TOPAZ TOWERS 2320m 7611’
At 162-486 on map 82F/2 Creston, southeast of Kootenay Mountain, above Shaw Creek, and above the head of Topaz Creek on the south. The northwest and east faces are 180 meters of sheer granite, featureless and overhanging in places.
There are two main peaks on the massif, the two Topaz Towers (higher, the southwestern; the southeastern, lower tower, Topaz Tower, is very difficult to climb; see below) and the northeastern, lower, Hulme Peak.
On the Creston map, Hulme Peak is marked on the southwestern of the two. Because the southwestern peaks are more tower-like, the nomenclature followed here is that of the B. C. TRIM map for Hulme Peak.
Note that these are part of Darkwoods and require a permit.
Drive: From Highway 3, 10 km (6.2 miles) west of Creston and 32.6 km (20.3 miles) east of Kootenay Pass (Stagleap Park), turn north at the Topaz Creek Forest Service Road (two-wheel drive). Zero odometer.
3.3 Go left.
11.2km Stay straight. Right is an obscure fork.
20.5km Right (Toby Road, signed)
21.0 Right (Darkwoods land, need permission to enter.)
22.0 Right
22.3 A landing, park. Better camping at 16 km.
Route: Start a bit right of the centre of the landing and ascend slightly right of straight up. In about 50m you can see flagging going to the valley to the peaks at the head of Topaz Creek (1.5 hours).
HIGHER TOPAZ TOWER
1. South Ridge of higher Bear left near the top of the approach.
The south ridge of the higher Topaz Tower is an easy scramble with a bit of exposure, Class 2 to 3, and Peter Jordan found a cairn without a record on the summit, before September 2000. FA unknown.
2. Northeast Ridge. Gain the col in the northeast ridge. From there, traverse down and around the corner to a huge slab.
Pitch 1. Climb the slab to the ridge, 55m, low Class 5. Belay, and then scramble up to a short wall, all on excellent granite.
Pitch 2. Traverse right, to the middle of the north face with considerable exposure, 45m, moderate Class 5.
Pitch 3. A short section with vegetation to the obvious ledge below the final headwall, 15m, Class 4.
Pitch 4. A challenging series of thin finger cracks, hand traverses and slabs, 55m, Class 5.9 with three points of artificial aid, after the crux.
(This section may go free at Class 5.9.) (II,5.9, A1).
FRA Wm. Morris, Hamish Mutch, Sept. 2002
3. East Face (North end of east face). Hike through gently-sloping open timber to the alpine basin on Topaz Towers’ east side (162-486: 1.25 hours), the east amphitheatre, a series of granite bowls between the east-southeast ridge and the south ridge.
Scramble up to a lone, prominent tree on the right side of the amphi- theatre. Rope up (two 60m x 8.5 mm ropes).
Pitch 1. Tend left over rounded slabby rock toward a prominent white marking, low Class 5.
Pitch 2. Use the left of two prominent cracks; follow an obvious line right into the middle of the upper basin (dirty, bushes, lichen). 60m, middle Class 5.
Pitch 3. Ascend stepped ramps (Class 4), which exit on the south ridge, a 40-meter walk from the summit. 60m.
One can rappel from the north ridge. Rappel number two goes to an overhanging granite pillow that leads to a 15-meter knife edge, followed by a ramp to the right. The final full rappel is down a granite ramp on the east face just above where the packs were left. (II,5.5).
FRA Kim Kratky, Hamish Mutch, 2/7/2003
TOPAZ TOWER
Topaz Tower is 100 meters southeast of the higher of the Topaz Towers. It is a plug of harder granite and very steep.
1. West The short west wall of Topaz Tower was climbed by. Class 5.9 cracks in an overhanging wall to reach easier rock above, a strenuous off-width crack (one pitch of about 15m). The crux is only five meters up. The summit is spacious. (I,5.9)
FRA Mike Curran, Peter Jordan and Joe Kiddo, 9/2000
TOPAZ TOWERS & HULME PEAK June 24-25 by Kim Kratky
“Topaz Towers” is a small group of striking granite peaks, in an area where most mountains are undistinguished lumps rising barely above treeline. They appear to have escaped notice from the climbing community, for the simple reason that you can’t see them from anywhere else where climbers usually go. They are prominent from Kootenay Mountain, which I guess is not that often climbed, and they appear on the distant southwestern horizon from mountains at the head of Sanca Creek. The name “Topaz Towers” is unofficial, and not that accepted by some people. I proposed this name because it seemed descriptive of their appearance, they lie at the head of Topaz Creek, and they were unnamed.
The highest peak is 2317 m (7600 ft) and is reached by an easy scramble from the south, although it has formidable east and northwest faces. A second peak, a few metres lower, and about 100 m to the southeast, is the one that most deserve the name “tower”.
The only named peak in the area, Hulme Pk, is 2293 m (7520 ft) and 400 m to the northeast. On the BC government 1:20,000 contour map (“TRIM map”) and forest cover map, the name Hulme Pk is clearly attached to the lower northeast peak, which is a 3-way divide between Topaz, Shaw, and Newington Creeks. The coordinates given for Hulme Pk in the BC Gazetteer agree with the location as shown on the TRIM map (although they have a small mistake). The older 1:50,000 topo map is ambiguous – the name Hulme Pk could apply to either summit.
I first noticed the peaks in 1997 when flying by helicopter at work, from Nelson to a point west of Creston, and we just happened to fly over them. Later that summer, I hiked into the valley on the east side, and scrambled up the main summit, which had a cairn but no record. The second summit appeared to have no easy way up – on one side, the most accessible, it is a 15 m overhanging wall split by a few cracks, and on the other side, it is a 180 m high cliff. A couple of years later, I returned with Mike Curran, Joe Kiddo, and a bunch of climbing gear. We scrambled up from the south to the notch on the northeast side of the short face. From here, Mike led the route, which was a strenuous but well-protected 5.9 or 5.10-. We also brushed out a basic trail into the valley on the east side of the group. On a later solo trip, I scrambled up Hulme Pk with some simple surveying gear, made some measurements of the height of the big faces, and scouted out some possible routes – most of which appeared to be serious multi-pitch rock climbs which would require bolts for protection and stations. Hamish Mutch made two trips into the area. In 2002, he and Bill Morris climbed the NE ridge of the highest summit (above the col with Hulme Pk), which went at 5.9 or 5.10A, A1, 4 pitches. In 2003, Hamish and Kim Kratky climbed the most obvious route on the slabby east face, which was low to mid-5th class and somewhat bushy and dirty.
The valley on the east side of the peaks is quite scenic, and there are lots of climbing opportunities, so I decided to organize a KMC club trip to the area.
It’s about a 2.5-hour drive from Nelson to the trailhead at 22.3 km on the Topaz Creek road, and about a 1.5-hour hike to a camping place at the base of the peaks.
In late June, there was still a lot of snow around treeline in the valley, but with some looking, we found a few heathery lumps sticking out of the snow, and set up camp. With most of the day still left, Doug, Sandra, and René set off to climb Hamish and Kim’s route on the east face. Dave and I investigated a slabby bowl to the left of the prominent tower but decided it was too wet and lacked pro. So we climbed up a bushy gully south of the peaks and circled around the back to scramble up the highest peak. Looking down, we could see the other three beginning the last pitch. We then began an assault on the second peak, making several undignified attempts to thrash up the overhanging crack. Taking alternate tries, we finally managed to get a few pieces of pro into the crux, which is only 5 m up. Dave then, in a heroic effort, managed to fling himself over the crux, and power up the off-width crack above.
By this time, the other three had reached the top of their route (which Sandra pronounced the worst she had ever climbed) and joined us on the tower.
With a belay from above, we all managed (with lots of falls and tension, except for René) to get to the top, where we wandered around the spacious summit and peered down the intimidating precipice on the east side.
After we rappelled off, I realized we had forgotten to leave any record in the cairn to mark our second ascent. On Sunday morning, Doug, Sandra, and René hiked up Hulme Pk, while Dave and I climbed a route on the left side of the huge slab at the end of the valley. (I believed this to be a first ascent, but reading Hamish’s route description, it’s possible that he and Bill Morris may have gone up this way when they climbed the northeast ridge.) In any case, it was a pleasant enough climb, about 5.5 and a full 55 m long. But the awkward bushy descent off the back of the slab wasn’t so pleasant – we should have brought two ropes so we could rap the route.
By midday, it was shaping up to be a very hot day, and no one had the energy for another climb, so we packed up and hiked out.
We were: Doug Brown, Dave Jack, René LeBel, Sandra McGuinness, and Peter Jordan (reporter).
Some practical details: These peaks are in the Darkwoods private tree farm, and a permit must be obtained from their office (on the north shore near Nelson) – it’s only open a couple of days per week, so phone ahead well in advance. They’re good about giving permission to climbers – they just want, quite reasonably, to know who is in there and that they’re not setting fires or hunting. To reach the area, take the Topaz Creek Forest Service Road, which starts at the Summit Creek bridge on Highway 3 just west of the Creston Valley. At 3 km, take the left fork, which switchbacks up to near the microwave tower, and then leads west, paralleling the Salmo-Creston highway 1000 m below. Keep left at 13.3 km. At about 20.5 km, keep right, and keep right again at 21 km, which marks the entrance to Darkwoods’ private land, and right again at 22 km. At 22.3 km, there is a landing where you can park. It would be possible to car camp here, although there’s better camping at about 16 km. From the landing, climb up into the forest, starting a bit right of the centre of the landing, and ascend slightly right of straight up. In about 50 m, you will (with luck) see some flagging which marks the route into the valley on the east side of the towers, at the head of Topaz Creek. It’s about 1 to 1.5 hours to treeline. If you just want to hike up the highest peak by the easiest route, bear left instead, and ascend through open forest to the easy southwest slope of the peak.
Peter Jordan
HULME PEAK 2290m
The northeastern, lower, of the two peaks. It is on the divide between Shaw, Topaz and Newington Creeks.
Hulme Peak is an easy scramble from the south or east sides. The first ascent is unknown; there is an old cairn.
HULME PEAK 2330m 7644′ by Kim Kratky
(Map Creston 82F/2)
Hulme Peak, despite its unprepossessing elevation, boasts excellent granite, especially on the sheer 600′ faces on the west and east sides. Roughly, Hulme is located in the Nelson Range of the southern Selkirks, east of the Salmo-Creston summit, north of Highway #3, and west of the main arm of Kootenay Lake. This peak (along with Steeple Mtn., also of interest to rock jocks) is on private land belonging to Darkwoods Forestry of Nelson, BC. You must get an access permit from Darkwoods’ office; the access roads are patrolled, so be warned.
On Wed., July 2nd, I met Hamish Mutch at 9:30 at the Topaz Creek FSR roadhead, 34 km. east of Kootenay Pass (the Salmo-Creston summit) and just west of the Summit Creek bridge for my second trip to Hulme. We reset our odometer and drove Topaz to the km. 3 sign, where we turned left and followed a good-quality 2WD road. We kept right at km. 11.2 and left at km. 13.2 before bending right onto the signed Toby Road at km. 20.8. Beyond this point we passed the private land warning and drove 1 to 1.5 km. before parking on a wide spot in the road almost directly south of Hulme.
Starting at 11:10, we headed north up gently-sloping open timber to reach the alpine basin on Hulme’s east side (162-486) in 1 hr. 15 min. Our goal was to climb the east amphitheatre, a series of granite bowls lying between the north ridge and the Hilti-bolt country of the east face. After scrambling up to a lone, prominent tree on the right side of the amphitheatre, we roped up (two 60 m. x 8.5 mm ropes), and Hamie led the first pitch, tending left over rounded slabby rock toward a prominent white marking (low class 5). He also got the second and best lead, 60 m. of mid-class 5. Starting up the left of two prominent cracks, this follows an obvious line right into the middle of the upper basin. Somewhat disappointingly, this was more dirty than we had expected, with dry, dwarf bushes and lots of flakey lichen. I finished off with another 60 m. of stepped ramps (class 4), which exited on the south ridge an easy 40 m. walk from the summit.
On top by 3:15, we decided to rap back down to our packs stored by the lone tree; the south ridge is a walk-off, but it’s a long way around in rock shoes. Our first 60 m. rap was an easy one re-tracing the final pitch. As belay stations looked shakey and we couldn’t fully see the rest of the ascent route, we decided to rap the north ridge. Rappel number two provided some interest, an overhanging granite pillow that gave onto a knife edge for 50′ followed by a ramp to the right. The final full rap took us down a granite ramp on the east face to a point just above our packs by 5:40 pm. Then we ambled back down to the truck by 6:50, reaching Highway #3 by 8:10.
A selection of small and medium-sized Friends and some small stoppers are useful for this pleasant outing, which was the first ascent of the east amphitheatre. The only other routes to date are the north ridge (5.9 A1), which Hamie did, and a granite tower on the south ridge (one short pitch of 5.9 done by Peter Jordan and Mike Curran).
Kim Kratky