Wind Mountain | The Canmore Mountain List

Wind Mountain
June 21 2021

Compared to other peaks in the valley Wind Mountain doesn't get that much attention even though Ribbon Creek trail and the subsequent Wind Mountain approach trail provide an excellent access for it. Wind Mountain is technically Lougheed 4 and can be linked up with the other Lougheed peaks in the full version of the Lougheed Traverse but at the time of going for this outing and having seen the north ridge of the peak, that line was out of the question for me and I was gunning for the scramble route.

Summit photo from Wind Mountain featuring Haldan Borglum with sweeping views of the Canadian Rockies and the Spray Valley far below.

There were a couple reports on this outing I was able to get beta from along with asking Tyson Smith a friend and coach of mine that had done it before. Once I had a good understanding of what to expect and caught wind of good weather on the way I was feeling good to tackle this high Canmore peak! Wind Mountain is actually the highest mountain on The Canmore Mountain List reaching a lofty 3153m and was among the more technical objectives I had tackled at the time so there was a combination of excitement and nerves heading into it!

The approach from the Ribbon Creek parking was very straightforward and within a couple hours I was already high above treeline and about to start the ascent of the steeper terrain. Something that I was hoping for heading into this trip was a dry ascent slope but when I was greeted with a sizable amount of snow still remaining on the route I wasn't stoked. I went for this outing in mid June which still has cooler temps and mixed weather so it was definitely too early to have gone for this peak but given that it was spring conditions and I had a couple poles I decided to press on regardless and go for it!

links: STRAVA | GAIA
elapsed time: 6.5hrs
DIFFICULTY: difficult scramble

Gaia GPS map showing the 23.88 km route to Wind Mountain with 1,495 m of elevation gain, highlighting the long approach.

Views open up to Ribbon Peak, Mount Bogart, and Bogart Tower just above the
lowest Memorial Lake

First clear view of the objective, not loving the amount of snow still up there...

Looking up, some of the proper dry route was
visible here

The slabby terrain Wind Mountain's upper scramble route is known for

The route up Wind Mountain wasn't anything too crazy but with the conditions that I tackled it in and my experience at the time it was by no doubt my most sendy outing to date. The combination of fear and stoke I experienced at the summit as well as the summit photo to go with it has gone on to become an iconic part of my story of passion for the mountains. This trip brings back great memories of pushing past my comfort zone to achieve my goals in the alpine, a theme that has resonated with me ever since.

A bit of snow remained at the summit so I had to watch out for a cornice

Headed down on the less slabby side to start

The descent was definitely more tricky then the ascent notably in the snowy sections and I ended up having to self-arrest with my poles a couple times after sliding more than expected in the warming and isothermal snow conditions. Definitely not ideal given my lack of experience on snow slopes at the time but I was able to get off the mountain without issue and check off a big peak on The Canmore Mountain List! I'd definitely recommend going for this peak more towards July or August but if you've got mountaineering experience then there's nothing stopping you from going for it earlier aside from bad avy conditions. You get some excellent views of the Spray Valley from this peak and it's definitely on the list of objectives I plan on repeating one day, although ideally next time I'm up there it'll be connecting from Lougheed 3!