Whereas our June attempt up Indian Ridge proved to be too exciting (see Indian Ridge attempt) we had no difficulties in bagging it this time.

Like our last trip, we preferred doing the first 1000 m on the tram rather than hike up the trail. With our packs we must have attracted the attention of tourists. The moment I stepped off the tram a woman in her 70s approached me and asked if I was going to hike down the trail. As if!

A moment later, another woman, this one middle-aged and waiting for her husband, accosted us and asked, "I saw two people walking fast up the trail. Is it safe to go that fast?"

The woman admitted she turned back because she thought it might be too slippery. Apparently too the effort tired her, and she wondered if with practice or training she would get better.

Now you have to realize that the trail to Whistler's Summit is about two metres wide, well worn with only a mild grade. We reached Whistler's Summit in about 20 minutes. We were glad to leave the tourists behind and continue on. Much of the travel to the Indian Ridge summit is on a trail and we reached the summit without incident.

Unfortunately a haze obscured the distant mountains but we had no trouble making out Mount Edith Cavell and Mount Robson. After a short stay on the top we continued along the ridge to the west end. The first part was an easy hike but the difficulties increased as we approached the west end.

Along the way we ran into a couple that, at the toss of a pointed rock, decided to do the traverse in reverse. We asked them about the crux at the west end. They found the climb difficult and said they wouldn't want to downclimb it.

Dinah stopped just short of the high point while I continued on to scope the downclimb. The west side, where the couple climbed up and where Alan Kane suggests climbing down, was quite steep with loose rock. It looked too dangerous to descend. The east side didn't look good either; it was steep, rugged and under snow so we turned back.

It took only half an hour to return to Indian's summit. Shortly past the summit we caught up to the couple that we had met earlier. We spent several minutes exchanging stories. The guy, Dave, said he did Castle Mountain, Stuart Knob, Television Peak, and Helen Ridge in a day. Interestingly, when he stepped off the trail on Helena, the rocks under his feet gave way and he fell into a crevice. As he fell, he tried to slow his fall with his hands and badly injured them.

Continuing on, we made our way back to the tram station where once again we were forced to mingle with the crowds. Just before we reached the tram station, a middle-aged, overweight couple sitting on a rock stopped us. They had managed to walk about 250 m from the station before forced to rest. The man wondered if it were worth going all the way to Whistler's Summit. "Is the view on the top the same? It's the same as what you see here, right?"

A little farther down the trail, a youth with a different outlook asked if we had seen what's on the other side of Whistler's Summit. I said we did.

"Cool!" he said and he started sprinting up the trail.

MOVIE (2:08)
Download path for Google Earth