Milestones on Dolomite Peak

This past Sunday, we tagged Dolomite Peak in the Icefields Parkway, and achieved a pretty big milestone in the process. I hadn't been keeping count of my peak bagging numbers, but did a quick tally on Friday night and discovered that I had scrambled up 99 unique peaks in the Canadian Rockies. It felt rather appropriate then, that checking off number 100 would happen on a difficult scramble that would scare off most others. The route was very technical, and involved climbing up a steep and narrow chute full of loose rock, that required a lot of carefully coordinated movements on both the ascent and descent to prevent unleashing deadly rockfall onto each other.

I was super proud of the fact that Anita bagged this peak like a champ, despite a very slow and difficult descent that involved a few moments of terror and sliding uncontrolled down a steep slope. As it turns out in retrospect, we discovered that this was Anita's 60th unique peak scrambled in the Rockies. So it feels extra special that we both hit personal milestones while conquering such a difficult and technically demanding mountain.

Trust me on this one, you'll want to check out the photos.


Anita and I, looking towards Mt. Hector.


The imposing cliff bands of Dolomite peaks 3, 4, and 5 loom above.


Taking a breather, before the technical scrambling begins.


Climbing up towards a narrow chute.






Just below the summit, but still some route finding and scrambling to go.




Summit of Dolomite peak 4.




Stunning views from the summit.






Summit brew: Cabin Brewing's Cool As Cucumber Lime Gose. Super refreshing for a hot day.


Looking further up the Icefield's Parkway, with Cirque peak in the foreground




Starting the descent.




Taking in the views from an adjacent high point before dropping back down to the descent gully.




A whole lot of technical downclimbing involved on the descent.






Some awkward movements needed to bypass a loose ledge.


The 7 imposing peaks of Dolomite, as seen from the below the ascent gullies.