The North Ridge of Mount Assiniboine

The North Ridge of Mount Assiniboine is one of the Rockies’ most classic moderate alpine outings.

The first time anyone laid a foot on the North Ridge was during the descent after the first ascent of the peak from the south. In 1901, James Outram, Christian Bohren and Christian Hasler became the first to stand on the summit of Mount Assiniboine after climbing the South Face.

George Dawson named it Assiniboine when he saw it from Copper Mountain in 1885. He said the clouds looked like smoke billowing from the top of the Assiniboine Indians’ teepees he had seen.

First soloed in 1925 by Lawrence Grassi, the mountain is on many climbers’ must-do list. On the 100th anniversary of the first ascent, Lonnie Bohren, Christian’s granddaughter, climbed to the top in celebration.

The North Ridge goes at about 5.5, but the loose rock can make it feel more difficult. The route climbs through red and grey bands that have different rock solidness. It has been done in less than four hours from the hut and is soloed regularly. If it is your first visit, bring a partner.

“The approach to Mount Assiniboine from the Radium side was much shorter and more civilized than we had imagined,” wrote American alpinist Colin Haley after his ascent. The best approach is from Settler’s Road in B.C. That info can be found here.

“The climb itself, up the standard North Ridge was long, moderate and very scenic, with the occasional section of climbing that required focus,” said Haley who soloed the route with Dylan Johnson.

“By the final ridge we were feeling pretty exhausted, from the lack of sleep, lack of acclimatization and the pretty substantial elevation gain,” said Haley. “The weather seemed marginal all day, but fortunately refrained from ever getting actually bad. The descent was tiring as we hadn’t brought a rope and had to carefully downclimb the tricky bits.”

If you do decide to solo the route, there are established anchors along the way for rappelling. It’s always a toss-up whether to bring the extra weight.

“We returned to the van 14 hours after leaving, feeling pretty knackered. It started raining within an hour of returning to the car and we felt content, knowing that we had “nailed” the marginal weather window,” said Haley. Read about more of Haley’s adventures here.

The North Ridge was first climbed by W. Douglas, C. Hasler and C. Kaufman in 1903. The first winter ascent of the route was in 1967 by Don Gardner, Charlie Locke and Eckhard Grassman.

While many climbers use a helicopter to access the mountain and the RC Hind Hut, it’s best to get the full experience and approach on foot. The hut is comfortable and if you’re not in a rush makes for a great base camp. For more on the hut and to book, visit here.

Watch a short film about a winter-ish ascent of the North Ridge narrated by Barry Blanchard, who is also in the film.

In July of 2015, Parks Canada Visitor Safety Specialists replaced aging hardware and removed old gear and rope from the North Ridge. “Two full backpacks of old nylon, rusted pitons, carabiners, rap rings and fixed nuts were removed leaving the route in clean condition,” reported Parks Canada staff.

“With some exceptions the gear removed was in poor condition. Four permanent chain anchors were installed where the majority of climbers rappel while descending the ridge.

“These anchors replaced large nests of old tat and rusted pitons. Significant cleaning was also done at these rappels sites to minimize rockfall in the future, although plenty of loose rock remains.” For the new topo to the rappel descent visit here.

The North Ridge of Mount Assiniboine is a must-climb for any climber. The views from the highest peak in the southern Rockies are unforgettable. There are a number of other routes up the mountain, including the South Face, East Face and East Buttress, but those are all climbed less frequently than the classic North Ridge.