Mount Victoria North | 11000ers of the Canadian Rockies

Mount Victoria North
3411m, 11191ft
May 14 2025

Standing directly above Lake Louise in the distance, Mount Victoria's glaciated massif is one of the most photographed mountains in all of Canada and serves as a staple for the Canadian Rockies and the mountains of Canada in general. It has two seperate summits that are considered a part of the 11000ers of the Canadian Rockies list in Bill Corbett's book, Mount Victoria's south main summit and Mount Victoria North, but this north sub summit lacks any real prominence and is a cause for some disagreement in the mountaineering community on whether it should actually be on the list. Regardless of whether it should or shouldn't be on the list, Victoria North makes for an exciting objective with excellent views and has the potential for a fantastic ski for those bold enough to go for it.

A climber ascending the NE ridge of Mount Victoria's north peak with impressive glacier visible on it's north face to the right.

The weather had been a bit variable for the first couple weeks of May making it hard to confidently plan an 11000er trip but Andrew LeBlanc and I had been messaging back and forth and when we noticed an alright looking window for Mount Victoria North on May 14th we decided to go for it! With plans to ski the north face Andrew and I dropped a car in the Lake O'Hara lot as well as the Lake Louise lot as the ski line lands you on the Lake O'Hara road. Andrew and I met skiing out the Athabasca Glacier a few weeks prior when he was descending from Kitchener and I was exiting from The Twins, Stuts, and Cromwell trip and this was our first outing together and my first since. I had known of the north face ski line off Victoria North but seeing a recent report on it just a couple weeks prior had both of us feeling good about giving it a shot.

In the event that we had to descend our ascent route we knew that we'd be covering a lot of ground on south facing slopes so we opted for a 2:30am start to try and beat the heat and were off pretty much right on schedule. The approach on the Plain of Six Glaciers trail went smoothly, just deviating to crest a few old avy slides that had covered it up and a bit over an hour in we were putting our skis on at around the 3.5km mark and soon after we were at the teahouse. The next section was where the main route finding troubles took place, we had both looked into trip reports on Victoria North before this outing but other reports fail to show the section of the approach from the teahouse to the glacier in spring conditions. It was still dark when we reached the teahouse and the gpx files we had downloaded continued to head SW into trees nearby so we didn't question it. Knowing what we know now it would've been a far better option to continue up the NW slopes and gain the elevation to reach the glacier in less treed terrain. We ended up using the same route on the way down and all in all we probably lost at least 1.5hrs in total messing around in the woods here so avoid that section!

links: STRAVA | GAIA

elapsed time: 14hrs
DIFFICULTY: mountaineering - glacier travel, steep snow / ice climbing or 5th class

Once we were above the trees it was easy travel up to and on the glacier and before long we were ascending the black band on firm snow conditions. The ridge above this is where we realized that the upper mountain and especially its north side had a sizable amount of powder so the remainder of our ascent was very slow going punching through knee to thigh deep snow. We bypassed the rocky section on the ridge onto the north face and after some proper slogging through the deep snow the summit was within reach!

Unfortunately at this point clouds had began building which the forecast predicted and it had taken us longer to get up than we planned due to the slow going conditions. I was a bit ahead of Andrew by this point and I had a few minutes of partial views toward Victoria's center peak before we got completely socked in and lost all visibility. With the flat light we both decided skiing the north face would be a bad idea so after hanging out at the summit for a little while we retraced our tracks down.

The death trap with a party of 3 at low left if
you look really close

Almost on the glacier, the morning colors starting to show

On the glacier, our objective finally visible at high right

The only obviously crevassed section we encountered on the glacier, everything
else was filled in

Looking back towards Lefroy, Aberdeen & Temple at left

Good firm comnditions on our way up, a different story on the way down

Impressive seracs on the north face, what a ski line!

Final steps to the summit, Mount Victoria South is the sharp point on the left

Andrew on his way up, fully socked in now

Definitely hurt to haul the skis up just to
bring them back down

As we predicted the south facing slopes got hit hard by the sun. By the time we were descending the black band at noon the conditions had changed drastically and although it wasn't fully isothermal yet it wouldn't be long so we descended quickly. Once we were back on the glacier below more cloud rolled in and we were met with full on whiteout conditions. We both had watches that track GPS so this wasn't a huge issue but if the glacier had been in worse condition with more open crevasses this could have been bad.

Once we were below the open crevasses we were out of the clouds and ended up ditching the rope for the rest of the ski out. When we reached the treeline we thought about taking a different line down but the snow was extremely isothermal and sliding easily so we decided to stick with our route up since the trees would at least protect from that. After longer than we would've liked we were back at the teahouse and for our exit back to Lake Louise we ended up finding snow closer to the valley bottom pretty much all the way out to the lake which was a nice way to end the day.

Downclimbing the black band, this photo
gives a good feel for the grade

Below the worst of the glacier now, unroping for the ski out

Where we started to take a different line on the way down, we should have stuck
with it and taken the snowy drainage to the right

The trees on our route, would not recommend!

Not the weather either of us had been hoping for but cant be mad about another 11000er checked off the list in a subpar window! I was definitely looking forward to a powdery descent of that north face so I plan to return one day to try and ski it again. Without the routefinding issues we had in the trees this would have been a much more enjoyable outing but the lack of prominence was definitely a bit anticlimactic at the top. Still not exactly sure why this peak is on Bill's list but it presents some fun challenges and is well worth the effort if you're planning to ski the north face or are looking for some dramatic views of the area.

I was still itching to get out for more 11000er trips after this outing and was planning to go for something bigger, tougher, and more remote, little did I know I'd be getting an invite out to check off one of the main peaks in this category just a week later!