Mount Forbes Expedition Itinerary

Day 1: Our first day will cover the pre trip planning skills required for successful mountaineering expeditions. This will be held in the Yamnuska office in Canmore starting at 8am. We will be looking at our objective in detail and be planning food, equipment needs, tenting and cooking groups, navigation and time plans and doing hazard evaluations for the following day. We will also cover emergency procedures and pack for the trip.

Topics include:

• Food preparation and packing
• Equipment preparation for mountain expeditions
• Trip planning
• Mountain weather
• Navigation & route planning
• Backcountry medical issues & emergency response
• Navigation & route planning
• Backcountry camping and cooking skills
• Mountain hazard awareness emphasizing hazard recognition and management
• Decision making process
• Route finding in mountain terrain
• Glacier travel
• Roped climbing on steeper snow/ice and rock
• Completing a planned expedition! You will find yourself in the lead, solving route finding problems and using new skills to navigate and live in glaciated terrain
• Mountaineering skills to gain rewarding summits!

Day 2: The expedition starts! We will drive the 2.5 hours to Saskatchewan Crossing where we will begin our approach to Mt Forbes via Glacier Lake. The trail past Glacier Lake is around 15 km and has only minor elevation gain. This will be a long day with full packs on our backs. We will be using navigation, pacing, camping and cooking skills on this day.

Day 3: Expect another big day into a very remote part of the Rocky Mountains. This will be one of the most challenging days of the trip with a 10 km hike and 900m of elevation gain. This remote area will require off trail route finding and navigation as well as some cold creek crossings. Our campsite will position us for our attempt on Mt Forbes. 

Day 4: Summit day! With an alpine start we will approach the West Ridge of Mt Forbes. The route will involve steep snow climbing of up to 40 degrees and occasional steps of easy rock scrambling. This will be done with the use of an ice axe and crampons. Reaching this rarely visited summit and enjoying the endless views in all directions will be a great reward.

Day 5: We will retrace our steps to the head of Glacier Lake. Back packs will be lighter for our return trip to this established campground.

Day 6: A short day of hiking will return us to Saskatchewan Crossing and our vehicles. We will drive back to Canmore for the course close and debrief.