NISLEHEIM PEAK (JONES) 2580m
A smaller peak, shaped like a shark’s fin, is just WNW of Gimli Peak.
1. North Face, Northwest Ridge. Nisleheim is most easily climbed up a steep gully on the right side of the north face onto the northwest ridge. The bottom of this gully is a tough scramble, but the rest is (I,4). FA unknown.
2. Northwest Ridge. Ascend the northwest ridge from the Midgard- Nisleheim col. Short; Class 4 on superb gneiss.
Rappel on the descent (rope).
FRA Rod Magee, Pat Michael, July 20,3.
3. South Ridge. Approach via the trail to the south ridge of Gimli (also an alternate approach to Gimli, Route 1; consult the beginning of the group, access). Pass around Gimli on its west side and follow the trail to the Gimli-Nisleheim col. A little below the col, traverse west on third-class grassy ledges (which end). Rappel to snow, and traverse (ice ax) to the base of the south ridge.
The crest of the ridge is best to start (friction slabs, jams, stems, layback, excellent Class 5.6 for 60m). Then 60 meters of Class 4 with a few low Class 5 moves (wet) to very near the top.
Descent was by the northwest ridge; bypass the slabs (rappelled on approach) by descending 60 meters on snow on the south side of Nisleheim and reascending to the Gimli trail. (III,5.6,s).
FA Drew Brayshaw.
4. East Ridge. Start from the Gimli-Nisleheim col. Short; Class 5.7.
FA Stephan Abegg, August 2009.
5. West-Northwest Ridge.
FA Drew Brayshaw, date unknown.
There are difficult routes on the south face.
SOUTH RIDGE OF NISLEHEIM By Doug Brown
In mid-July, a friend from Golden was visiting Sandy and me for a few days of climbing. Our initial attempt at getting out saw us getting spanked by the weather at our camp below the Prestley-Midgard Col. After a day at home drying out, the weather forecast was good, but our friend had to drive home to Golden the next evening, so the hunt was on for a short day trip that included a fifth class route to a nice peak. Drew Brayshaw had written up the south ridge of Nisleheim on bivouac.com: he reported good rock and a rating of 5.4. Seeing as we could get pretty close to the base of the ridge on the Gimli trail, it seemed a suitable destination.
After a fairly early start, we arrived in the meadow below the Gimli bivi area around 9:00. The south ridge of Gimli was magnificent in the morning sun. We continued around Gimli following the trail that makes its way to the Gimli-Nisleheim col. A little below the col we started traversing west, aiming for the 3rd class grassy ledges that Drew wrote about. Unfortunately, the ledges ran out 5-10 m above the snow slope we needed to traverse across. We were all feeling stiff in the cool morning and had no inclination to down-climb the fifth-class slabs, so decided to do a rap. Sandy immediately found a rap sling, so we were comforted in knowing we weren’t the only ones who didn’t think it was class 3. The rap done, we continued easily across the snow (ice axe) and up to the base of the south ridge of Nisleheim.
Drew said to climb 5.4 short walls and ledges on the left (west) side of the ridge. I started off, but quickly found that the left, still shaded, side of the ridge was covered with black lichen and running with water. Yuck! I was poodling big time within a few metres, so whimpered my way back down to try the ridge crest. The crest of the ridge was in the sun and turned out to be dry and mostly free of lichen. I run out a full 60 m of slabs, cracks, and flakes – friction slabs, jams, stems, and a lay-back. The pitch provided good value for the 5.6 rating we gave it. The next pitch was another full 60 m of fourth class, with maybe a couple of low fifth moves in the middle section (step up to a wet slab/corner). From the top of this pitch, it was just a few metres walk to the top.
We arrived at 12:30, 5 hours after leaving the truck. After lounging in the warm sun on top for an hour, we down-climbed the NW ridge that Kim Kratky described in last fall’s newsletter. We elected to bypass the slabs we rappelled in the morning by dropping down a couple of hundred feet on snow on the south side of Nisleheim, and then reascending to the Gimli trail. We continued down the trail, stopping to watch a pair making good time up the south ridge of Gimli, and reached the truck by 4:00. A very fine day out with a 2-star 5.6 pitch on the great rock to a splendid viewpoint. And no bush!
Doug Brown
