KYAWATS MOUNTAIN 2490m 8169′
Located on a spur two km north of Mount McQuarrie, overlooking Keen and Klawala Creeks.
Difficulty: C3
Elevation gain:
Key elevations: Silver Spray Cabin 2337m (7665′); Violet Mine 2543m (8340′); Summit 8169′
Distance:
Time: 3.5 hours from Silver Spray Cabin
Season: July through September
Access: Moderate
Map: 82F/14 Slocan
Access from Silver Spray Cabin
1. South Ridge, West From the Silver Spray Cabin, follow the trail north to the col and the Violet Mine 930-193. Descend north on snow, then turn northwest on snow and easy rock to follow a long up and down rock ridge past multi-hued lakes.
Descend to a col (2300m, 7550 feet); high grade scrambling on big blocks. Traverse several ribs on the east side of the south ridge, and then traverse slabs to slopes at the base of the summit tower. Climb the first couloir on the southeast side to a notch in the south ridge (avoiding Class 5 rock past two couloirs to the right).
Scrambling on the west face and south ridge (good rock) goes to the summit, 3.5 hours from the cabin (tin can, no record). (II,3,s).
FRA Kim Kratky, 26/7/2001.
Descend the heather and scree couloir of the ascent and traverse low on the east side of the ridge to the lake just north of the col.
By Sandra McGuinness
Follow a level bench west from just below the Sunrise-McQuarrie col to a good ramp/old moraine system that leads down to the large lake at 930200 (NAD27). Descend a hundred metres on a good ramp with larch trees and then contour across boulders and meadow to a point about 30m below the connecting ridge, but close to the south ridge of Kyawats. Easy scrambling up to and along the ridge led us to an open gully which we followed up to a large clean slab on the south ridge. Scramble along this ridge, often just below the ridge on the east side, until you reach the final gendarme before the summit. Ledges on the west side take you along to the base of the summit pyramid, where some fourth-class scrambling on solid rock takes you to the summit.
