Mount Bosworth
August 6, 2004

When we climbed Mount Bosworth we erred in following the directions in the book. Although it called for going left after getting above the treeline, it wasn't clear that we were in fact to climb well above the treeline before heading left. As a result we missed the first gully and so we ended up in the third gully and not the second gully where the final ascent is normally made. Instead of being east of the summit block, we found ourselves in a steep gully west of the summit. This turned out to be serendipity for we did a far more exciting ascent with 130 m of difficult scrambling and still made it to the top in good time.

When we reached the main gully below the summit (out of sight at this point) where it branches off into a number of narrow gullies higher up we knew we were off track. Overhead a black band of rock held huge cornices. We crossed the main gully to the branch gully farthest west, away from under the fearsome cornices. The gully started off as a deep V-shape, so steep we couldn't descend to the bottom of it so we first had to climb up side to get up.

This narrow gully was mostly a hands-on, straight-up ascent. I would have to rate it as difficult: the ascent of this gully was more difficult than downclimbing the crux in the book and longer: over 100 m. Fortunately it was largely solid rock. It was great scrambling and lots of it. What detracted was that we weren't sure if we could reach the summit. Even more worrisome was having to downclimb this steep and tricky gully if we were stopped. On the way up, we found a carabiner attached to a strap from some long-ago ascent. Someone thought this gully was suitable for an ascent but it wasn't an encouraging sign as we had no rope.

Eventually we crawled out of the gully at the base of the black rock band where we breathed a sign of relief. Above us was another 30 m of difficult scrambling although not as technical as the gully.

We soon found ourselves next to the end of the cornice with only a brown rock band to ascend. After scrambling up it, we appeared on an open talus slope that led to a hump west of the summit. This hump, where there were remains of a tower or some such apparatus, was connected to the summit block by a short ridge beneath a cliff face. Fortunately there is a crack that could be easily downclimbed to reach the connecting ridge. Minutes later we were standing next to the summit cairn.

From the summit we spotted cairns headed down the east ridge. Returning via the west ridge would involve a long, slow, difficult downclimb. The quicker, easier task was to follow the cairns -- the book route -- which we did. Compared to the ascent up the gully, the book route was a hike.

The trip took 7.5 hours including a half an hour spent on the summit. One caveat: because of the cornices, it should be made later in the season. However, the cornices can be viewed from the highway.

With the ascent route we took, this is one of the best scrambles I've done and maybe some day I'll return to do it again. At least next time, I'll have prior experience that it can be done!

MOVIE (1:42)
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