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Jen Higgins Fund - 2000
4 ½ PIMPLES in the NORTHERN SAWBACKS, STIKINE COUNTRY, BC
By Ann-Marie Conway, Katy Holm, Judith Spanken, and Mandy Kellner
Gasping
“Is this the ridge? Is this the ridge?” we stumbled ever upward.
Mandy’s false promises of “easier walking ahead!” rang
through the air, but the vertical bushwhacking continued. Could our unwieldy
packs of climbing gear and 9 days of food be making this supposedly easy
approach difficult? Log crossings that looked simple became graded log-boulder
problems, tackled with crawling, off-balance teetering, and tumbles into
devil’s club. Good training, we figured.
We four women were on a month-long canoeing/mountaineering trip in the Stikine area of northwestern BC. Lured to the area by the tantalizing pictures in a Canadian Alpine Journal article by Steve Sheffield, our main priority (once we learned how to canoe) was exploring the Sawback range to the north of where previous parties had been. There are a number of unclimbed steep granite peaks in this rarely-visited area, and we hoped that our exploration would result in some good rock-climbing routes. After a gruelling full-day ascent, we finally got onto the north ridge above Vekops creek and were rewarded with AMAZING views of the jagged northern Sawback range. We also found that this ridge, unlike most, had endless running water – so much for the water we had lugged up!
That
night the air was crisp and the stars couldn’t have been brighter,
and we went to sleep thinking about the upcoming first ascents, us climbing
while scantily clad in sports bras, shorts, and sunglasses. The next morning
we skirted east of Cinema Mountain and headed to camp in the valley below
Cuteye. No wonder this area was once called Yosemite of the North by John
Muir – we were completely awed by the dark spires sweeping thousands
of feet above us. Unfortunately, the weather was changing quickly, and
when we could see them amongst the now-thick clouds, the spires were already
frosted with the promise of a new season. Weary and humbled, we collapsed
into bed and hoped the weather would pick up. It didn’t, but in
the rain showers and swirling mists of the next day, Katy found her calling
of solo mountaineer as she scrambled up to the first subpeak of the trip
(peak 5200’). Little did we know she was setting a trend for subpeaks...
The following afternoon the rain stopped, and
we had a few sunny hours – the nicest afternoon of the month. A
crazed, enthusiastic panic overtook us all, and we scattered with the
sunbeams – Ann-Marie and Mandy hiked up rubble peaks 5900’
and 6900’, while Katy and Jude ran to climb peak 6400’, where
they even got to put on climbing shoes. They tackled the NW ridge of the
spire, and after overcoming the jumble at the bottom, they climbed a beautiful
2 star 5.8 pitch to the top. These 3 subpeaks in an afternoon buoyed our
hopes for climbing our main objective, the 7100’ spire. The next
day the alarm went off, but the pitter patter of snow and rain dulled
the sound and we slept on. Later, like flies, we circled around on the
glacier below our prospective peak to view other routes. Once again, solo
Katy attempted a subpeak (peak 6200’), but the summit block remained
untouched. The S side of peak 7100’ offered the most promising route,
up a seemingly straightforward gully with 1200’ of climbing. Alas,
the weather was not going to co-operate, and eventually the subzero temperatures
and endless precipitation drove us back down to the Stikine. It was only
early August, but we were too late for summer and fall seemed to be over
too. 
Although we only scaled 4 ½ pimples, our trip into the Sawbacks was incredibly rewarding. The isolation, the beauty, and the knowledge that there are probably few places in the world that have seen so little passage of humans made it a magical experience. Mountain goats approached us with the same curiosity we approached them. Our tracks were strange, new, and ephemeral amid the massive tracks of moose and grizzly bear and the fragile lichens and clucking ptarmigans. Hopefully, the untrustworthy weather erased most signs of our explorations by the time we returned to the Stikine River. The bad weather continued for our canoe trip to Wrangell, but our good spirits prevailed with drumming sessions, some exciting rapids, shrieking silt baths, stick-bread roasting, hacky-sacking while dodging raindrops, and the continual enjoyment of a variety of mush meals. Mmm, curry again…!
Our trip was made possible by financial support
from the Jen Higgins Fund, the Canadian Himalaya Fund, and by canoe sponsorship
from Western Canoeing. We were also sponsored by Mountain Equipment Co-op,
Terrace Valhalla, and Ocean River Sports, and we received gear loans and
logistical support particularly from Judy and Vigo Holm and Ryan Gill,
but also from Piper, Harry, Nick, Kelly, Sam, and Mick. Thank-you all.
The Alpine Club of Canada. All rights reserved.