Mount Bryce Main and Center | 11000ers of the Canadian Rockies

Mount Bryce Main & Center
3500m, 11483ft | 3385m, 11106ft
June 5 2025

Standing on its own just south of the Columbia Icefield, Mount Bryce is one of the giants of the Canadian Rockies range and rises an impressive 2500 meters above the Bush River Valley below. The two highest peaks of Bryce make up for two out of four of the remote 11000ers typically accessed via the Bush River Forest Service Road and both prove to be one of the bigger challenges in the area, the other two being Mount Alexandra and Mount King Edward. One of the particularly challenging aspects of tackling both peaks of Mount Bryce is that each of them are most easily done at different times of year in very different conditions, meaning to get them both in one fell swoop requires strong technical ability in either set of conditions to deal with the challenging terrain "out of season."

Mount Bryce in the Canadian Rockies with its steep north face in shadow and the snow-covered northeast ridge route climbing directly up the center.

Following a successful trip up Mount King Edward I wasn't exactly sure when I'd find myself back out in the remote corners of BC wildernees going for another peak but as it turned out it wouldn't be long. A week later a clear window appeared in the forecast and Devan and I were immediately messaging back and forth about making an attempt on Bryce and Bryce Center. Our only worry was that neither of our vehicles would be able to make it the 6.5km up the Rice Brook Forest Service Road that extends off the Bush FSR at about 94km in and is significantly rougher. With that in mind we decided to put out an invite in the 11000ers Facebook group and it didn't take long to find two more interested partners, Jeff and Graydon, and with Graydon having a capable vehicle we were all set to go.

With enough room for all of us to pile into Graydon's Honda CR-V we decided to carpool and met up along the way as we headed for our objective. After moving a few rocks on the upper section the Rice Brook FSR ended up being in good enough condition to drive all the way to its end point where we would start from so we were happy to be able to save the legs from any added kilometers. Devan had previously done Bryce's main summit but after getting completely socked in was forced to turn around so this trip was a shot at redemption for him! The majority of the successful trips for Bryce that I had seen were multiday with camps set up high on the mountain to beat the sun on the south facing slopes but Devan was interested in going for a big one day push. I wasn't opposed to the idea as it meant we'd have far lighter packs for the steep approach but Jeff and I wanted to ski down from the main summit and didn't want to risk having to walk due to bad conditions so we opted for a 12:30am start to beat the heat!

links: STRAVA | GAIA
elapsed time: 14hrs
DIFFICULTY: mountaineering - glacier travel, steep snow / ice climbing, 5th class, remote, often multiday

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Having Devan with us pretty much negated any route finding issues we could've had traveling in the dark so this made our approach extra efficient. Aside from dealing with a bit of alders after getting slightly off route and some persistent snow we had to deal with near the waterfall things went pretty much perfectly to plan reaching the lower glacier on route. Graydon ended up turning back a couple hours in with a tweaked back but the rest of us pressed on and by 4am we were on the glacier.

There was an exceptionally good crust so we didn't bother roping up here and made our way right to the base of the couloir before switching to crampons and beginning the first snow climb section of the day. The couloir also had extra firm snow conditions so it was quite the calf burner but never felt very sketchy with the steepest grade feeling like around 40 degrees. Good conditions made for fast progress and by 6am we were on the upper glacier just in time to catch the sunrise colors.

We decided to head for Bryce Center first so that we could descend from the main summit straight into the couloir afterwards so we made our way to the Bryce Main-Center col. There was still quite a bit of snow on Bryce Center so we were definitely anticipating a proper mixed climb but with the solid snow conditions we ended up being able to bypass the toughest sections of the lower half on the south face making our ascent much easier. After getting about two thirds of the way up we pretty much stuck to the ridge and there were definitely some airy sections but with most of the rock buried in snow still we made short work of it. Jeff decided to stop at one of the final steeper steps but Devan and I continued and soon after were met with some corniced ridge to finish off the ascent making for an exciting finish to Bryce's center peak. After some celebrations and a short break we headed back to reverse our ascent and next up on the hit list was Bryce's main summit!

Mount Bryce image 1 — Thread the needle! We moved a number of rocks through this sections

Mount Bryce image 3 — A log we took across the initial stream, didn't really help much as we got
waded through the next section

Mount Bryce image 4 — Nothing like a good ol' river crossing at 1am to wake you up

Mount Bryce image 5 — Looking back after crossing

Mount Bryce image 6 — Quite high now, on the north traversing section

Mount Bryce image 7 — A bit exposed! You don't get a very good
sense for exposure in the dark

Mount Bryce image 8 — Graydon getting across the last of the ledge

Mount Bryce image 9 — The persistent snow we had to deal with at
the waterfall

Mount Bryce image 10 — Our line in sight!

Mount Bryce image 11 — Bryce's lower glacier

Mount Bryce image 12 — Getting brighter, Alexandra came into view

Mount Bryce image 13 — Getting up there now, it's a calf burner!

Mount Bryce image 14 — Finally topped out!

Mount Bryce image 15 — Looking down from the top of the couloir

Mount Bryce image 16 — Bryce Center with some wicked morning colors

Mount Bryce image 17 — There were just a few holes we had to watch out for near the col, visible at far left

Mount Bryce image 18 — The Bryce Center ascent begins! We started off with a bypass

Mount Bryce image 19 — Spectacular views north

Mount Bryce image 20 — This section could have gone but the snow was solid so we bypassed

Mount Bryce image 21 — Devan's loving it!

Mount Bryce image 22 — Mount Bryce, definitely one of the more aesthetic of the 11000ers

Mount Bryce image 23 — It's definitely exposed!

Mount Bryce image 24 — We stuck to the ridge crest from here

Mount Bryce image 25 — Devan starting the toughest section

Mount Bryce image 26 — Just above the toughest / steepest step now, Jeff called it here

Mount Bryce image 27 — The final ridge, good fun!

Mount Bryce image 29 — Looking back, Devan and Mount Bryce's epic north face, what a ski line

Mount Bryce image 30 — Bryce Center summit! #32 for me, #53 for Devan

Mount Bryce image 31 — Bryce Center summit pano, Tsar, Tusk, Clemenceau, King Edward, Columbia, The Twins, Stuts, Cromwell, Snow Dome, Andromeda, Athabasca, & Cline all visible

Mount Bryce image 32 — Summit views looking south featuring Murchison, The Lyells, Forbes, & Alexandra

Mount Bryce image 33 — Closeup of the Columbia Icefield, just Mount Columbia left for me!

Mount Bryce image 34 — Summit selfie of the dream team

Mount Bryce image 35 — Time to reverse it

Mount Bryce image 36 — Au cheval in a couple spots

Mount Bryce image 37 — Devan descending the last section before reaching the col, Jeff & I skied the
lower third of Bryce Center since there was consistent snow

Devan was keen to take the NE ridge route all the way to the summit of Bryce and I wasn't opposed. I was aware things could get a bit technical but given the snow conditions and the strength of our group I was confident we could pull it off. We started off having to bypass a couple rocky sections and that's when we became aware of how much the sun had already affected the south facing slopes. It was 9:30am when we started up Bryce's main peak so this goes to show how early the sun deteriorates the conditions in early June.

After making a couple bypasses we resumed travel on the ridge proper but this wouldn't last long as we had to cut beneathe a couple small-moderate sized cornices that were too exposed on the north side to skirt around. After getting past these we were able to stick to the ridge for the rest of our ascent but not without some nerves along the way. The final section of the ridge had large cornices on the south side and ice on the north side so we had to be careful to stay in the middle through this section and the last portion was a steep arête similar to Twins Tower that looked extremely intimidating but once we were on it we ended up managing fine.

Mount Bryce image 39 — This section was steep! You can see the rocky section we bypasses to the south below Devan & Jeff

Mount Bryce image 38 — The first of our cornice bypasses

Mount Bryce image 40 — The largest cornice we had to cut under

Mount Bryce image 41 — We stuck to the ridge from here, still have to watch for cornices to the south!

Mount Bryce image 43 — Starting up the final section

Mount Bryce image 44 — Devan & Jeff following

Mount Bryce image 45 — Jeff & Devan sending the last bit, looks very steep from here

Mount Bryce image 46 — Looked more reasonable once on it, still very exposed though

Mount Bryce image 47 — Very much like the Twins Tower ascent

Mount Bryce image 48 — Looking back, airy!

Mount Bryce image 49 — Me at the top of the exposed ridge

Mount Bryce image 50 — Mount Bryce summit! Devan's second time up here but #33 for me & #10 for Jeff

Mount Bryce image 51 — Every Columbia Icefield peak visible from here!

Mount Bryce image 52 — The usual suspects looking south, The Lyells, Forbes, Alexandra, & surprisingly
Hector!

Mount Bryce image 53 — The 3 most remote peaks of the list, Tsar, Tusk, & Clemenceau

Mount Bryce image 54 — Cline & Murchison

Mount Bryce image 55 — Mount Sir Sandford, now there's a remote peak

With the deteriorating snow conditions we didn't end up hanging out at the summit for long and after getting all the obligatory photos Jeff & I were throwing our skis on while Devan started the downclimb. The conditions ended up being quite good even with the solar they had received and we were back at the top of the couloir in no time. After regrouping with Devan we continued down and the descent of the couloir was just as fun. Conditions were a bit more mixed with more avalanche runnels present on the lower sections but we enjoyed every turn and I would definitely go back to ski that line again.

Once Devan caught up we continued down the rest of the lower glacier and then switched back to approach shoes and from there the plod out began. The terrain was somewhat unfamiliar to Jeff and I since we hadn't seen much on the way up but we found our way easily enough and although tedious at times with snow remaining on the descent slopes and some slick rock and mud we got down without incident in relatively good time. The old road that lead to the ascent slope was a nice way to wrap up the day and before 4pm we were back at the road and reunited with Graydon.

Mount Bryce image 56 — Devan downclimbing, we skied over the bergshrund climbers left where it was bridged

Mount Bryce image 57 — Jeff carving turns, cool terrain!

Mount Bryce image 58 — A look back at the line, pretty rad!

Mount Bryce image 59 — The plod out begins

Mount Bryce image 60 — Jeff & I working out way down

Mount Bryce image 61 — Me on the ledgy section

Mount Bryce image 62 — Mount Spring Rice looks pretty sizable from here!

Mount Bryce image 63 — Lots of snow still on the slope

Mount Bryce image 65 — Impressive seracs

Mount Bryce image 66 — Simon aka Foresty Forest's cairn that leads to a good route up

Mount Bryce image 67 — Back at the old road

Mount Bryce image 68 — Looking back, go through the small opening on the right to reach Simon's cairn, I
built a small cairn here

Mount Bryce image 69 — One last rubble field to wrap thing up

Mount Bryce image 70 — And then the drive out, lots of evidence of the burn that happened up here last
year (2024)

Before going for Bryce I always expected it to be quite challenging but with the strong crew and awesome conditions we had it ended up being more fun than gripping for me and is one of the more enjoyable 11000er outing I've been on. The approach wasn't all that bad and the short distance, light packs, and rad ski run made it quite the payoff for our efforts, a big shout out to Devan, Jeff, and Graydon!

Following this trip the legs were a bit tired but there wasn't much rest to be had as myself and a couple others had been cooking up plans for a few weeks that would take advantage of one of the best weather windows the spring had to offer. We had kept an eye on the forecast for some good time and with things holding it was time to send big with one final spring objective!