Mount Alexandra | 11000ers of the Canadian Rockies

Mount Alexandra
3401m, 11158ft
July 7-9 2024

Mount Alexandra lies between The Lyells and Mount Bryce and makes up one of the remote BC 11000ers on the list. It is one of the four 11000ers that are typically accessed by driving more than 90km out the Bush Forest Service Road and simply getting within close proximity of the peak is the toughest part about this mountain. Alexandra doesn't seem to get as much attention as its nearby counterparts due to its lower difficulty and large distance necessary to get it done without helicopter support so it's primarily done by those seeking to complete the entirety of the list. While Alexandra was known as one of the worst bushwhacks in the past due to the Lyell Creek or Rice Brook valley bottom approach, improvements in the route have changed this completely.

The View south from the summit of Mount Alexandra featuring The Lyells and Mount Forbes.

After my successful trip up Mount Andromeda and Mount Athabasca I was looking to go for a more remote 11000er and immediately began eyeing up the numerous high peaks south of the Columbia Icefield. I was in communication with a few fellow mountaineers and when Jøsiane Bēgin was free and interested to go for something we landed on Alexandra and began making plans. Given the kilometers and elevation gain you have to cover for the trip we weren't exactly sure how long the approach and exit would take us but we decided to plan for two overnights and would ideally reach the campsite below the headwall on day one and do some of the exit after summiting and returning to camp on day two.

Jøsiane and I met up early in Canmore and after reaching Donald just north of Golden began heading out the Bush River Forest Service Road. It was the first time in the area for both of us and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the road, that is until around the 94km marker where you turn right onto the Rice Brook Forest Service Road and this got a lot rougher quickly. Regardless Jo's Subaru Forester was able to make it all the way to the end point of the road shortening the apoproach we would've had to do otherwise greatly and after gearing up we headed out.

Initially we followed the road until it got overgrown and after bushwhacking for a few minutes got through and began the scree / boulder hopping portion of the approach which was a significant amount. The first, second, and third col were all straightforward to get to but required a sizable amount of elevation gain and loss so we knew we'd be in for a tough exit. Additionally after reaching the last col Mount Alexandra still looked far away so we weren't done yet and had to cover another good chunk of distance through treed terrain to eventually reach the lakeside campsite just before sunset.

links: STRAVA | GAIA
elapsed time: 47.5hrs
DIFFICULTY: mountaineering - glacier travel, 5th class, steep snow climbing, multiday

At the endpoint of the forest service roads, Alexandra visible in the distance

Views of King Edward, Columbia, and Bryce during the only bushwhacking section of the trip

The route heads up to the right of the peak ahead

Looking back as we contour around the peak, The Twins now visible as well

Looking back at the first col, the bugs were quite annoying on the way in

Some lingering snow on the way to the second col

Both peaks of Bryce with the full couloir route in view

Looking towards our next high point on the ridge directly below Alexandra

About as good as the views of Mount Bryce get!

Jo gaining the last elevation to the ridge

The crossing we had to wade through on the way

Looking back, a lot of elevation gain to get back to that ridge on the way out

Jo headed for what looked like a faint trail that contoured the slope

Another crossing with Whirlwind Peak behind

Impressive views of Whirlwind and Rose Petal Peak!

Finally no more elevation gain, the headwall and ledge visible from here

Rice Brook Peak also added to the views with the evening colors

The next morning we were off at 4am and I had taken pictures and gotten a mental image of where we needed to go to navigate our way to the key ledge part way up the headwall. There was a decent amount of hands on terrain so we had to be careful with the lack of visibility but by the time we reached the 5th class crux step just before the ledge we had enough natural light that this wasn't a problem. The ledge still had some snow sticking around on it so this made things a bit more tricky than they needed to be but we were able to get past traveling closer to the cliff edge and soon reached the beginning of the glacier.

There were a few holes to watch out for as we made our way across to the base of Alexandra but nothing crazy and after reaching the other side we ditched the rope and started making our way up. The ascent of Alexandra wasn't anything technical with the steepest section around 35 degrees but the snow conditions were softer than ideal so this made for hard work. After being teased by a couple false summits we finally reached the final summit ridge and made our way to the top!

Mount Spring-Rice & Queant Mountain
making an appearance

The ledge was quite exposed at times with
lingering snow pushing us closed to the cliff

Definitely some crevasses on this glacier

Jo on the flat section part way up Alexandra

I had brought my skis to the summit to hopefully get some turns on the way down but it was already 10am when we reached the top so things were warming up quickly. After taking in the views we started down and the intial skiing was nasty. The tails of my skis were digging in and making turns was super hard on the legs but further down when the grade eased off things improved and I was able to enjoy some cruisy skiing. A few isothermal slides near the base told us all we needed to know and we got down and back across the glacier quickly to avoid any high risk avalanche terrain and worsening crevasse bridging. Reversing the ledge was fine but downclimbing the crux step and all the hands on terrain below it to get back to camp was definitely a bit mentally tiring so we had to be a bit careful through this section.

The forest service road we started on visible at low left with Tsar, Tusk, Clemenceau, Bryce, & Columbia

The Lyells, Mount Forbes, & Hector between if you look really close

Queen Peak from just SE of the main summit

Mount Murchison and the Murchison Towers

Kemmel Mountain & Icefall Peak with the unclimbed Icefall Tower right of center

It was warming quickly with some sluffing avalanches starting so we moves quickly

One last view of Rice Brook, Queant, and Spring-Rice

The impressive cliffs below the key ledge to reach the glacier

After returning to camp at 3pm it was the heat of the day and it wasn't very relaxing trying to get a nap in the boiling hot tent or the strong afternoon sun. With a lot of time left in the day we decided to back up camp and start the exit to make day 3 easier and reached a nice tarn below the slog up to the 3rd col where we decided to call it a day. The next morning we were moving before sunrise and started the grind back up the 3 cols. A good chunk of the elevation gain on this trip is from the exit so we were definitely feeling it but a few sections of lasting snow made things more enjoyable since I was able to get ski turns in. The descent from the final col was extra tricky with plenty of loose boulders you could break an ankle on and once past the boulder / scree field all that was left was a bit of bushwhacking and the road back to the car.

Night 2 camp with Cockcomb Mountain in the
background

Some of the best views of Columbia and King Edward from this approach route

Mount Alexandra while not all that technically difficult was definitely physically demanding and I'd probably say the approach is one of the tougher ones on the list even rivaling Mount Forbes and the modern Kinbasket River approach route for Tsar Mountain. That being said the extremely small amount of bushwhacking and the epic scenery make it well worth it and I'm glad this is the first peak I checked off that's accessed via the Bush River FSR. Following this trip it was a solid 3 weeks until my next outing in the mountains but with Jo keen on getting after it again with a legendary Lake Louise linkup we got ready to send big!