Headed for the Mountains
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada.
Posts: 164
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Mount Ball
August 24 2013
Full trip report: http://www.on-top.ca/Scrambles/2013/...gust-2013.html
After admiring Mount Ball from afar for years, a friend and I decided that it was time to get acquainted up close this past weekend. We tried (in vain) to get a back country permit for the bivy (Kootenay NP informed us that there is no camping allowed outside of designated campgrounds) despite what their website says "Climbers on routes that cannot be completed in one day require a Wilderness Pass to bivouac." Won't get into it too much since it's already been discussed (https://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topi...TOPIC_ID=57369) - maybe they just figured that we should be able to complete Ball as a day trip!
We left Calgary at 4:30 am and were on our way up Haffner Creek just before sunrise while all of the campers at Marble Canyon campground slept comfortably.
1)
2) 
3) 
4) 
5) 
1) The water tank near loop J in the campground that starts all of the fun. From here it's straight into the bush towards Haffner Creek.
2) Haffner Creek quickly becomes a canyon. As the terrain steepens forcing scramblers up to the left, a small trail forms. It dissipated a short time later. Despite some previous reports (http://www.explor8ion.com/vern/scrambles/ball/ball.html and http://www.soistheman.com/diary/page...ce-peak&page=1) that a faint trail exists off and on, we saw little to no sign of it nor is there much in the way of flagging remaining (we counted 3 orange flags in the entire valley). We spent a lot of time looking for it but my guess is it's overgrown.
3) Log hopping hell
.
4) The logs claim another victim [B)].
5) After an interminable bushwhack with heavy packs, we finally reach the headwall. Kane says to go right to get around the cliffs but we aimed straight up this grass slope to the obvious break. This break was to the right of some cliffs anyways (and the left of others). Regardless, it was an easy and direct way up.
6)
7) 
8) 
9) 
10) 
11) 
6) Above the headwall, we found an awesome bivy site (note the little orange tent dwarfed by Mount Ball behind). It took us 5 hours to reach this point from the highway and we were both a little fatigued from the bushy approach.
7) After re-fueling at the bivy site, we made our way along the black Karst pavement as the valley curved to the left towards Beatrice Peak.
8) Grovelling up rubble towards the ascent gully just to the climber's right of Beatrice Peak (center).
9) The easiest ascent gully is the wide wet one in the center left of the photo.
10) The first fun scrambling of the day in the gully - sadly it did not last long.
11) What awaits above the gully.
12)
13) 
14) 
15) 
16) 
12) A great view down to the large glacier on the north east face of Ball from the ridge between Ball and Beatrice. From here, the route follows the ridge over the intervening buttress and up Ball (right). The scrambling along this ridge was quite enjoyable. Sadly my friend was bagged by the ridge top and he didn't have enough left in the tank to complete the ascent of Ball. After discussing our options, I decided to go on as quickly as I safely could while he sheltered atop the ridge and watched my progress from afar. It was decided that he would build a large cairn if he should decide to descend (we had previously decided that we would be taking the alternative descent down a steep and easy gully on the other side of Beatrice).
13) The buttress looks intimidating from afar but it's pleasant once you get your nose in it. Kane mentions going around to the left but this easy route up on the right avoids proximity to glacier. Once on top, there's an easy way down on the left side which also stays well above the steep glacier.
14) As it would turn out, my favorite views of the day were actually on top of the buttress. This is looking down over the large glacier towards Storm Mountain.
15) Great views of the glacier which plunges all the way down to the bivy valley through a steep gully on the buttress.
16) Another great view of Ball and its many glaciers from the top of the buttress.
17)
18) 
19) 
20) 
17) At the col between the buttress and Ball. The snowfield was sheer ice so I stayed right on rubble the whole way up.
18) Looking back towards the north glacier and the connecting ridge to Beatrice. Interesting lighting over the Vermillion Range as a result of smoke from the Numa Creek wildfire and, what would turn out to be, a storm.
19) Great views of Shadow Lake and Egypt Lakes to the east from the summit.
20) A quick self shot on top before hurriedly heading back down. At first, I was in a hurry so as not to keep my friend waiting. Shortly thereafter, I was in a hurry as I watched a storm moving in and overtaking Vermillion Peak. Although the clouds had looked a little suspect, I had thought little of it since it had been similarly overcast all day and the forecast had called for a zero percent chance of storms.
21)
22) 
23) 
21) By the time I reached the low point between Ball and the buttress, thunder surrounded me. I pushed myself hard to make my way over the buttress and as far along the ridge as I could before the worst of the storm hit. Luckily, I could see the large cairn that my friend had made to indicate that he had escaped back down into the valley from afar and I was able to get off the ridge top as soon as possible, plunging down whatever good scree I could find to lose elevation quickly and gradually side-hilling towards our ascent gully. The summit of Beatrice Peak (although very close) and the easier descent down from there) were simply not options for me any longer.
22) The worst of the storm hits. Fortunately by this time, I was a couple hundred meters below the ridge top. My descent was fast and jarring.
23) All's well that ends well. My friend and I met back up, safe but soaked, at our tent after the storm passed. After cooking dinner, we spent an enjoyable night in this beautiful valley.
24)
24) Oops. Did I say "ends well"? Unfortunately, the next day, we still had THIS to contend with. We had contemplated going for Stanley Peak as well but after the eventful day prior we felt it best to get out safely. This proved to be a very wise decision. Apparently running down a peak like Mount Ball can be harmful to one's knees and as we descended the headwall the next day my right knee tightened up badly. There was no way that I would have made it up Stanley and then back out. As it turned out, it took everything that I had just to make it back through the bushwhack - by the end, I was unable to lift my right leg. Fortunately, by that time we knew we were close and I pushed through on 1 leg and 2 poles until reaching the security of the water tank! In the end, Ball proved to be the most physically challenging scramble of my life - I suspect that the hurried descent in the storm and the fast pace that I maintained up high contributed. Nevertheless, I'm already looking back on our "adventure" with fondness and as I rest and my knee starts to feel better, I find myself staring west out my office window and concocting plans for the next one...
Full trip report: http://www.on-top.ca/Scrambles/2013/...gust-2013.html
After admiring Mount Ball from afar for years, a friend and I decided that it was time to get acquainted up close this past weekend. We tried (in vain) to get a back country permit for the bivy (Kootenay NP informed us that there is no camping allowed outside of designated campgrounds) despite what their website says "Climbers on routes that cannot be completed in one day require a Wilderness Pass to bivouac." Won't get into it too much since it's already been discussed (https://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topi...TOPIC_ID=57369) - maybe they just figured that we should be able to complete Ball as a day trip!
We left Calgary at 4:30 am and were on our way up Haffner Creek just before sunrise while all of the campers at Marble Canyon campground slept comfortably.
1)
2) 3) 4) 5) 1) The water tank near loop J in the campground that starts all of the fun. From here it's straight into the bush towards Haffner Creek.
2) Haffner Creek quickly becomes a canyon. As the terrain steepens forcing scramblers up to the left, a small trail forms. It dissipated a short time later. Despite some previous reports (http://www.explor8ion.com/vern/scrambles/ball/ball.html and http://www.soistheman.com/diary/page...ce-peak&page=1) that a faint trail exists off and on, we saw little to no sign of it nor is there much in the way of flagging remaining (we counted 3 orange flags in the entire valley). We spent a lot of time looking for it but my guess is it's overgrown.
3) Log hopping hell
.4) The logs claim another victim [B)].
5) After an interminable bushwhack with heavy packs, we finally reach the headwall. Kane says to go right to get around the cliffs but we aimed straight up this grass slope to the obvious break. This break was to the right of some cliffs anyways (and the left of others). Regardless, it was an easy and direct way up.
6)
7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 6) Above the headwall, we found an awesome bivy site (note the little orange tent dwarfed by Mount Ball behind). It took us 5 hours to reach this point from the highway and we were both a little fatigued from the bushy approach.
7) After re-fueling at the bivy site, we made our way along the black Karst pavement as the valley curved to the left towards Beatrice Peak.
8) Grovelling up rubble towards the ascent gully just to the climber's right of Beatrice Peak (center).
9) The easiest ascent gully is the wide wet one in the center left of the photo.
10) The first fun scrambling of the day in the gully - sadly it did not last long.
11) What awaits above the gully.
12)
13) 14) 15) 16) 12) A great view down to the large glacier on the north east face of Ball from the ridge between Ball and Beatrice. From here, the route follows the ridge over the intervening buttress and up Ball (right). The scrambling along this ridge was quite enjoyable. Sadly my friend was bagged by the ridge top and he didn't have enough left in the tank to complete the ascent of Ball. After discussing our options, I decided to go on as quickly as I safely could while he sheltered atop the ridge and watched my progress from afar. It was decided that he would build a large cairn if he should decide to descend (we had previously decided that we would be taking the alternative descent down a steep and easy gully on the other side of Beatrice).
13) The buttress looks intimidating from afar but it's pleasant once you get your nose in it. Kane mentions going around to the left but this easy route up on the right avoids proximity to glacier. Once on top, there's an easy way down on the left side which also stays well above the steep glacier.
14) As it would turn out, my favorite views of the day were actually on top of the buttress. This is looking down over the large glacier towards Storm Mountain.
15) Great views of the glacier which plunges all the way down to the bivy valley through a steep gully on the buttress.
16) Another great view of Ball and its many glaciers from the top of the buttress.
17)
18) 19) 20) 17) At the col between the buttress and Ball. The snowfield was sheer ice so I stayed right on rubble the whole way up.
18) Looking back towards the north glacier and the connecting ridge to Beatrice. Interesting lighting over the Vermillion Range as a result of smoke from the Numa Creek wildfire and, what would turn out to be, a storm.
19) Great views of Shadow Lake and Egypt Lakes to the east from the summit.
20) A quick self shot on top before hurriedly heading back down. At first, I was in a hurry so as not to keep my friend waiting. Shortly thereafter, I was in a hurry as I watched a storm moving in and overtaking Vermillion Peak. Although the clouds had looked a little suspect, I had thought little of it since it had been similarly overcast all day and the forecast had called for a zero percent chance of storms.
21)
22) 23) 21) By the time I reached the low point between Ball and the buttress, thunder surrounded me. I pushed myself hard to make my way over the buttress and as far along the ridge as I could before the worst of the storm hit. Luckily, I could see the large cairn that my friend had made to indicate that he had escaped back down into the valley from afar and I was able to get off the ridge top as soon as possible, plunging down whatever good scree I could find to lose elevation quickly and gradually side-hilling towards our ascent gully. The summit of Beatrice Peak (although very close) and the easier descent down from there) were simply not options for me any longer.
22) The worst of the storm hits. Fortunately by this time, I was a couple hundred meters below the ridge top. My descent was fast and jarring.
23) All's well that ends well. My friend and I met back up, safe but soaked, at our tent after the storm passed. After cooking dinner, we spent an enjoyable night in this beautiful valley.
24)
24) Oops. Did I say "ends well"? Unfortunately, the next day, we still had THIS to contend with. We had contemplated going for Stanley Peak as well but after the eventful day prior we felt it best to get out safely. This proved to be a very wise decision. Apparently running down a peak like Mount Ball can be harmful to one's knees and as we descended the headwall the next day my right knee tightened up badly. There was no way that I would have made it up Stanley and then back out. As it turned out, it took everything that I had just to make it back through the bushwhack - by the end, I was unable to lift my right leg. Fortunately, by that time we knew we were close and I pushed through on 1 leg and 2 poles until reaching the security of the water tank! In the end, Ball proved to be the most physically challenging scramble of my life - I suspect that the hurried descent in the storm and the fast pace that I maintained up high contributed. Nevertheless, I'm already looking back on our "adventure" with fondness and as I rest and my knee starts to feel better, I find myself staring west out my office window and concocting plans for the next one...
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High on the Mountain Top
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Posts: 1,155
Excellent TR and pics! Look on the bright side - now you can go back for Beatrice and Stanley! 
Hope your knee is OK - knee issues are a PITA, I know that from personal experience...
Those afternoon t-storms were a real pain this summer eh? Glad you made it safe.
Hope your knee is OK - knee issues are a PITA, I know that from personal experience...Those afternoon t-storms were a real pain this summer eh? Glad you made it safe.
High on the Mountain Top
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 1,022
That storm was indeed scary. Same day as my Old Goat trip. Once I got back to Canmore and had the dinner, and then, high clouds rolled in, and in another 10min, it started to shower, another 10min, lighting and thunders. Looking back, it was a pitch dark in Bow Valley.
This year's forecast seems less trustful. More wrong than right.
This year's forecast seems less trustful. More wrong than right.
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Off the Beaten Path
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 498
Looks like an awesome trip, and I envy the isolated overnight stay!
On the knee pain: The way you describe it sounds exactly like a problem I've had, and solved (after several years of wondering what was wrong). It sounds just like a tight IT band, and the solution is a "foam roller". I think fitness depot has them. Pick one up and google on how to use it. When I first started using it the pain was black-out excruciating but now I can put my full weight on the roller and I don't even notice pain while hiking anymore. Since January I have been able to move quickly down hills for the first time since 2006!
I don't mean to sound like a seedy fake doctor salesman or anything, but when my knee was perpetually hurting I would've liked to have heard this (rather than the "yeah, that happens. Don't hike so much" advice doctors gave me!).
On the knee pain: The way you describe it sounds exactly like a problem I've had, and solved (after several years of wondering what was wrong). It sounds just like a tight IT band, and the solution is a "foam roller". I think fitness depot has them. Pick one up and google on how to use it. When I first started using it the pain was black-out excruciating but now I can put my full weight on the roller and I don't even notice pain while hiking anymore. Since January I have been able to move quickly down hills for the first time since 2006!
I don't mean to sound like a seedy fake doctor salesman or anything, but when my knee was perpetually hurting I would've liked to have heard this (rather than the "yeah, that happens. Don't hike so much" advice doctors gave me!).
High on the Mountain Top
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Posts: 1,595
Awesome photos!
The only thing that got me up Stanley Peak was knowing that if I did it, I wouldn't have to go back over all those logs.
Hope your work covers a physio visit. What Matt C is mentioning is what I experienced for the first time just a few weeks ago. My physiotherapist diagnosed it as ITBFS and recommended a roller. I got one from MEC, but Fitness depot seems to have them for cheaper. I've been using it almost on a daily basis. It was pretty painful at first, but now it doesn't hurt at all.
The only thing that got me up Stanley Peak was knowing that if I did it, I wouldn't have to go back over all those logs.
Hope your work covers a physio visit. What Matt C is mentioning is what I experienced for the first time just a few weeks ago. My physiotherapist diagnosed it as ITBFS and recommended a roller. I got one from MEC, but Fitness depot seems to have them for cheaper. I've been using it almost on a daily basis. It was pretty painful at first, but now it doesn't hurt at all.
Headed for the Mountains
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada.
Posts: 387
Good luck with your knee - I'm currently laid up with a Grade 1 MCL tear. Knee problems are no fun... first round of physio this afternoon.
Great TR. Definitely a hard-fought summit.
Cheers,
C
Great TR. Definitely a hard-fought summit.
Cheers,
C
Headed for the Mountains
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada.
Posts: 164
Thanks for all of the knee advice guys! I've had problems with my knee joints ever since I stopped playing football. Turns out that climbing mountains, running half-marathons and skiing didn't help. It's a little amusing that this thread seems to have turned into a knee injury support group!
@Caurala: get well soon!
@Marko and Matt C: when I Google IT band problems, it seems that most people have pain and tightness on the side of their knees. Mine felt like the large tendon behind me knee had tightened right up (and might pop if I wasn't careful). It started as tightness and soon degenerated to significant pain. Is this consistent with what you both experienced?
@Vern: my friend and I initially joked about returning this upcoming weekend to finish the job. We've since decided that when I have EVERY other peak in Kane's guide ticked off, we'll consider a return visit (and not before then)! [
]
@Caurala: get well soon!
@Marko and Matt C: when I Google IT band problems, it seems that most people have pain and tightness on the side of their knees. Mine felt like the large tendon behind me knee had tightened right up (and might pop if I wasn't careful). It started as tightness and soon degenerated to significant pain. Is this consistent with what you both experienced?
@Vern: my friend and I initially joked about returning this upcoming weekend to finish the job. We've since decided that when I have EVERY other peak in Kane's guide ticked off, we'll consider a return visit (and not before then)! [
]
High on the Mountain Top
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Posts: 1,595
Matt, pain for me was emanating from there the IT band connects to the tibia, just below and on the outside of the knee, and shooting up to the pain area identified in this picture:
http://painbehindkneecure.com/wp-con...d-Syndrome.jpg
http://painbehindkneecure.com/wp-con...d-Syndrome.jpg
Headed for the Mountains
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada.
Posts: 164
Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Marko
Matt, pain for me was emanating from there the IT band connects to the tibia, just below and on the outside of the knee, and shooting up to the pain area identified in this picture:
http://painbehindkneecure.com/wp-con...d-Syndrome.jpg
Matt, pain for me was emanating from there the IT band connects to the tibia, just below and on the outside of the knee, and shooting up to the pain area identified in this picture:
http://painbehindkneecure.com/wp-con...d-Syndrome.jpg
It does feel a lot better after a couple days rest, so I'll likely see how it holds up this weekend after a little more rest at the office this week...
Off the Beaten Path
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 498
Matt - my knee pain was hard to describe. Two things that I was told were diagnostic were that it hurt more when the bad leg was trailing as I went downhill and it hurt like mad when I put pressure on the side of my thigh (where the IT band is). Walking on the level usually wasn't too bad, and it never hurt at rest.
At one point, after a snowshoeing trip on highway 40 (of all places!) I couldn't even lift my leg afterwards (1 hour to do the final km...). I used the roller when I got home, and while it didn't cure it, it was very clear that it was having a positive effect. I kept up with it and for a while now I haven't had any issues whatsoever.
I'd say it might be worth the money to get a foam roller and try it out. Knee pain is worst!
At one point, after a snowshoeing trip on highway 40 (of all places!) I couldn't even lift my leg afterwards (1 hour to do the final km...). I used the roller when I got home, and while it didn't cure it, it was very clear that it was having a positive effect. I kept up with it and for a while now I haven't had any issues whatsoever.
I'd say it might be worth the money to get a foam roller and try it out. Knee pain is worst!
Headed for the Mountains
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Calgary, , .
Interest: Weekend climber, scrambler and backcountry skier.
Posts: 192
Yoga - pigeon pose.
Hot yoga is even better
Hot yoga is even better
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