Climbing Triple Peak Mountain | A Snowy Ascent

A destination that you have made your mind up to achieve eventually becomes almost an obsession and never leaves the back of your mind. With snow on the forecast we decided we would still pursue Climbing Triple Peak Mountain on Vancouver Island.

Snowy Attempt Climbing Triple Peak Mountain

The weekends outing on Saturday April 4th was not unlike the previous climb on Mt Arrowsmith the week prior, Vancouver Island couldn’t make up its mind on weather. The usual SpotWx and Mountain-Forecasts.com checks had the weather not looking in our favour. Not until Friday did a small window of sun poke into the forecast after a week of  snow. It would be a Saturday drive to Triple Peak for an overnight sleep and early Sunday morning attempt on the NW summit. I was stoked to be climbing Triple Peak Mountain.

The summit companions this adventure would be Ian whom I have had the pleasure of climbing with before. Jain would round out our trio, whom I just met earlier that day.  We did some climbing in Nanaimo at Sunnyside Crags after a Facebook chat back and forth and introductions. We made our plans and were set for hitting the road hoping to arrive at trail head before dark to setup camp.

Access Road for Climbing Triple Peak Mountain

The weather was nice with scattered cloud as we made our way past Nanaimo and then west through the Alberni Valley towards the west coast of Vancouver island. We hit some small sprinkles of rain off and on as we hit our turn down Marion mainline logging road just after Sutton Pass. The logging road snaked its way deep into the mountain range and soon we found ourselves driving through deep snow and light flakes drifting down upon us. Our campsite and hike in the morning was now going to be a bit different with this new white powdery layer, I guess winter was coming late to Vancouver island.

We setup camp at the trailhead and settled in for the night after a few stories and chats on when our adventure would start. Wake up time would be 530 am so we each headed to our respective tents to bundle up for the night. During my sleep I could hear the snow and then rain fall throughout the night uncertain what i would awake to find. When I awoke in the morning with the sky just beginning to light up from the east I was happy to see a clear sky and favorable conditions as forecasted for our climb.

The group awoke and prepared the ritual breakfast, coffee and teas to fire our engines up for the physical test of the upward workout. We secured camp and hoisted our packs to our backs, setting out on the trail by 7am. Off into the forest we went first descending to reach the river and cross before starting our ascent, I chuckled as its funny that we have to go down before we go up.

After crossing the river I knew that it would be a march up through thick forest as I have been here before but Ian and Jain had not, I was excited for them to experience the beautiful climb that was ahead. As we get through the forest the trail switches to working its way back and forth through a beautiful waterfall and creek that feeds right from the alpine section , I feel it is one of the nicest routes on the island.

The Waterfalls enroute to climbing Triple Peak mountain ranks as one of my favourite places.

We hit the waterfall and started the fun trail navigation as the snow started getting deeper obscuring the hand and foot holds that the path requires as the climb changes from a hike to a scramble. Everyone did just fine slowly and methodically working their way onward and upward towards the top.

At about 700m elevation we really started to get our workout as the snow was now to our knees, each step deep and extra effort required to break trail. The snow was all fresh from the recent snow of that week and offered no solid footing. Some snow began to slide off trees and small ridges as the bright sun shone upon us warming all the rock and trees loosening their grip on the fresh snow.

We kept our plowing and digging and trudging up to our destination with a much slower pace but making progress the whole time regardless. The real fun started at around 900m when I would call our efforts “upward snow swimming” as we now had snow up to our waists and the depth felt bottomless. Persevering we kept the momentum going forward when the beautiful hidden jewel of this climb was achieved at 980m elevation, the alpine tarn lake of Triple.

After 4 hours of plowing trail to the lake it was time to relax and enjoy a well deserved break and bask in the warm sun. We setup a nice little spot packing down the snow and breaking out the stoves to make lunch. Warm tea and soup with some sweets fit the bill for me as I sat enjoyed the surroundings. I even set up my little novelty photo bringing a bag of mini eggs to the top to take a picture showing that even the Easter Bunny is a mountaineer as it was Easter Sunday.

Jain and Ian took the opportunity to get plenty of fantastic photos and really take in the amazing setting we were in, BC is truly Beautiful. As photos were taken and exploring was undertaken Jain broke out here Avalanche gear to do a snow pack test, educating Ian and myself in the process. The snow was safe and no real risk but measurement showed a whopping 85cm of fresh pow.

No Summit Today Climbing Triple Peak Mountain

Jain and Ian took the opportunity to get plenty of fantastic photos and really take in the amazing setting we were in, BC is truly Beautiful. As photos were taken and exploring was undertaken Jain broke out here Avalanche gear to do a snow pack test, educating Ian and myself in the process. The snow was safe and no real risk but measurement showed a whopping 85cm of fresh pow.

Upon this evaluation and the effort it took to reach this point we decided a summit was not in the cards for the day. It would be too deep and at the upper steep pitches far too unsafe to make an attempt. I truly appreciate and have respect for a group that can evaluate their situation and make the right choice no matter how bad they want something.

We packed up our lunch camp and made our way back through our footsteps. This was such a treat heading down with a nice packed trail in front of us making quick easy progress. We arrived back at camp in a fraction of the time it took to ascend. Down came the tents and back in the car we went with big smiles on our faces and great friendships solidified.

Thwarted Climbing Triple Peak Mountain

A successful day in the mountains isn’t always about reaching the summit….it can be about enjoying nature and just being in the moment. Reaching your objective has more to do with the process and the time spent being with good friends. Take with you the happy memories, the amazing views and the benefits of being in the outdoors.

Check out when we successfully climbed the main summit of Triple Peak

Climbing the Main Summit of Triple Peak

UPDATE : I returned to do the NW Route with Jane the following summer and we successfully summited the peak via that route.

Enjoy the Climbing Triple Peak Mountain via the NW Summit video I created on Youtube.

Get outside and enjoy our big backyard
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