FAYS PEAK 2817m 9242′
Located near the center of Silvercup Ridge, above Trout Lake. It was certainly first climbed by prospectors.
Map 82K/11 Trout Lake.
Drive: (see all approaches to Silver Cup Ridge on that post) From Gerrard, drive up the Horsefly Creek logging road (4WD, HC, LR for last 4kms) to 11.8km and boulder barricade. 168 and 3 hours from Nelson.
1. FRA 1903, route unknown
2. Southeast Slopes. From parking area at end of Horsefly Creek logging road (4WD, rocks across road 11.8km), walk on the old road to the headwaters of American Creek. Go cross-country on easy terrain to the south ridge. Scramble to summit. Climb scree (I,3).
FRA by Linwood Erskine, Andrew Griscom, 1948.
3. Southwest Ridge. From above Trout Lake (not the town), drive the logging road just northwest of Rady Creek (Consult introduction, “Logging Roads to Badshot, Goat Groups”, mileage table), just before the km 29 sign, from Gerrard. At km 6.5 turn sharply right up a steep older road (low range four wheel drive). At km 9.9 continue straight through a four-way junction to just above
Pick up the Silvercup Ridge trail going southeast, and climb the southwest ridge of Fays Peak, bypassing any difficulties on the left, on loose shale, junky. On descent, one can go down scree and snow of the west face. (II,3,s).
For the Silvercup Ridge trail, there is also a logging road which ascends from near Gerrard. See the introduction (Ref. in Rt. 3). Roads may be overgrown or blocked.
3. West See Route 3.
4. Northeast Ridge. The northeast ridge is a Class 3 climb on friable rock from the col. One may descend from the col (toward the southeast) by a snow and scree (II,3,s). Descended by a large KMC party, Sept. 21, 1997, but certainly climbed by miners in the late 1800s.
UNNAMED 2730m 8957′
Located two kilometres northeast of Fays Peak. Map 82K/11 Trout Lake.
1. Southwest Ridge. All of the southwest ridge is at most Class 3. The party came back the same way, but did not pass over Fays Peak on the return. (III,3,s).
FRA Paul Allen, Peter Tchir, Sept. 21, 1997, but certainly climbed by miners, late 1800s.
FAYS PK (9,242′) by Kim Kratky
The gem of Silvercup Ridge, Fays is best reached from the south via Highway #31. Access is excellent if you have a good 4WD high-clearance vehicle with low range (translation: you can drive to 7,200′ if you grit your teeth). Robin Lidstone and I day-tripped Fays from Nelson on September 11, 1996, leaving the Queen City at 5:30 am and returning home by 7:00 pm.
First, the access. Approaching from the south on Highway #31, pass Gerard and continue NW across the Rady Crk. bridge (signed). At about 12 km. from Gerard (1.4 km. past the bridge), turn R onto the upgraded Rady Creek road. After about 6.5 km. from the turn-off, turn sharply R onto a much-less-used road, go to low range, and begin the serious driving. At about km. 9.9, go straight through a four-way junction and continue to a spacious landing at km. 10.4 (7,200′; ample parking and scenic campsite, but bring your own water). This road is definitely not as bad as Kootenay Joe, but it is nosing into that category. Dave Elliott tells me that at the km. 9.9 crossing, he turned L and followed the spur to its end in an alpine area farther NW.
Anyway, from the landing, follow a disused mining road to the SE and immediately pick up the fabled Silvercup Ridge Trail. This route wends along the SW side of the ridge, just above the treeline, in a northwest-southeast direction. It’s very well marked with cairns, flagging, red metal triangles on tree trunks, and even little metal plaques depicting hikers and horsemen. I understand the Kaslo Riding Club is responsible for much of the upkeep. Continuing SE, the trail eventually rises to the ridge crest above the headwaters of Ottawa Creek. We followed a spur right to the base of the SW ridge of Fays. (8,100′; 90 min. from the truck; you see what I mean about easy access).
From this point, simply follow the broken, shattered junk of the SW ridge to a prominent light-coloured step which is easily bypassed on the left. Regain the ridge and continue without event to the summit, less than an hour from the base of the ridge. Return is by the same ridge, with many easy exit routes onto snow and scree of the west face. The actual hiking and climbing part of this trip took less than 5.5 hours.
Silvercup Ridge and the Fays Peak area is significant, not for any interesting climbing, but for the superb scenery along the ridge and the views up Trout Lake and across to the Lardeau Range. It’s a trip well worth the drive.
FAYS PK. (9,242′) SW ridge (II,3,s) From the end of the Rady Creek road, follow the Silvercup Ridge trail SE to the base of Fay’s SW ridge. Scramble the loose, broken rock of the ridge to the summit, turning any difficulties on the left. 3 hrs. up. 2 1/4 hrs. for descent.
FAYS PEAK (full account) by Kim Kratky
My final outing of any significance took place on Wednesday, Sept. 11th, when Robin Lidstone and I did a day trip of Fays Pk. by its S and SW ridge. On a truly glorious day, we left Nelson at 5:40 and followed Highway 31 N past Gerard to the Rady Crk. road, just beyond Rady Crk (which is signposted) and just before the km. 29 sign. We drove this raw, new logging road built over an old mining road to km. 6.5, where we swung sharply R. and headed up a steep, older road (definitely 4WD low-range beyond this point). At km. 9.9, we reached a four-way junction and continued straight ahead. In a few minutes, we topped out at a spacious landing at 7,100′ just above the treeline. We enjoyed terrific views up Trout Lake and across to the likes of Mts. Hadow and Wilkie (talk about infrequently visited!). These look surprisingly impressive and seem to retain considerable glaciation. Their light gray tones made me think their rock would be like that of Spyglass–not very good.
Anyway, by 9:20 we got underway, complete with 9mm rope, harnesses, rack, and crampons–none of which were remotely needed. We headed down a grassy road to the SE and immediately picked up the famous Silvercup Ridge Trail. As we wended our way up and down along the SW side of the height of land, always heading in a southeasterly direction, we noticed marker cairns, bits of flagging, red metal triangles on tree trunks, and even little metal plaques 3″ x 4″ with images of hikers and horsemen. Fred says this trail is maintained by the Kaslo Riding Club; they are thorough. Within 25 min. of the truck, we passed within feet of a perfect tarn at 764-934, an ideal spot for family camping. Soon the trail led us to the ridge spine, and we were able to savour views down into the headwaters of Ottawa Creek. We continued E., travelling over scree and snow, to the base of Fays’ SW ridge (8,100′) by 10:50 (90 min. from the truck). Below and to the S. was the treeless S. outrider of Fays (783-017), while off to the E. were the Healy Creek drainage and Mt. Aldridge.
After a snack, we started up the SW ridge at 11:20, first bypassing the ridge on the L (I think this part would be easily scrambled). After a few hundred feet of sliding and slithering on loose shale, we climbed back onto the ridge and followed its spine of broken junk easily to a light-coloured step that we bypassed on the L. Returning once more to the crest, we followed it to the 9242′ summit where we spent 40 min. relishing the balmy temperatures and glittering sun (arrived at 12:10, 50 min. from the base of the ridge, 2 hrs. 50 min. from the truck). Badshot Mtn., almost due N., showed as a slaty-gray bulk, impressive but rotten, with its lesser companion Lade Pk. appearing as a flat-topped lump. Mt. Wagner looked like an undistinguished knob at the end of a long E. ridge (not sure why I’ve wanted to go there, but I probably still will).
On the descent, we repeated our ascent route for a few hundred feet, then headed down scree and snow of the W. face and into the basin of upper Ottawa Creek where we picked up the trail. After a quick dip in the tarn by the track, we returned to the truck by 2:40, making our outing a 5 hr 20 min. day ( 2 hrs. 15 min. back from the summit).
I think the SW ridge is climbed quite often, as a branch of the trail went right to the base of it. It would certainly be suitable for reasonably vigorous hiking types (we could rate it I-II 3, just an easy scramble), and there are many routes to the summit on the W. side.