Recondite Peak, Mount Willingdon, & Crown Peak

THE APPROACH

A decent amount of backcountry ski traffic for lines off of Puzzle Peak made for easy travel for the initial kilometers but once I was past that it was just me out there setting my own line. I took an efficient route following the creek NW before you head NE for quartzite col but ended up having to cross in an awkward spot with all the snow so I had plans to stay on the west side from higher up the valley on the way back. After turning NE the terrain started off a bit steeper but quite quickly the grade eased and I was into the alpine with the col in sight. With the snow coverage I was able to skin almost all the way to the col with just a bit of quartzite boulder hopping near the top and then I was rewarded with my first proper view of Willingdon and Crown!

After having a good look down the other side of quartzite col it was clear it would be a bit of a sporty ski with a heavy pack on and some lingering cornices at the top made entry a bit difficult. It also became clear how far north I'd be going up the valley below to reach the area to branch east and get to the tarns north of the Clearwater Glacier, big distance to cover for these peaks! After finding a spot to drop in the initial section was more of a couloir and the steepest but below the grade eased and became more open so the initial section was the crux on skis.

After reaching valley bottom the plod north began and with warming conditions and sticky snow I didn't even need my skins for skinning until the grade got steep. I pretty much beelined for the amphitheater around where the route heads east but I ended up gaining a bit too much ground too early so near the end I had a bit of sidehill traversing to do but it was short lived. The weather had been a bit mixed all day with some light snow here and there but sunny conditions for the most part, but after starting to head east I got fully socked in and routefinding got tougher. The final section before reaching the area north of Clearwater Glacier involved gaining another col with a bit of snow climbing to reach a rocky cliffband and traversing below that until eventually I could ascend snow straight up to reach the col.

From the 2nd col the tarns were a bit tough to spot since they were frozen over and snow covered, and descending this section was a bit less straightforward than the descent of quartzite col with a couple awkward rocky sections to bypass and one icy patch above one of the tarns that I had to watch out for. By this point I had pretty much decided that I'd be camping around the tarns rather than pushing camp further towards Recondite given how long of a day it had already been and not wanting to do any uneccessary hauling of the heavy pack. After reaching the lowest and largest of the tarns I set up my bivy sack camp, made some dinner, and pre organized my gear for an early start the next morning.

RECONDITE PEAK

3356m, 11013ft

Starting at 3:30am the next morning I was headed for Recondite, with some sidehilling and descending terrain to start before gradually ascending towards the col off of Mount Augusta that's used to access it these days. There wasn't any information online about the col at this time of year so I wasn't exactly sure how reaching it and descending the other side would go, but getting up to it ended up being manageable albeit steep and needing to switchback quite a bit. The other side was consistent snow all the way down which made for an awesome dawn ski run but was a much larger slope than expected so I knew it would be a grind on the way back.

After descending the 500m slope I had reached the alpine tarn where some parties camp for Recondite and its slopes begin climbing immediately after. From the col to the tarn was my first proper view of Recondite and it definitely looked a whole lot more technical than Willingdon and Crown snow covered but I was keen to push hard for it!

The lower portion of Recondite started as a somewhat steep snow climb until I reached the "ridge" which felt more like a face below the subpeak, with the ascent after that being quite a slog with deep snow to push through and lots of slabby and blocky rocks underneathe that I often couldn't see that made for nasty tripping hazards, but that was a lot more of an issue on the way down, more on that later. After a large number of false peaks I eventually reached just below the subpeak and the views really opened up. Recondite with snow on it is quite a sight and it definitely didn't look straightforward.

The initial traversing section was manageable but once I got to the chimney it was still fully snow covered and quite steep so it was hard to find and a bit challenging and insecure to descend. The crux of the climb was next, a short but steep rock wall that felt quite tricky to get up, but that was followed by easier terrain working up and right, up some snowy and mixed terrain until I trended back left and found myself at the top of the final subpeak with one final difficulty standing between me and the high point of Recondite, a steep dropoff or notch just before the top.

Augurio Trujillo had generously lent me a 25m 7.5mm rope of his that I hauled along exclusively for the rappel on Recondite and while I could see it potentially being soloable in dry conditions, being so remote, solo, and gunning for the peak in spring, I was definitely glad to have it. After rappeling the summit wasn't far off and after one final hands on section I followed the snowy ridge arête to the summit!

After chilling on the summit for a few minutes I began my descent. The steep step between the notch and the summit required some facing in downclimbing and after that I was back where I had rapelled. I set up a prussik on the hanging rope and as I ascended I slid it along so I felt pretty secure climbing back up without a belay. The remainder of the upper mountain descent was relatively tame with a couple sections of facing in mixed steps and for the section that I found to be the crux on the way up there was another option slightly climber's left that I found easier and that had tat so a good option for those that want to protect it on the way up or rappel it on the way down.

The lower half of the descent was a grind with all the hidden rock features under the snow so it required some focus not to trip and go tumbling down the mountain, but once I got closer to the snow slope I had ditched my skis before more rock was exposed so the final descent involved some fun skiing back to the tarn below.

I had been dreading the elevation gain to get back to the col off of Augusta but it had to be done so after finding a thin spot in the iced over tarn to fill up on water the slog began. Countless switchbacks later after finally topping out I just had the descent down the other side and a bit of traversing left to reach camp and the ski off felt quite steep so approaching Recondite in the dark definitely dulled my sense of exposure in this area, an objectively hazardous spot in the spring especially with some cornices above. The terrain below was chill and after switching back to skins at the bottom it wasn't long till I was back at camp and feeling stoked about another 11er but also pretty cooked from a long day, regardless another was in the cards for the next day and with the desire to be back at the Mosquito Creek parking lot at a reasonable time after bagging Willingdon and Crown it was going to be another early morning!

MOUNT WILLINGDON

3373m, 11066ft

The next morning I was up a bit before 3am packing up camp and around 3:30am I was headed south for the Clearwater Glacier. With Willingdon and Crown being much further south the best exit option to quartzite col after bagging the final peaks of the trip was a descent to the Devon Lakes so the plan was to haul the camp gear along the way as I headed for Willingdon, and then stash it somewhere that I could easily pass by before heading out. There are a few small sub peaks next to Willingdon and I wasn't exactly sure what line I'd take down to Devon Lakes and which peaks it would be between but when I mistakenly thought some exposed ice below one of the slopes below was a glacial lake I decided to leave my gear at the low point in hopes of getting water early on in the exit.

Next up was checking off the peaks! There wasn't a ton of information on the line I wanted to take to reach the base of the SW ridge of Willingdon but from photos it looked like it would go. I intended to detour around all of the subpeaks below Willingdon and cut up onto its SW ridge, getting around the subpeaks started off with a sizable amount of sidehilling on skins to avoid losing a bunch of elevation but after passing around the north side of the last one it was clear it would go and after a few switchbacks I was on the ridge. The ridge was straightforward and I was actually able to skin a chunk of it but once I had to detour around a couple rocky features onto the south side the snow got hard packed and I switched to crampons. The final difficulty was one stiff step that ended up being tougher than I had expected but the snow definitely didn't help, after clearing what felt like a 5.2-5.3 crux all that was left was a bit of deep snow sloggin before I reached the summit of Willingdon!

The ski off of Willingdon towards Crown started off a bit sporty following the SE ridge with a bit of exposure, but after the ridge the terrain eased for a bit. However once I reached an area of ridge where it seemed like there would be more rocky terrain than ideal for skiing I decided to opt for the south face and here the routefinding got a bit more tricky. The line that started off fine ended up leading me to a section of the rocky cliffband but there was a convenient snow couloir below so after reversing my tracks a few meters and taking that I was clear and had easy snow slopes to use for the rest of the descent to the Willingdon-Crown col.

CROWN PEAK

3361m, 11026ft

The ascent of Crown was the shortest of all the peaks on the trip and I didn't even bother putting crampons on for it. I also decided to haul my skis up since the NW face looked decent and I was glad I did. After some light scrambling and some annoying detours to the left of the ridge to avoid added difficulties I was on the summit ridge. It's a bit tough to tell where the actual high point of Crown is when you're on the ridge so I just ended up walking along all the high points. I had thought about checking out the other peak further south but with a sizable amount of elevation loss and regain needed to reach it and a long exit ahead I decided not to bother.

To get down Crown Peak I started off on foot down the NW face to clear a rocky section, and even with skis on for the next portion there were some sharks so I had to be careful about my line, but after that it was pretty enjoyable skiing and made for a much faster descent. From the Willingdon-Crown col I'd been expecting that I'd have to reascend a good chunk of Willingdon with a sizable cliffband I had scoped out in photos of its south face but I had been looking for breaks throughout the day and I had a few in mind that I thought could go. There wasn't any information on beelining from the Willingdon-Crown col to the low point on Willingdon's SW ridge before the first subpeak so I was on my own for beta but a couple snowy patches / couloirs along the cliffband looked promising.

From the col I traversed towards Willingdon without gaining elevation or putting the skins on and just had a bit of elevation to lose before I was near the base of the lines I had been scoping out. A few options existed but a less steep mixed line looked the most reasonable so I put the skis on the pack and climbed that. This section was followed by another snow slope I couldn't see from the bottom but was easy to navigate, but then the crux of the line through the cliffband was a snowy ledge followed by a snow slope that looked tame enough but had slid in the past so it was hard packed and had a lip on the other side with a cliff below it. I didn't notice the lip until I was on the slope so this made for some sketchy uphill stepping on skis until I could crest it which I definitely would've liked an axe out for but thankfully after that I was on the open south face slopes of Willingdon and could ski freely back to my stashed gear. After quickly crossing the face I merged with my ascent track and it didn't take long to reverse it before I was back and filling my pack with all the multiday equipment before starting the exit.

THE EXIT

The exit started off with disappointment as what I thought was a nearby water source was actually exposed ice and I'd have to wait until I was much further down the valley for a proper water source. Aside from a couple quite flat sections I was able to carry good speed for the majority of the descent to the Devon Lakes albeit with a few sporty sections near the end with some exposed grass and rocks. After reaching the lakes I switched to skin mode without needing the skins due to the sticky snow conditions and I was able to cover ground quickly with the terrain being predominantly flat or rolling but low angle. After a bit more descending I was at valley bottom and able to get some much needed water, and after a few more rolling slopes I reached the base of the quartzite col descent slope which would be the final crux of the trip to regain.

By early afternoon the quartzite col descent slope didn't inspire a ton of confidence considering there were some vehicle sized cornices right at the top and the slope had been getting nuked with sun all day but my best bet was to get up it quickly before conditions got worse. I did my best to keep the switchbacks extra wide and move quickly whenever I was in the firing line of the cornices had they come down and once I gained a bench below the steeper upper half of the slope I decided to take a different line further climber's left to avoid the nasty overhead hazard of the couloir. This slope also posed some risk as it was slightly convex and had clearly avalanched in the previous days but the avy debris felt more secure and although it still felt like a bit of a sketchy switchback up the steeper section it certainly felt safer than the line I had descended. After topping out at the col I had some nice corn skiing conditions down the other side which made for a super enjoyable descent to the creek and then for the final trudge out I stayed on skier's right or the west side of the creek to avoid having to cross which meant finding a new route through the forest but it was never all that thickly treed and before long I had merged with my track again and made haste for the final kilometers to the car.

Getting back to a busy parking lot with a big pack, ski gear, and looking pretty beat never fails to get some funny looks and reactions from strangers. The stats for this trip ended up being quite a bit bigger than I had expected so it was the real deal and especially in the spring and solo felt like a proper undertaking and a good notch in my solo mountain accolades which would do a lot for my confidence being solo in remote places come the final trip to finish my 11ers journey. As of writing this trip report I've completed the 11000ers and it's fun looking back at how hard I pushed to get these peaks done at a less than ideal time of year for them. It goes to show that there's no such thing as an out of season ascent of these peaks and really it just comes down to timing the weather right and having the skill to take on the terrain and hazards you'll encounter based on the time of year you go for the objective.

Stay tuned for my Mount Edith Cavell and Mount Clemenceau & Tusk Peak trip reports! It may take a few weeks to get them both complete but they're on the way!