Triple Pk

Vancouver Island Alpine Guide
Peak Lists

The following are several Peak Lists that will help all of us Peak Baggers get to the most worthy objective. Let's hope this does not turn out like 50 Crowded Climbs

Island Mountain Ramblers

The following is verbatium from an old Rambler's list.

Mountaineering - Life Time Objectives

  1. Golden Hinde, 7219' - Originally know as Rooster's Comb due view from Northeast and Southwest. Named by BC Government in 1938 to commemorate the 360th anniversary of Sir Francis Drake sailing around the world. The Golden Hinde was Drake's flagship.

  2. Mount Arrowsmith, 5962' - Named after Aaron Arrowsmith and his nephew John Arrowsmith who were English mapmakers. Named in 1854 by Capt. Richards, R. N., to honour the Arrowsmiths who executed about 130 accurate charts in the late 1700's.

  3. Nine Peaks 6043' (any summit) - Named in 1913. Descriptive name.

  4. Mount Elkhorn 7200' - This peak is approximately 20' lower than the Golden Hinde. the 1958 survey and the 1936survey both confirm this fact. First climbed by AO Wheeler and his party on an Alpine Club of Canada Trip (1911?). Described as the Matterhorn of BC , but this name had been used to describe Mt Assiniboine. Therefore, called Elkhorn, being near the Elk River. Interestin face is AO Wheeler named Elkhorn Glacier on his 1913 ascent. This glacier was located on the Northwest side of Mt. Elkhorn and has receded dramatically in the last 75 years so there is little left of this once much larger glacier. The same is true for the size of the Moving Glacier near Milla Lake.

  5. Rambler Peak 6900' - Officially named in 1964 after the Island Mountain Ramblers who recorded the first ascent of this peak. Rambler Peak and Mount Elkhorn were the only two mountains in Strathcona Park of any size that were not climbed by NC Stewart's Government survey in 1936 and 1937. First climbed by Ron Facer, Steve Todd and Barrie McDowall.

  6. Victoria Peak 7095' - Likely named after Queen Victoria. Show on two old maps dated 1913 and 1919.

  7. Mount Colonel Foster 7000' - Named by 1914 Strathcona Park surveyors after Colonel William Wasborough Foster. Any summit qualifies.

  8. Mount Matchlee 6033' - Named after Indian Reservation at Eastern end of Muchalat Inlet.

  9. Red Pillar 6665' - Descriptive name suggested by Comox Mountaineering Club in 1935.

    Rugged East Ridge

  10. Rugged Mountain 6156' - Any summit qualifies. Descriptive name given to mountain by 1933 surveyors. Located in Haihte Range which is an Indian word meaning "Head"

  11. Schoen Mount 6109' - Named after German trapper Otto Schoen who trapped in the area. Note that the official name in MOUNT, not Mountain. This area was made a provincial park in 1977.

  12. Mount McBride 6829' - Named by Strathcona Park surveyors in 1914 after Sir Richard McBride.

  13. Mount Maitland 4806' - Named after Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Maitland, Command in Chief in this area 1860-1862.

  14. George V Mount 6300' - In memory of his late Majesty George V. Suggested in the year of his Silver Jubilee 1935.

  15. Mariner Mountain 5833' - A landmark to steer by for mariners. Used to called Holy Cross Mountain.

  16. Splendor Mountain 5794' - Descriptive name suggested by NC Stewart, surveyor.

  17. Kings Peak 6774' - Named after Michael and James King (suggest by RH Thompson in 1914 Strathcona survey). The were the first explorers in this area to call attention to the beautiful mountains located near Kings Peak.

  18. Klitsa Mountain 5388' - Shows on 1913 map. Indian for "SNOW".

  19. Filberg Mountain 6677' - Named after the manager of Comox Loggin Company. Suggested by NC Stewart, surveyor, who received much help from the logging company in the 1930's.

  20. Mount Donner 5948' - Named after Charles Donner who resided at Donner Lake for many years (used to be called Doner's Lake on 1907 map).
19?? Dave Routledge
19?? Sandy Briggs
19?? Dave Combs
19?? ???
19?? ???
19?? ???

Island Mountain Ramblers

Hiking - Life Time Objectives

  1. Cape Scott Lighthouse
  2. West Coast Trail
  3. Landslide Lake (Elk River Trail)
  4. Marble Meadows
  5. Flower Ridge
  6. Cream Lake
  7. Della Falls
  8. Comox Glacier
  9. Phillips Ridge
  10. Mt Becher to Mt Jutland
  11. Ucluelet to Tofino Coastline
  12. Buttle Lake to Augerpoint Ridge
  13. Comichan River Trail
  14. East Sooke Park Shoreline
  15. Paradise Meadows to Mt Albert Edward
  16. Mt Cokely from Cameron Lake

Alpine Club of Canada- Island Qualifiers (IQ)

At one time the ACC had the classification of Senior Membership. To qualifiy for this membership you had to climb 3 peaks of sufficient difficulty. In the Rockies this was simply any peak over 10,000'. This possed a problem for the Vancouver Island Section so they came up with the following list of 9 peaks that could be used to qualify for Senior Membership.

  1. Golden Hinde
  2. Mount Elkhorn
  3. Colonel Foster (true summit)
  4. Victoria Peak
  5. Warden Peak
  6. Rugged Mountain
  7. Septimus
  8. Nine Peaks
  9. Mount Harmston
The Vancouver Island Section now offers a small plaque to members that have climbed all the peaks on the list and earned their IQ.

19?? Rick Eppler
19?? Robbie MacDonald
19?? Don Berryman
19?? Sandy Briggs
19?? Wendy Richardson
19?? John Pratt
19?? Dave Rutledge
19?? Julie Henderson
19?? Ian Brown
19?? Margaret Brown
19?? Charles Turner
19?? Doug Goodman
19?? Gerta Smythe
19?? Greg Gordon

Island Peaks over 6000'

Disclaimer: This is a tentative list. It awaits somebody taking the trouble to go through all the TRIM data to update the peak heights. For example, Rugged mountain has been knocked down the list by the new data. Further, no arbitrary definition of a listable peak has been proposed. For example, why list Rambler Jr. separately but not the North Peak of Colonel Foster? There are several such cases.

1 7219'/2201m Golden Hinde
2 7200'/2195m Elkhorn
3 7095'/2193m Victoria Peak
4 7000'/2134m Colonel Foster
5 6900'/2104m Rambler Peak
6 6868'/2094m Albert Edward
7 6829'/2082m Mt McBride
8 6774'/2065m Kings Peak
9 6695'/2041m Rees Ridge North, 'Mt Celeste'
10 6677'/2035m Mt Filberg
11 6665'/2035m Red Pillar
12 6663'/2031m Mt Cobb
13 6600'/2021m Rambler Junior
14 6526'/1990m B-Hinde
15 6526'/1990m Elkhorn South High ridge to the south of Elkhorn
16 6503'/1983m Alexandra Peak
17 6500'/1982m Argus Mt.
18 6500'/1982m Mt Harmston
19 6500'/1982m Mr Regan
20 6460'/1970m El Piveto
21 6460'/1970m Warden Peak
22 6400'/1951m Mt Rosseau Main/Central summit of Septimus Massif
23 6429'/1960m Rees Ridge South, 'Iceberg Peak'
24 6429'/1960m Comox Glacier
25 6390'/1948m Mt Haig Brown
26 6365'/1941m Mt Septimus West summit of Septimus Massif
27 6300'/1921m Mt Frink
28 6300'/1921m East Strathcona Map:92F/11 Lat:49.38.5N Long:125.25.2W
29 6299'/1920m East Strathcona Map:92F/11 Lat:49.33.2N Long:125.27.8W
30 6262'/1909m East Strathcona Map:92F/11 Lat:49.37.6N Long:125.25.3W
31 6178'/1884m Mt George V
32 6166'/1880m East Strathcona Map:92F/11 Lat:49.33.1N Long:125.25.2W
33 6135'/1870m Mt Adrian
34 6109'/1863m Mt Schoen
35 6109'/1863m Big Interior Mountain
36 6105'/1861m Rugged Mountain
37 6094'/1854m Auger Point (Syd Watts Peak)
38 6057'/1847m Crown Mt.
39 6042'/1842m Nine Peaks
40 6033'/18??m Matchlee Mountain
41 6030'/1838m Mt Mitchell
42 6003'/1830m Jutland Mt
43 6003'/1830m Septimus East
44 6000'/1829m Sutton Peak
45 6000'/1829m Maquilla Peak
46 60??'/18??m Morrison Spire

Trip Grading Grid

One of the first questions a trip leader is asked is, "How Hard is the Trip?" There are two aspects of difficulty: Aerobically Fitness and Single Move Finesse. The first is an indication of how long can you climb before you collapse, while the second is difficult a boulder can you climb.

In an attempt to quantify this several clubs are Grading trips. The letter is for Aerobic Fitness while the letter is for Technical Finesse. For example A1 is an easy hike on a flat groomed park's trail, while D1 would be hiking Mt Finalyson 10 times in a day. The other extremes: A5 is the Overhang route a Flemming Beach, and lastly; D5 would be the East Face of Colonel Foster in winter.

These are totally subjective Grades. Often a trip is unintentially under rated (sand bagged), so it is best to beware. Hopefully this guide might lead to some standardization of Grades, instead of being a last minute guess.

1 2 3 4 5
Hiking Scrambling Easy Climbing Continuous Belaying
Easy holds 		Leader protection
hardware
A Not Strenous . . . . .
B Moderately Strenous . De Cosmos

Edinburgh Mtn

Arrowsmith Judges Route

. . .
C Strenous Albert Edward Mt Gibson NW Ridge

Mt Whymper NW Ridge (actually more strenous due to added 12km road hike).

Mt Schoen

Septimus

Rambler Pk

Nine Peaks

Rugged Mt. E Ridge

Mackenzie Summit

Elkhorn W Gully or NW Ridge

Victoria Peak, South Face/SE Ridge

Triple Peak

Warden Peak
D Very Strenous Cowichan River Footpath, Summer Ski Trip

Mt. Harmston Golden Hinde SE Gully

. Colonel Foster

Rugged Mt. SW Face

Last Updated: Sept 8, 1997

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