GLADSHEIM PEAK 2830m
Gladsheim was Odin’s hall in Asgard, where the highest gods met in council. The mountain may be seen from the Slocan Lake viewpoint south of Silverton, from where the north glacier is visible, and from the Valhalla Ranch south of Slocan City. By only a little, it is the highest peak in the Valhallas.
1. West Ridge. The usual access to the west ridge, the west ridge gully, is near the west end, just east of the Trireme Wall. Ascend partly on snow, and continue on the rock of the west ridge (ice ax). The west ridge is now rated Class 5.5 (possibly due to a rock fall). The tunnel (below) still exists.
The first difficulty is a steep vertical crack just right for a forearm jam (5.5), then Class 4.
Ascend a steep section of the ridge, then make an airy descending traverse on the south side and a short climb up to the base of a smooth wall (40m, 5.5).
Turn difficulties on the south side, except for a section of knife-edge followed by a short wall. Climb the wall by an exposed move on the ridge, or avoid it by descending slightly to the south and climbing a tunnel-like chimney (Class 3), which exits on the north side. After the tunnel, there is some Class 3, and then a big step (5.5, slimy when wet), harder for short people.
The upper ridge is easy. (III,5.5,s).
FRA KD, JO, MS, BS, PW, 31/08/1963.
To descend, rappel four times (plus climbing down a tunnel), starting from above the big step. Carry an ice axe for descent on snow. There is lichen on the rocks which is slippery when wet.
Descent Route (Rt. 6): Do the reverse of the Northwest Glacier route. (A variation of this was descended in 1973, going west of the Trireme Wall; KK 16:27.) It is a good descent route. Ice, Glacier (III,5.5,s). (PC: Howie Ridge, Peter Wood)
Variation: Full West Ridge. Approach parallel to the Trireme Wall, and ascend the left side of the gully, with a chimney, to reach the ridge (Class 5.4). Follow the ridge, the hard way is Class 5.3, and then one pitch of Class 5.5 puts one on a plateau on top of the Trireme Wall. Four hours to the summit from the lower meadows. (III,5.5,s).
FRA Steven Horvath, Derek Moule, 11/09/1979.
2. Southeast Ridge. Reach the base of the southeast ridge (to the right of the horrendous gully) which is visible as the skyline ridge from the lower meadows, by traversing grassy ledges below a steep buttress on the ridge. Follow the easiest line up a right-facing corner for 8 or 9 leads until one is able to cross a steep gully to low-angle slabs on the face, and ascend slabs to the summit. Ten blade pitons and angles to 5 centimetres were used. (III,5.3).
FRA Eric Lance, John Wurflinger, 6/8/1969.
Variation: Approach as for Route 2. Traverse around to the other side. Work straight up to below a large step, and then go left until it is feasible to go straight up to the ridge crest. Five leads. Nuts and pitons to 4 cm were used. (III,5.6).
FRA Jack Mangels, John Marts, Wm. Ward, August 16, 1972.
3. Southwest Face. Attain the slabs above the steepest part of the ascent gully of Route 1, about 60 meters. Traverse back and forth up the slabs, varying as desired, coming out beneath white rock below the col between two prominent towers on the ridge.
Climb up to the col by ascending a crack (Class 5.0). Ascend the ridge (Class 4), climbing towers, etc., to a point above a horrendous gully to the right.
Cross over to a slab face below the summit here and pick an esthetic line up the slab and gullies, etc.
Three and one-half hours up. The party can move together most of the way. Beware of occasional greasy rock; carry 4 medium-angle pitons. (III, 5.0).
FRA Tom Chamberlin, Peter Renz, 8/8/1969.
Variation: Ascend the slide of Route 1 to a gully above Route 3. It is visible from here and from the slide as a prominent dark rock hump with a large cradle of green sod to its left one-third of the way up the face.
From there, three routes present themselves. From the old cabin site (low on meadows) these are (1) a low-angle gully leading to a 75-degree crack on the right, (2) a 45-degree gully increasing to 65 or 70 degrees in the middle, (3) an 80-degree crack leading right up to the sheer black buttress top of the southwest ridge where a white slash of a ledge leads around to the east onto the upper face.
Follow the middle route, sometimes deviating to the right of the gully, and gain the southwest ridge well above the two towers mentioned in Route 3, using the rope (plus sling) occasionally; not exposed.
Climb the ridge without difficulty on the east side up to white rock ledges beneath the tall buttress; the upper face is straightforward. (III,5.0).
FRA Norman Brown, Susanne Marcus, 16/8/1971.
4. Southwest Face, South Dihedral. The top of the south dihedral is most obvious in the morning light, extending up the middle of what looks like a tower directly on the south side (the hut site) of Gladsheim. From the bottom of this section of the dihedral, a long broken ramp system arcs down to the left and finally steepens, and becomes the bottom part of the dihedral. The entire route follows the same major crack.
Start up the first 150 meters or so of Route 3 to a grassy dish. From here, scramble up to the left to the bottom of an obvious large lichen-free dihedral. Belay from the highest grassy ledge before the dihedral begins in earnest.
Pitch 1. Lead out a full rope length (43m) to an excellent mossy belay niche (5.6-5.7). From here, the dihedral begins to break over.
Pitch 2. Lead over two steep sections (5.7) and belay as convenient. The rest of the ramp system is Class 3-4 until the bottom of the final dihedral.
Pitch 3. Climb past one major and two or three minor overhangs in the right-hand wall of the dihedral until the angle eases and the dihedral becomes a sort of gully for a short way (5.6-5.7).
Pitch 4. A short Class 4 lead (16m) reaches the highest comfortable belay stance before the angle steepens again.
Pitch 5. Intimidating – two smooth gray walls meeting in a finger-width crack with one wall overhanging slightly (not as bad as it looks). Climb this dihedral (5.7-5.8) and over about three subsequent steep sections to a comfortable belay niche on top of a chockstone (40m).
Pitch 6. Easier, and leads to Class 3-4 climbing to the summit ridge.
The climb is amply protected with nuts and runners (pitons superfluous). The first pitch requires all large nuts except for one #2 stopper at the start. The fifth pitch takes all small nuts. Take a full selection from the smallest stoppers up to about 7.5 centimetres, and eight runners. Excellent climbing on superb rock. (III,5.8,*).
FRA Peter Koedt, Peter Rowat, 9/8/1974.
Variation: The south dihedral of Gladsheim was too wet. Climb a series of cracks, corners and faces between the dihedral system and the ridge (Class 5.5-5.6). Finish directly under the tower, and traverse right one pitch to the base of a crack system leading to a prominent notch, halfway along the tower.
Then climb two pitches to the top of the tower through the notch. (5.9,A1). Chris Atkinson, Chuck Mullard, 14/8/1982.
5. Southwest Face. Begin via an obvious open book, left of a grassy dish (cited in Rt. 4). This is about 45m west of the South Dihedral Crack. After three leads, descend slightly to the west, then climb three leads directly up to a broken rook that leads to a wide obvious gully.
The first two leads are a bit touchy and dirty, with some hard moves (5.8) and sometimes hard to protect. After that, the rock is clean with good cracks for protection. Nine roped leads; about 14 pitches on this southwest face route, leading to the summit ridge. (III,5.8).
FRA Fred Beckey and Craig Martinson, 10/09/1976.
6. Northwest Glacier. Consult Route 1 and the variations. (This route is out of order to preserve sequence in the south (and SW) face routes.) From Mulvey Meadows, go over the pass west of the Trireme Wall (or go down the snowfields north of the top of the Route 1 gully) to the Gwillim Creek (north) side.
Traverse east over snow and glacier (deep snow favours the route) and cross a north-trending rock rib to the east. Ascend the north (actually northwest) glacier, cross the bergschrund and climb to the west ridge just east of the steep pitch. Ice, Glacier (III,5.5,s). FRA (descent) Ian and Rosemary Coupe, Peter Koedt, Peter and Wendy van den Porten, Peter and Nina Rowat, and Greg Shannon, 29/06/1973.
7. Full North Ridge. The full north ridge ascends a distinct, loose, west-facing yellow wall to gain the ridge proper (610m altitude gain). Ice, Glacier (IV,5.10,s).
FRA Alan Jones, David Lussier, July 2003.
Variation: North Ridge Bypass (by west face). Approach from upper Mulvey Lake, and go over the high col west of Gladsheim and east of the Trireme Wall (regular approach).
Descend a steep but short couloir, and cross the pocket glacier in a northeasterly direction, dropping about 200 meters to a rock buttress, and go around the rock buttress. Descend another 350 meters in a northerly direction.
Go up a steep and crevassed pocket glacier in a southeasterly direction, just around the corner from the rock buttress. From the top left side of the pocket glacier (moat late in the season), a gully and ledge system gives access to the upper northwest bowl and the base of the climb. (This is on a face, west-facing, on the north end of the ridge; photo.)
The route starts at a vertical crack system located at the left end of a large northwest-facing bowl between the upper west ridge and north ridge. It begins a few meters right of a faint arete at the far left end of the upper west face.
Pitch 1. Climb a hand-to-fist crack in a flaring open book (good stemming, solid rock). Belay below a big roof with a wide crack on its left. Class 5.8, 30m.
Pitch 2. Up and right around the roof, then back left on wild flakes to the main crack system above the roof (5.7). Continue up a left-facing corner to a small belay ledge where the crack system splits in two directions. 5.10, 40m.
Pitch 3. Climb the deceivingly steep left-hand crack to the north ridge. 5.9, 30m.
Pitches 4-6. Upper north ridge to the summit. The north ridge is horizontal but narrow at first. The next significant vertical step on the ridge is the crux for both the normal north ridge and variation (on or just left of the steep ridge crest; bolt at crux). Reach a hand crack near the top of this 30m pitch. Then a few mid-Class 5 pitches to the top.
This must be a long day’s climb. Use Camalots from #4 with doubles from #0.5 to #1, and a set of nuts. Ice, Glacier (III,5.10,s).
FRA David Lussier, Ramin Sherkat, 23/8/2008.
The north ridge must be approachable from the Gwillim Creek valley, but the state of bushwhacking on the lower slopes is unknown.
8. South Face (The White Dihedral). From the ground, the challenge is to find a way through a small, blank section blocking access to the White Dihedral.
Hike to the west ridge gully (not Trireme Couloir) between Gladsheim and the Trireme Wall. Work up the couloir (talus, snow) for 150 meters until a grassy ramp on the climber’s right side can be gained. Scramble up this to a sloping ledge directly below the route. The White Dihedral above provides a good landmark.
Pitch 1. Climb slabby cracks to a right-facing corner and eventually a gear belay on a grassy ledge. Class 5.8, 30m.
Pitch 2. Step left to a piton and climb a ten-meter blank corner. Climb up right, then back left following cracks and corners in a deep, wide chimney. Belay from gear on a good ledge on the right side. 5.8, 30m.
Pitch 3. Go up and left a few meters toward a bolt on the blank left wall of the chimney. Climb past it (crux) heading left toward a right-slanting crack. Continue up this to another crack passing two fixed pitons. At the second piton, move left five meters across a slab to a one bolt/gear belay at the base of the White Dihedral. 5.10, 35m.
Pitch 4. Stem up the right-facing corner passing one piton to a one bolt/gear belay on a narrow stance. 5.10, 45m.
Pitch 5. Continue up the dihedral passing a few overhangs to a grassy ledge inside a chimney with another bolt/gear belay. 5.10, 45m.
Pitch 6. Go up the chimney to a steep wall. Step left onto a slab beside the chimney and climb up into a larger chimney above. Climb cracks and corners on the left side of this to a piton/gear belay in a large open scoop. 5.9, 45m.
Pitch 7. Move up to an overhang with two steep cracks. Climb the thinner left one to a ledge above. Continue up a right-facing corner to a gear belay on a ledge system at the base of a steep tower. 5.9, 45m.
Pitch 8. Move the belay left for ten meters (past all the wide cracks). Climb a steep, shallow and blocky left-facing corner capped by a short roof crack (crux). Follow a small ledge back to the right and the base of a steep chimney. Belay here on gear (recommended) or continue up the chimney (5.9) with a major rope drag to the west ridge. 5.10, 40m.
Pitch 8 (alternate). Go right around the east side of the steep tower. Scramble up the talus to the base of a nice right-facing corner. Climb this to the west ridge. 5.7, 40m.
Use a single set of nuts and cams (to 3.5”), a few extra TCUs to 1.5”, and two 60-meter ropes. (III,5.10d,s).
FRA David Lussier, Roger Yim, 6/9/2009.
Descent. Seven double rope rappels via the alternate route take you back down the route or descend the west ridge and the couloir (west ridge gully).
TRIREME WALL
This intimidating face is below the horn-shaped pinnacle of the west ridge of Gladsheim. It rises from moderate broken slabs and ledges to an overhanging wall at the top, reminiscent in profile of the prow of a trireme.
1. Upper Left Crack System. Attain the bottom end of a slanting ledge system about 15 meters up from the bottom center of the wall. It is probably possible to go up and right (and back left above), but take the crack system going straight up from the slanting ledge.
Once in the upper crack system, the route fairly well defined itself, with some preference for right hand alternatives. A series of short vertical or overhanging chimneys (Class 5.8) followed by two or three short, steep faces complete the climb. (II,5.8)
FRA Bernhard Ehmann, Peter Koedt, 10/06/1979.
The Trireme Wall is very steep and some of its rocks are in threatening positions. The last party known to try it backed off because of this. A recent rockfall has not affected the route.
2. West Ridge. See Gladsheim Peak, Route 1, at the foot of the page.
3. West Ridge, Upper North Face. See Gladsheim Peak, Route 1, at the foot of the page. This route climbs the west ridge and the short, upper north face, not the main Trireme Wall.. The final pitch takes a flaring groove on the north face. Class 5.7. FA unknown
FIREWORKS ON GLADSHEIM (2830m. 9285’) by Doug Brown
Armed with a near-perfect weather forecast, a photo of the entrance to the mythical Gladsheim “tunnel”, and mountains of rock climbing gear, Sandra, René LeBel, and I started up the Gimli trail at 10:00 on Sunday, July 2, 2006. We were headed for a couple of nights in Mulvey Basin with our sights on Gladsheim (my last Mulvey peak) and Asgard (which, assuming success on Gladsheim, would be Sandy’s last Mulvey peak).
The big pack combined with high humidity and a beating sun soon had me feeling like I’d wet myself, but I more or less kept my whining to myself and soldiered on. As we neared treeline, we began to hear some very unwelcome rumbling coming from … you guessed it, Mulvey Basin. As the storm over the basin intensified, we slowly made our way around Gimli waiting for the storm to move off. But on this day, Thor was not to be so accommodating. By the time we rounded the south ridge of Gimli, the storm was really getting cranked up, and had been stationary for two hours! To add insult to injury, we could see that the only cloud in the whole region was the big, black, and flashing one that was pummeling Gladsheim. Fast moving cloud streamers revealed that the storm sucking energy and moisture from adjacent valleys. About the time we started across the talus field approach to the Gimli-Niselheim col, Thor noticed our intrusion and decided it would be fun to pummel us with snow, hail, and rain. I was starting to feel like the character in the Dirk Gently novels who has a rain cloud follow him around. If I’d had a sat phone, I would have pushed that Environment Canada speed dial button to let them know what I thought of their forecast.
Once we reached the col, the lashing of hail was reaching a crescendo, so the three of us took shelter, meagre as it was, in a wee alcove about big enough for my dog. Luckily my partners couldn’t hear my whining over the roar of the raging storm.
After about 20 minutes, Thor decided to go for pizza, and the storm finally moved off after about three hours stationary over Mulvey Basin. René was first back up to the col, and he promptly exclaimed “Wow, a winter wonderland!” “Oh good”, I thought. He was right though, as Gladsheim was sporting a serious coat of fresh hail. Again I wished for the hotline to Environment Canada. Not to be deterred, we descended the very handy ledge to the snow of Mulvey Basin, wondering if our climb of Gladsheim the following day would rate M4 instead of the 5.0 we were expecting.
The snow in the basin was in very good shape, so we made good time down to camp north of the big Mulvey Lake at around 7000′. While most of the basin was snow-covered, we were lucky enough to find a large dry area to camp on with easy access to water. While the sun was out, the air was cool and a steady katabatic wind was blowing, as it would constantly for the next two days. As the temperature plummeted that evening, Sandy and I teased René mercilessly as he had opted to leave his crampons at home.
I convinced the others that a 6:00 wakeup was plenty early enough – how long could it take? – so we didn’t head off until 7:00 the next morning under sunny skies and warm temperatures. We quickly made our way down to the next lake, and then back up the meadow to the “West Ridge Gully”, a very handy ramp that takes a very direct path for 1500 vertical feet to a point high on the west ridge of Gladsheim. Sandy kicked steps for the first section and then it was my turn. René used the “Oh I’d kick steps if only I had brought my crampons” excuse … the gully seemed to go on endlessly in variable snow conditions and hail up to 20-30 cm deep. I thought I must be hallucinating as the ridgeline looked about 30 m away for the last half hour, but finally, we did top out on the west ridge about 1:45 after we left camp.
The next section was pleasant class 3 and 4 scrambling along the undulating west ridge, although we had to watch for slimy lichen near the piles of hail that were melting in the sun. After maybe a half hour of scrambling it came time to don the rock shoes and pull out the rope. I got the first pitch that started from a large ledge on the south side a little down from the ridgeline. I started up a steep vertical crack that was too wide for a fist jam, but just right for a forearm … hmmm seemed like a “Kootenay 5.0” as general consensus was that a modern 5.5 was appropriate. After the first tricky bit, I quickly ran out 35 m over fourth-class terrain and set up a belay station right on the ridge crest.
I handed René the sharp end, and he immediately realized my genius – his pitch looked much harder than mine. He wound his way up steep bulges on the ridge crest until even he thought it looked too hard to continue that way. Following the directions in the Black Book, he made a descending and very airy, although not technically difficult, traverse on the south side. Eventually, he made a short climb back up to the base of the steep wall. Again, it seemed about a modern 5.5. By now, our sunny skies were much less sunny, and in fact it was looking like another electrical storm was only a question of “when” not “if”. With the deteriorating weather in mind, I chose to leave a chock placed at the belay as it was apparently going to take some fussing to get it out; we hoped to pick it up on the way back if it wasn’t buzzing.
Whilst Sandy and René sorted the rack and rope at the top of pitch 2, I scrambled off in search of the mythical “tunnel”. After some easy scrambling up a chimney/cave/tunnel, I found myself on a large ledge on the ridgecrest. A friend who had descended the route last summer had sent me a picture of a climber exiting the very deep tunnel/chimney, so feeling quite ridiculous, I stood around at 9000 feet on the west ridge of Gladsheim holding this photo in my outstretched arm trying to match the picture to the various cracks in the wall in front of me. And presto there it was! It didn’t look particularly promising but was a perfect match to the photo. I carried only the rope while René and Sandy had packs, so I tried not to laugh as they thrutched and grunted their way up the chimney come tunnel – which was actually quite interesting and fun for those without packs.
The tunnel popped out on the north side of the ridge, and as I’d been getting off so easy, it was unanimously agreed that it must be my lead again. After exiting the tunnel I headed straight up ledges to the ridgecrest again on easy ledges. Some third-class terrain followed and then a tricky big step up (slimy) and Bob’s Your Uncle, we were on the ridge top above all the fifth-class climbing. When dry, the big step would probably be about 5.5, but harder for short folk; the rest of the pitch was low fifth at most.
We have heard many reports that significant rockfall has changed the west ridge of Gladsheim so that it is much harder than the rated 5.0. We saw no evidence of recent significant rockfall, so I don’t think the rumours are true. I would say however, that by modern standards, the 5.0 rating is about 5 grades too low, and if you don’t find your way to the tunnel, it would be much harder still.
The remainder of the distance to the top probably accounted for nearly half the length of the ridge, but we didn’t need the rope, and so after 40 minutes of extremely pleasant class 3 and 4 scrambling (sometimes exposed) we were on the summit. We took a break for nourishment and fluids, rubbernecking all the while, but the building storms to the west encouraged us not to linger too long.
We quickly scrambled back to above the last tricky step-up of pitch 3 and did our first of four rappels. Rap 2 put us into the tunnel which we all down-climbed. After exiting the tunnel, it became clear that Thor wasn’t done with us – the distant thunder wasn’t sounding so distant anymore. When I threw the rope for our next rap, it crackled in a most unsettling manner and my hair, or what remains of it, started standing on end. Suffice it to say, we made haste and donated the stuck chock to the mountain gods. After René and I had finished rap 3 (which ended a maddeningly short distance away from our mountain boots and scrambling terrain), Sandy gave us what would become a familiar status report: “My ice axe is buzzing again!” I encouraged her to refrain from hurling the frightening thing off the mountain and continue down to us. After our fourth and final rap, we put away the rope and scurried off, taking care of the wet lichen, as it was raining and hailing.
The section of the ridge back to the top of the snow gully seemed much longer and more exposed than it did in the morning, but the static electricity kept us moving as fast as we could – whenever I lost sight of René I only had to listen for the arcing of the rock pro hanging on his harness to find him. We did, however, make it to the top of the gully with all body parts intact – in fact, we arrived at the gully just as the storm passed off. What was a nasty grunt in the morning was a perfect ski slope in the afternoon, and we very quickly descended down to the meadow, and thence back to camp, arriving 10 hours after we’d left. Our timing was excellent, as shortly after arriving back at the tent, an impressive storm arrived and pounded the tent for 20 minutes. As the rain beat against the tent wall, I considered, with very mixed emotions, the fact that I had now climbed all the Mulvey Peaks.
The next morning we broke camp and grunted up to around the 8000′ foot level on the south side of Asgard. We dumped our packs and nipped up the east side of Asgard. The views were splendid and the summit register was full of entries from famous people. After we’d had our fill of the view, we returned to our packs and made our way back to the truck by the way we’d come in – this time Thor left us alone, although the skies were looking very threatening as we descended into the valley.
Summary of the roped pitches:
P1: Up short vertical crack to ridge, then 4th class, 35 m, 5.5.
P2: Up a steep section of ridge, then airy descending traverse on the south side, then a short climb up to the base of a smooth wall. 40 m, 5.5.
Scramble up easy ground to the ridgeline, then scramble up 3rd class chimney-come-tunnel exiting on the north side.
P3: Exit the tunnel, climb ledges on the north side to the ridgeline, and follow the ridgeline with one small step to belay, 5.5, 30 m.
Four raps on the descent.
Doug Brown
