Mt. Cory - Banff Area
M - meadow SS - south summit NS - north summit
A very foreshortened view, it's 2-2 1/2 hrs to the meadow, then
another 1 1/2- 2 hrs to the summit.
M - meadow S - South and North summits
More interesting scrambling begins here!
NS - north summit
SRA - summit ridge access NS - north summit
Here's the spot where you access the summit ridge. Left goes to
the south summit, right heads to the north summit. Nice day eh!
SRA - summit ridge access SS - south summit
Allan, Shane and Darcy on the north summit.
Mt. Cory
Scramble: Class 1 Steep Hiking, Some Use of Hands, No Exposure,
Some Route Finding
Altitude: 2,802m (9,191 ft)
Elevation Gain: 1,370m (4,494 ft)
Ascent Time: 3 1/2 4 1/2 Hours
Best Season to Scramble: June to September
Highlights
This scramble offers one of the shortest approaches youll
find. One minute up the trail and you are on the ridge. The first half of the scramble is
steep hiking up the ridge but the second half is great fun as you scramble up and down a
broken ridge which is quite foreshortened when you first see it. This scramble has become
one of my favorites but make sure your legs are in shape first.
Getting There
Head west out of Calgary on the TransCanada highway # 1,
continue past the town of Banff a few kilometers and take the Bow Valley Parkway turnoff
also called the old 1A highway. From this turnoff travel west 1.9km or 1.6km from the sign
for the Fireside Picnic area to a right side paved pull-off on the shoulder of the
Parkway. This pull-off should have a small footpath leading into the trees, if not, you
are not at the correct one.
Route Description
Take the footpath for about a minute and when it starts to head
left leave the trail and head to the right through a brief section of trees towards the
cliff face. When you reach the open hillside traverse it further to the right until you
see a gully to access the ridge proper. When on the ridge proper there is a trail, faint
in some spots but basically you are headed straight up the ridge right of center for 2 to
2 ½ hours. This will bring you up to a small meadow, now the more interesting stuff
begins. At the meadow traverse around to the left side into a dip and begin scrambling up
and down the broken ridge to the final summit slopes. From the meadow it takes about 1 ½
to 2 hours to reach the North summit which is slightly higher than the South summit.