Wasootch Tower, North Ridge

Lat/Lon: 50.99861°N / 115.06556°W- CLICK FOR TOPO MAP
Ben Gadd was in my house showing me photos of the old days and within three
days I had two partners coincidently wanting to go up one of his old Wasootch Creek
objectives that he published in a pocket sized guide book long since out of print.
Wasootch Tower was first ascended by the legendary Hans Gmoser in 1952. His
original route was done from the high col to the south. This area is now home to at
least two bolted sport routes that appear to reach the summit.

Wasootch Tower is located in Kananaskis Country which encompasses over 4,000
square kilometers of foothills and mountains bordering Banff National Park in the
central Canadian Rockies. It is a prominent, but short, tower that holds down the
northwestern ridge of the Fisher Range. It is directly across the valley from the much
more popular objective of Mount Lorette.

Route(s)
Wasootch Tower is off the modern climbing map, although Wasootch Slabs is very
popular to the Calgary sport climbing enthusiasts and can be studied in “Sport
Climbs in the Canadian Rockies”. Ben Gadd’s Wasootch Creek book is supposedly
only still available at the Calgary Library behind locked doors. The route I did on
Wasootch Tower, North Ridge, 5.6/7 can be found along with the SE Ridge
description in “Kananaskis Obscure” which is a local favorite web print out for….. you
guessed it, obscure beta. The beta for the bolted routes on the southern flank of
Wasootch Tower are probably out there somewhere, but I have not found the beta to
date. There could easily be a project or two in the works on this south side of the
tower as well. The approach is so long to get into them that they no doubt are
“obscure” sport climbing routes.

The Wasootch Tower North Ridge 5.6/7 has 6 described pitches of which we only
roped up for 4. I personally would be comfortable scrambling the whole ridge without
a rope and don’t really recommend this climb except for the short day you can make
of it.

You won’t find Wasootch Tower in any of our popular published guide books in 2006,
but it is easily scoped out to the left as you round the bend of Mount Baldy heading
southbound on Hwy 40 (Kananaskis Highway).

Getting There
Take the Kananaskis Highway (Highway 40) exit off of the Trans-Canada Highway
between Calgary and Canmore. Travel past Kananaskis Park headquarters and
Barrier Lake on your right and Mount Baldy on the left as you are heading
southbound. Park at the Wasootch Creek Day Use Area on your left (home to the
popular Wasootch Slab sport and trad climbing area).

Red Tape
There are no permit requirements to enter, climb and/or park in Kananaskis Country.
This is active grizzly country however. Take bear spray during non-hibernation
months. This is avalanche terrain during the winter. Therefore it would be prudent to
check recent notices posted on the park’s website regarding that issue. The park
headquarters is actually located on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail) several
kilometers south of the Trans-Canada. Notices are posted outside if they are closed.
This is a solid information center with good staff and beta and are open all year.

When To Climb
I climbed Wasootch Tower in May. No higher than Wasootch Tower is makes it a fine
early objective to get in summer shape. Some snow and ice will present itself on
approach, but there are a multitude of ways to gain the ridge.

Camping
There is a significant lodging and campground complex several kilometers south
called Kananaskis Village. The lodging options here include the Ribbon Creek
Hostel and posh Delta Lodge. 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.

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 are also
extremely useful.

Route
This is a 2200’+/- ascent day. The ideal time to climb Wasootch Tower is during the
spring, summer or fall. Follow the Wasootch Creek drainage southeast for no more
than 2 kms before taking a perpendicular drainage to your right that obviously heads
up to the Wasootch Tower. You will pass the popular Wasootch Slabs en route on
your left. Follow the drainage up to the west side of Wasootch Tower. This trail was in
decent shape in May 2006. It followed the rocky streambed some but mostly stayed
to the left.

Shortly you will come to a fork, where the left drainage ascends steeply into a slabby
steep basin on the west side of Wasootch Tower. Snow filled this drainage in May,
therefore, we kept climbers right and traversed back to the left of the snow and ice
further up. Continue up this drainage until close to the steep rising bowl. Depending
on snow conditions you can vary your approach here. We ascended a rib to the left
that started out with loose rock and turned into nice slab with plenty of features. We
soloed this stretch where some might be more comfortable pitching it out. Snow and
ice on slab kept us from ascending anything further right. As you top out onto the
north ridge from this approach, there is a piton above a narrow section of ridge in
which to set up the climb.

We only pitched out 4 of the 6 published pitches of the North Ridge route up
Wasootch Tower. The first pitch looks challenging at first, but the steep section is
overcome pretty quick and it just meanders left eventually coming to a tree where
some might set up a belay. I clove hitched two long slings which gave me just
enough rope to continue up nice slab with features anther 10 m stretching this
section a full 60 m. As soon as I topped out on the ridge I found a piton with a belay
ring in it.

The next pitch can be a variation. We had notes that discussed descending into a
gully on your right and ascend rock bands through grassy ledges. We opted to stay
on the ridge which proved to make sense in the long run. The second pitch seemed
uneventful for the most part. The third pitch found a chimney/corner on the left side of
the ridge which offered a little entertainment via exposure and a few places for gear.
The forth pitch had maybe the most exposed move on it (photos) over some nice
solid slabby rock and led to yet another plateu where we removed our ropes and
scrambled the remaining ridge over past the first summit cairn to the true highpoint
on the southeast corner of Wasootch Tower. There was a summit register in May,
2006.

The rap is just west of the summit cairn. It was practically brand new in 2006. We
had two 60 m ropes, so one rappel is all we needed. Beware of causing rock fall on
yourself on the rappel. There is another rap station just below. This rappel takes you
down to the southern col and a trail descends at a western angle (left) before it
descends down a gully that eventually leads back to the fork in that drainage where
you turned up left to gain the north ridge.

Essential Gear
Single or double ropes if three people. Doubles work better with the Reverso so the
leader can bring two in along the ridge at the same time and there is plenty of room
for this. Harness, helmet, full set of nuts, some cams, nothing needed beyond 2.5”,
several long slings. You can get by with good approach shoes for the climb.