MT. STORUS 2774m 9,100′
MT. ISIS 2804m 9,200′
by Kim Kratky
Site of another of the excellent adventures of Hamish and Kim (this one in late August of 1994), these peaks are part of a long ridge making up the height of land between Jumbo Creek and both forks of Glacier Creek. Access is via the Monica Meadows trail.
Storus and Isis are easily seen from the Glacier Creek road near the bridge crossing the creek draining the W. side of Ochre Pk. They show as part of a long, flat-topped ridge with a turret on the L. or north end. Both peaks were first climbed in 1973 by Curt Wagner and John Jeglum from the Jumbo Creek side. Theirs were the only names we found in the summit records, although I think Jim Kienholz and Rob Sommerville may have climbed these.
As most people know how to get to Monica Meadows, I’ll begin my approach description from there. From the meadows or the campsites below them, pick out a prominent notch at 7,900′ in the jagged SW ridge of Amen-Ra and make for that (coordinates 244-830). From the notch, descend S. a few hundred feet into a scenic valley with three lakes (256-817). Our party bivvied here, 2 hrs. 40 min. from the car park.
The easiest route to the peaks is to ascend the valley to the Amen-Ra – Storus col (8,100′; 256-841). From here the N. ridge of Storus offers fine scrambling on solid rock, including a face latticed with horizontal and vertical cracks (2.75 hrs. from camp to summit; 255-832).
To continue to Isis, descend the S. ridge of Storus via an 80′ rappel, continue along the ridge (some tricky moves, class 4, rope recommended), and scramble the final few hundred feet to the summit of Isis (90 min. from the summit of Storus; 256-827).
From this point, the best suggestion is to retrace your steps to camp. The section we rappelled on Storus can be avoided by moving R. or E. and ascending fourth-class couloirs and slabs, according to Wagner’s account (CAJ, 1972).
Storus alone would be a very pleasant day trip from Monica Meadows. Ratings would be II-III, 3 under the Climber’s Guide system or B2 according to the KMC. Some parties might want a rope for the descent of Storus’ N. ridge.
Storus and Isis together, returning via the ascent route, I would rate at III, 4 or B3. One 9mm rope and a small rack would suffice.
Map: 82K/7 Duncan Lake, 1:50,000
POSTSCRIPT Desiring something more sporty, Hamish and I did not return via the ascent route of Storus and Isis, continued S. along the ridge, and wound up enjoying a 14 1/2-hour day. For what it’s worth, I can tell you that we ambled over three false summits, doing an 80′ rap off the last one. At this point, we were a bit N. of the famous “hole in the wall” (no, it’s not an optical illusion; there really is a giant hole in the ridge, prominent from the SW ridge of Amen-Ra). We then decided to go down a muddy gully filled with loose rocks that gave access to another valley and lake (256-817) E. of our ridge. Two more rappels for the gully. This lake is perhaps 1,000′ above a big cutblock overlooking the road on Glacier Creek’s S. fork.
To return to our camp, we traversed all the way around the S. and W. sides of the Stores-Isis massif (decidedly unpleasant), reaching our bivvy site by 6:00.
Then we headed out for the truck, couldn’t pick up the Monica Meadows trail in the dark, finally located it about 200′ above where we were stumbling around, and glided into the c,’u-park at 9:20 pm. Repeating our traverse is not recommended. Who wants a low-grade ordeal on a couple of mountains that no one else has even heard of? Besides, the article was written to promote good times and exercise, not hardship and suffering.
