Mount Murchison | 11000ers of the Canadian Rockies

Mount Murchison
3352m, 10997ft
August 10 2024

Making up one of the two 11000ers east of the Icefields Parkway and within close proximity of the Saskatchewan Crossing, the other being Mount Cline, Mount Murchison sits right on the hairy edge of being 11000 feet. Various measurements have come back with different results making Murchison's true height a topic of debate but regardless it makes up one of the 58 peaks on Bill Corbett's list and is still a very high peak in the Canadian Rockies. The summit views towards the Murchison Towers are quite dramatic and make it worth the effort to get up this big loose scree pile, and while it's quite easy compared to the more difficult or gnarly rock peaks on the list, a trip up Murchison will have you dealing with choss for the entire day.

A view from the summit of Mount Murchison on a blue sky day looking south towards the Murchison Towers.

Just a week after Darren and my successful ascent of Mount Sir Douglas we were ready for more action and with a couple good days of weather we decided to go for one of the easier rock 11000ers. William Hammond, a fellow peak bagger I had known through the Facebook mountain community for a couple years was also down so we made plans and met up early in the Mistaya Canoyon parking lot.

We were off by 5am and it didn't take long for us to get above treeline and begin the rubble trudge that is Mount Murchison. Looks rock was pretty much everywhere so we had to be careful not to knock anything loose on each other but a few more solid and steeper steps offered some fun hands on terrain where we didn't have to worry as much. After reaching a high plateau and taking a short break we headed for the upper mountain and things got looser and steeper. The redeeming quality was that this section didn't last long and after traversing climber's right and gaining some final elevation we were on the ridge and things got significantly more solid.

This final section of our ascent was the most fun part of the day and even with more difficult scrambling / climbing and added exposure the more solid rock quality made it very manageable. The only issue we had just before the summit was thinking we had to follow a ledge to get to our chimney when we still had more ascending to do. The final summit block is obvious once you reach it so sticking as close as possible to the ridge is the play through this section. Soon after we corrected our error and were headed up some final hands on terrain to reach the summit of Murchison.

links: STRAVA | GAIA
elapsed time: 12hrs
DIFFICULTY: difficult-climber's scramble - 5.2 climbing

Sunrise and already well above treeline, Mount Cline behind

Looking over towards Mount Sarbach & Glacier Lake

Passing below impressive cliffs as we work our way up

William working his way up, a lot higher on the NW slopes now

Looking towards the upper mountain with the Murchison Towers at right

Dramatic views towards the Murchison Towers with some lakes visible below

Onto probably the most loose part of the mountain

Traversing south to reach the spot where we gain the ridge

Me negotiating one of the early steep sections

The next steep section above Darren is easily bypassed to the right where there's an easier line

A cool rocky spire with Forbes visible in the
distance

Where we got off route, we took a ledge too
low on the mountain, cool choke stone!

Last sections of hands on before the summit

Summit! 10 for me, 14 for Darren, & 2 for
William

Cloudy views towards Bryce, Columbia, and The Twins

Forbes, Glacier Lake, The Lyells, & Bryce

After enjoying the summit views for a while we started heading down and reversed the ridge quite quickly. Once back at where we gained the ridge we were all feeling up for a bit more fun hands on terrain so we decided to check out the further north and lower summit. This peak was actually more challenging than the main one so it added a decent amount of hands on terrain to the day and after getting to the top and seeing weather moving in we didn't hang around for long.

Our descent was more tedious than the way up as per usual due to all the loose terrain and I had to do some evasive maneuvers when a melon sized rock above me dislodged and headed straight for me. Aside from that close call it was an uneventful exit but we still had some rocky terrain to go when rain started so we had to be extra careful in the slick conditions.

Headed down, clouds were already building

William crossing an exposed section of ridge

The most technical part of our day, nothing
more than 5.2 but more sustained

Interesting rock formations off Murchison's
ridge

Darren & I wrapping up another successful
11ker trip

Mount Murchison is definitely one of the easier peaks on Bill Corbett's list and was a nice warm up for the next day's plans. For those looking for an objective slightly tougher than Mount Temple but still not getting into the realm of serious rock 11000ers, this peak is a solid option. After getting back to the parking lot it was still a reasonable time in the afternoon so we decided to head for Saskatchewan Crossing to get some ice cream, a luxury you don't often have after these 11000er missions!