MOUNT MARION 2966m 9731′
At the head of McKian Creek north of Mount Cooper, 3.2 kilometers south-southeast of Cascade Mountain. It is higher than the map indicates.
Difficulty: D2 very challenging
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Map: 82K/6 Poplar Creek
1. Northeast Ridge. (Mount Cooper, Route 1, is also approached this way via Meadow Mountain.) Follow the road above McKian Creek, and then the ridge to the northwest. (The FA party packed over Meadow Mountain.) From the last camp, traverse a series of snow domes, towers and scree heaps to the glacier and the easy northeast ridge, a 24 hour climb on the first ascent. The original trip lasted 5.5 days. Ice, Glacier (IV, 4,s).
FA Alan Ross, Stan Shepard, 11/06/1962
The south glacier is now mostly melted away (1995).
At present it is possible to drive on an old mining road from Meadow Mountain (from the John Creek road; introduction, access) to the long ridge east of Mount Marion at 900-667 (high clearance, 4 wheel drive, low range).
Traverse south of peak 2570m (8450 feet) (stay on ridge and then south of it) and head for gendarmes on peak 2700m (8850 feet). Pass through the gendarmes and cross the glacier on the peak’s north side to a notch in the west ridge. Go south around small bump and then north through the col to above the southeast branch of Cascade Creek. Traverse west on grass into a small east-facing cirque and climb it. Go south of peak 2760m (9050 feet) and traverse the ridge west toward the glacier on the northeast side of Mount Marion.
Steep slabs with loose rock (dangerous) lead down toward the glacier. Then climb the easy northeast ridge of Mount Marion. Fourteen hours return to car. Ice, Glacier (IV,4,s).
2. North Glacier, West See Cascade Mountain, Routes 3 and 4. Start from the road on the south fork of Poplar Creek (overgrown, 2015), and traverse Cascade by the northwest ridge and south ridge (Class 3). Camp. (Mt. Marion may be reached over the col in the west ridge of Cascade Mountain, from the Poplar Creek road in one day.)
From the Cascade-Marion col, ascend the glacier to the col west of Marion, and climb the W ridge with no difficulties. Ice, Glacier (III,4,s).
Ted Biladeau, Wm. Fix, Wm. Heylman, Rand Palmer, Aug. 1, 1975. (PC: WF, Bert and Sue Port; KK 19:35)
For the helicopter camp at the head of the north fork of Wilson Creek, see Cascade Mountain. (The site is now in the Goat Range Prov. Park.) Ascend the NW snow slopes, cross over the rotten N spur (west of N ridge) to the north glacier, and climb Mount Marion as above. The group traversed back over Cascade Mountain from the Cascade-Marion col. Ice, Glacier (II,4,s).
FRA PW, KMC party, 8/1976.
3. North Ridge. Cross the lower glacier from the north The north ridge is largely gravelly or bad rock, Class 3; 5.5 hours from the Poplar Creek road (overgrown, 2015). Ice, Glacier (III,4,s).
FRA Ted Ibrahim, Kim Kratky, Robin Lidstone, Hamish Mutch, Peter Tchir, September 9, 1995.
MT MARION (9,730′)
A glacier-hung 9,550′ peak in the northern Goat Range. Climb via N. glacier/W. ridge. Technically easy, but will require glacier travel.
30 min. of bushwhacking followed by considerable alpine travel. It should be a fairly strenuous day, certainly more demanding than Mt. Brennan or Whitewater. Allow 10-12 hrs.
DATES: car camp Friday night at km. 10 on Poplar Creek. Allow 3.5 to 4 hrs. from Nelson. Poplar Creek turnoff is 26 km. N. of the community of Meadow Creek. The turnoff is just past the Poplar Creek bridge. Drive about 16-17 km. to turn off for S. fork. Follow that to landing at the end. Mostly 2WD with some 4WD, especially near the end.
The plan is to climb Mt. Marion on Saturday, getting a 6:00 am start. I plan to return home Saturday night.
EQUIPMENT: whatever you need for car camping. For the climb, ice axes, crampons, and glacier travel gear (ie. rope, prusiks, slings). All the usual rain and cold-weather gear and a lunch.
ROUTE: from landing at 6,000′, follow flagging through bush to the basin below Cascade on NW side; proceed to the col below W. ridge (7,000′); contour round headwaters of Wilson Creek to Cascade-Marion col (7600′); then plod 2,000′ up N. glacier to summit.
FIRST ASCENTS: EAST RIDGE (IV,4,s/g) Alan Ross, Stan Shepard, 1961 A 24-hour day from final camp. Trip lasted 5 1/2 days.
N GLACIER/W RIDGE (I,4,s/g) Jim Kienholz, Rob Sommerville, 1976 From Cascade-Marion col ascend to col W. of Marion, then proceed to summit.
NW SLOPES/N GLACIER (I,4,s/g) Peter Wood, Sue Port, et al. 1976 Ascend NW snow slopes, cross over rotten N ridge & procede as for route 2. This party climbed Cascade on return.
My last 1995 trip to Poplar Creek was a club outing on September 8-9.
Mt. Marion is a glaciated peak about 2.5 km. S. of Cascade Mtn. at the apex of the headwaters of Wilson, Cascade, and McKian Creeks. It provides the most mountaineering interest of any of the peaks I’ve climbed out of Poplar Creek. Seven souls signed up for this outing: Hamish Mutch, Peter Tchir, Peter Jordan, Robin Lidstone, Kim Kratky, Ted Ibrahim, and Paul Allen.
After a Friday-night car camp at km. 10 on the main Poplar Creek road, we were up at 5:00 to drive to km. 17 where the S. fork road turns off. We followed this S. fork to its end (see my article in Karabiner vol. 37, pp. 23-24 for further details) and parked where the road gets quite bad and switches back left. We didn’t find a really good route through the timber until our return, so I’ll give the details of the best approach to the alpine.
Walk up this left switchback to another landing. From there, follow a skid road up and to the right. This soon levels out and becomes overgrown, but still features a path in the middle. Upon reaching the end of this skid road (about 10 min. from the car), look above the road to pick out some flagging. This marks the beginning of a very good trail that diagonals upward through open timber and into the basin on the NW side of Cascade (30 min. from car). The trail continues S. through more-or-less open country (where it’s faint, there is flagging), passing E. and S. of the lake at 801-715 to reach the col at 803-708 (perhaps an hour from the car).
From this point we traversed E. and S. through alpland on the SW side of Cascade, passing through a col at 816-695. We then continued E. toward the Cascade-Marion col. There is a variety of routes through open country; if one gets too far N. below the bulk of Cascade, there are rock bands and steep heather that have to be descended. Farther toward the head of the valley of Wilson Creek, we found several limestone sinkholes big enough to climb into to a depth of 10′-12′.
Before reaching the Cascade-Marion col, we started up snow and scree on the NW side of the prominent N. ridge (833-680 to 698) that leads to an unnamed subpeak to the W. of Marion. Gaining the ridge, most of us diagonaled down several hundred feet to reach the glacier at about 834-694. This unpleasant section featured steep dirt mixed with rotten rock, spiced by cliffs below. Impossible to protect. We gained the glacier, roped up, and traversed SE between bare ice sections to a rock buttress that is the true N. ridge of Marion itself. Hamish, Peter Tchir, and I cramponed up several hundred feet of ice and snow-over-ice parallel to, and on the E. side of, the ridge. Robin Lidstone and Ted Ibrahim, who were without crampons, started on the rock ridge itself. Higher up, we three joined the others and scrambled to the summit. At first, the angle was quite gentle; farther up, the rock was loose; and higher still, the ridge was characterized by slabs covered with gravel (unpleasant, but only moderately dangerous). We reached the summit at 12:45 (5 hrs. 45 min. up), the rope being used only for glacier travel. Just as Peter T. and I reached the top, we met Paul Allen and Peter Jordan, who were coming up the W. ridge. They had ascended the N. ridge of the subpeak for several hundred feet above our party and crossed the glacier higher up. They then climbed an iced-up couloir to reach the ridge between Marion and its western subpeak and continued to the summit by an easy scramble. Finding a cairn with no record, we added notes about our outing and included a brief reference to the 1961 first ascent, a 5 1/2-day epic from Meadow Mtn.
For the descent, the parties again separated in the same way, although Paul insisted his route was much easier. Those without crampons chose not to accompany him and Peter J. (probably a wise choice), and the three of us with crampons gave no thought of separating from our less stylishly equipped colleagues. As descending the gravelly N. ridge was tedious, Hamish (who was way ahead) decided to find an exit route off the ridge to the glacier below and the E. of the ridge. Following him, we descended 100′ of an ugly scree couloir to reach some steep snow on the glacier. Soon we were back at the point where we had joined the ridge on the way up. Here, we separated as before, reconvening to rope up for the glacier traverse. The only untoward event occurred on this traverse when Ted plunged without warning into a crevasse to a depth of about 14′. It took about 25 min. for him to get out with the aid of prusiks and some etriers we sent down to him. His mishap was a result of inexperience, as he stepped right on a patch of bright white snow surrounded by dirty, grey ice that we had studiously ignored on the way over.
Anyway, we retraced our steps and made a rendezvous with Paul and Peter J. for the long plod to the trucks as per our ascent route.
We arrived back at 6:35 pm. That’s a 5 hr. 25 min. return, and an 11.5-hour day. Paul’s route is faster, but our party seemed satisfied with the N. ridge, which was probably the first ascent by a new, if not particularly significant, route.
MARION (9,730′) N. ridge (III,4,s/i/g) Kim Kratky, Ted Ibrahim, Robin Lidstone, Hamish Mutch, Peter Tchir, September 9, 1995. Cross the lower glacier to the rock buttress at the base of the north ridge. Follow the rock to the summit. Higher up, loose chunks and gravel-covered slabs are encountered. Some members of the party ascended the lower portions on ice and snow parallel to the ridge. The ridge is class 3 all the way. 5.5 hours to the top from the road’s end on the S. fork of Poplar Creek.