 km the day before. Everybody did different mountains, but I climbed Lowell,
Fryatt, Olympus, Christie and The Three Blind Mice. My web site, in the link section of this
page, has further information on these climbs. There are many more options as well.

Route
Cross Fryatt Creek from the hut and proceed southeast up a dry creek bed which leads to
the top of the Minnie Mouse ridge just below some rock pinnacles. Descend the ridge into
the first basin and continue south gaining elevation at an angle, crossing some snow, to
achieve the Minnie Mouse and Lowell col. This is not the suggested route in the Selected
Alpine Climbs book (link attached) and does involve more climbing then the scree route they
suggest.

Proceed directly onto the south ridge and take on about two pitches of 5.5 climbing. There
are some old pitons, but we used no rope or protection for the entire day. I recommend that
you do. This climb was pleasant and landed us expediently onto the more laid back south
ridge which leads straight up to the summit ridge which lies at a northeasterly angle. The
summit ridge is loads of fun, offering multiple routes. There are some rappel stations, but
we down climbed on descent. The ridge involves moving left and/or right and up and over.
We did not find it overly complicated. The toughest section involves a chimney up the left
side of a steeper section. It is not your only choice however. On descent, it was our
intention to use the recommended ascent route via the scree. However, we shot pass our
exit and ended up traversing loose ledges back over to the scree field. I recommend down
climbing the complete ridge back to the col as this route saves considerable loss in
elevation that has to be regained on the return to the hut.

Essential Gear
I suggest you take a rope. However this depends on your own comfort level and experience.
If you take a rope, take a small rock rack. The main climbing is off of the col starting the ridge
and then if you chose this as your decent, rappelling back through it could be nice (so some
runners too) , thus a rope is recommended. There are old runners left on the route. Can't
say I would trust any of them. We tried to clean up as much as we could. Of course take a
helmet and other appropriate gear for a day on a ridge.

Trip Report
On Friday, August 13, Michael Thompson and I took off for what was my 5th mountain
summit in as many days, from the Fryatt Hut. Despite the implication of "Friday the 13th", the
trip turned out to be a spectacular day.

I took 3:20 to reach the summit, Michael was close behind. We enjoyed reading a summit
register that originated in 1960 and had us pegged as approximately the 36th summit party.
I also found a very old summit tin several meters from the summit from the Harvard
Mountaineering Club that I brought down and gave to the Banff Museum.

Views were spectacular, Fryatt, Clemenceau and a close up of Brussels, however, some
smoke had moved in this day and Robson was not visible. On descent, it was our intention
to use the recommended ascent route via the scree. However, we shot pass our exit and
ended up traversing loose ledges back over to the scree field. I recommend down climbing
the complete ridge back to the col as this route saves considerable loss in elevation that
has to be regained on the return to the hut.