Recondite Peak, Mount Willingdon, & Crown Peak
May 20-22 2026
To the east of the Icefields Parkway deep in Banff National Park wilderness, Recondite Peak, Mount Willingdon, and Crown Peak make up 3 of the 58 11000ers of the Canadian Rockies and have a bit of a range in their respective difficulty. Willingdon and Crown are often considered a couple of the easier peaks to check off on the list with the long approach to reach them being the crux of that trip, while Recondite fitting to its name is exceptionally remote located on the park boundary, decently technical with a crux step near the summit that the majority of parties rappel, and is seldom climbed aside from those gunning for the full 11000ers list completion.
All 3 of these mountains are typically done in the summer when they're dry, and while Willingdon and Crown have and can definitely be done in spring conditions if your timing is right, Recondite Peak had zero information online on prior ascents done in snowy conditions and lacked any proper information on what that endeavor would entail, until now, enjoy!
Following the mission for
Mount Harrison
a week prior, I was well aware that the final 3 trips to complete my 11000ers journey were going to be hard earned and quite gruelling. Clemenceau and Tusk, Edith Cavell, and Recondite, Willingdon, and Crown were all that remained and none of which were simple endeavors in spring considering a number of factors. On top of that, the weather in the spring of 2026 was not like what I had become accostomed to from the previous couple years, with any multiday high pressure windows few and far between and quite unpredictable cloud cover and weather for long periods of time.
I had been considering finishing the 11000ers list on Recondite, Willingdon, and Crown for a while, but when I noticed a half decent but quite short window a couple days out forecasted in the area, I figured it was worth taking every opportunity I had to check off peaks on the list and I started gearing up for a big trip. As you might expect the search for partners for these peaks in the spring was quite difficult and on top of that also trying to find partners that could get it done on skis in 3 days rather than pushing it to 4-5 was a tall order so once I was convinced the window I had scoped out was good enough to commit to I had already decided this would be a solo mission.
links:
STRAVA
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GAIA
elapsed time: 55hrs
DIFFICULTY: AD/AD+, remote, low 5th class / steep snow / ice / mixed climbing, glacier travel, multiday, physically demanding
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Having ordered a 70L Hyperlite Mountain Gear pack as well as getting into using a bivy sack on the prior trip for
Mount Harrison,
the plan for the remainder of my 11000er outings was to go as light as possible to make the remaining long approaches and exits as easy as possible. Thankfully my new pack arrived before my last second plans were made to go for Recondite, Willingdon, and Crown so I'd get to test it out 1-2 times before the Clem and Tusk mission. After getting all the gear sorted for the 3 day trip the weight without the skis and boots on the bag came out to 40-45lbs which was definitely a good chunk lighter than my previous 3 day outings so I was pretty stoked about that.
I didn't end up getting out the door super early on the morning of day 1 but by the time I was starting from the Mosquito Creek lot it was around 9:30am so I was feeling good about getting to camp with a few hours of daylight to spare. Initially I had been thinking about approaching all the way to the tarn below Recondite Peak to be able to start the ascent right away early the next morning but I knew that meant a lot of extra gain over the approach col off of Mount Augusta on the way in and out with the heavy pack on so I also had camping just north of the Clearwater Glacier and starting earlier as another potential option. Initially I had thought about starting in approach shoes with the skis and ski boots on the pack but I had a good feeling from previous trips that it wouldn't be long till the snow was continuous so I started in the ski boots with skis and poles in hand and left the approach shoes in the car and it was only about 5 minutes after starting that I was able to start skinning.
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THE APPROACH
approach to quartzite col text
far left
quartzite col to 2nd col approach text
reaching 2nd col text and deciding to camp at tarns below
iced over & snow covered tarns, not much easy water access at this time of year!
RECONDITE PEAK
3356m, 11013ftinitial approach to recondite text
of Augusta
though
recondite lower half ascent text
recondite upper mtn climb text
conditions!
visible groove but there was another option around the corner left that would've been a
touch easier
Hungabee, Victoria, & The Goodsirs visible to the south
descent and return to camp text
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proper lighting
section of soft ice on the tarns that I could punch through
MOUNT WILLINGDON
3373m, 11066ftmoving camp before doing willingdon and crown text
away, it blends right in
up just being exposed glacial ice
descent to crown text
bunch of Willingdon's elevation if possible, a few lines to break through the cliffband
CROWN PEAK
3361m, 11026ftcrown ascent text
chunk lower, would've scoped it out but there's a good chunk of elevation loss and
regain to reach it so I didn't bother
descent to gear text
THE EXIT
exit to quartzite col text
wait longer for water
gaining quartzite col text and the remainder of the exit
snow conditions
skins needed in these conditions
having melted out a lot more since I had
approached
end text
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I'm working through all 58 11000ers of the Canadian Rockies and beyond. You'll get notified when the latest climbs go live.
Other related trip reports:
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Mount Harrison |
Warren & Brazeau |
Mount Joffre |
Mount Columbia |
Woolley & Diadem |
The Goodsirs
11000ers of the Canadian Rockies
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