Cascade Mountain
Posted on October 18, 2010 by Scott in scrambling
Cascade Mountain is the spectacular peak seen to the northeast from the main street of Banff. There are technical climbing routes up the visible face, but the safest and easiest route is hidden from view far around on the west side of the mountain.
While Cascade is considered one of the easier climbs in the Banff area, all mountains pose hazards. This brochure provides detailed route information and important safety tips, and helps develop skills that can also be used on other climbs in the Rockies.
Click here to download the Cascade Mountain scrambler’s guide, complete with photos of the route, what to take with you and important emergency information. Print it off and take it with you.
This route description is aimed at strong hikers and scramblers.
Summit: 2,998 m (9,836 ft.)
Elevation gain of climb: 1,460 m (4,800 ft.)
Distance: approx. 18 km round trip
Average round-trip time: 9 hours
Difficulty: Most of the Cascade climb is a steep, strenuous hike, but a quarter of the route is on loose scree and talus. A few places require using hands for balance. Technical climbing gear is not usually required. There is no built trail on the route. Some worn footpaths have formed but these are intermittent, and some are “off-route”—in other words, the wrong way.
Season: Important! Cascade is a summer climb. Route conditions are best when there is no snow (usually late June or early July). Before climbing, check the left skyline ridge near the summit as viewed from Banff Avenue—if the ridge is snow-covered, parties may be forced to turn around and abandon the climb at that point in the route.
TRAILHEAD
From Banff, follow the Norquay Road (the west access road to Banff) up to Mt. Norquay Ski Area. The 7.4-km trail to Cascade Amphitheatre begins from the day lodge at the far end of the first parking lot on the right.
Walk by the front of the day lodge and follow a service road down through the ski area past the base of three chairlifts. A few metres beyond the Mystic Chair pick up the trail heading downhill to Forty Mile Creek.
At the creek, turn right at the junction and follow the Elk Lake trail for another 2.5 km to where the signed Cascade Amphitheatre trail branches right. This forested trail climbs steadily up a series of steep switchbacks to the Cascade Amphitheatre, an open meadow at the end of the maintained trail. The scramble route description begins at this location.
ROUTE DESCRIPTION
The route description to the summit of Cascade Mountain begins at the Cascade Amphitheatre. The following description is keyed to the numbers on the route photo.
1. Amphitheatre Meadows
These meadows are the destination of the hiking trail, and the start of the scrambling route to the summit. The Amphitheatre is the huge basin ahead curving gradually around to the left. The route to the summit generally follows the skyline of the cliffs forming the right wall of the Amphitheatre. Take a moment to pick out the main features—the First Peak, False Summit and
the Main Summit—as viewed from this point.
2. The Start
Follow the hiking trail along the meadows until nearly past the band of forest on the right. Turn to the right off the hiking trail and pick up a narrow footpath leading back to the right along the base of the steep slope. This path turns up the slope once past the end of the rock cliffs and safely gains the easier slopes along the top edge of the Amphitheatre cliffs. Follow this “edge” up to the last trees on the ridge. Do not traverse left across the steep ledges below the crest of the cliff.
3. First Peak
From the last trees, continue along the ridge up and over the First Peak. A tempting footpath also diverges to the right from the trees, but remain on the ridge—the footing is better and, despite appearances, it is easier. This is also the best route for the descent.
Climbing Tip: From this point on, make a conscious effort to look back at the ascent route for landmarks to aid in the descent. Weather and visibility can change. See look back tips below for key points in this route description.
4. Hidden Notch
Look towards the False Summit, which is the next main feature up the ridge. As the name implies, many hikers have been surprised when they reached this peak to find that it is not the top, and that the way to the actual summit is blocked by a drop down a vertical cliff. Careful route-finding starts here!
Beyond the First Peak, hike easily up the ridge on smooth dirt and moss. As soon as the ridge surface changes to solid rock, scramble down a small step (2 m) to the right. Continue up on easy ground just below a little cliff on the right side of the ridge until reaching an obvious notch in the ridge that, until now, has been hidden from view. Look back.
At this notch landmark, pick up an important detour around terrain difficulties that lie hidden beyond the False Summit. Ignore the well-worn track that leads straight up the slope above. Instead, take the narrow but distinct trail that leads horizontally right across the 150-m wide slope to the right-hand skyline, onto the south side of the mountain, overlooking the Bow Valley. Look back.
5. The False Summit [Refer to the photo below.]
At the skyline, turn a corner and scramble down the small rock band. This is the lower end of the cliff bands behind the False Summit. Follow a faint trail in the loose scree along the base of this cliff. (If this slope is snow-covered, consider turning back.) Within a few minutes, reach a small ridge on the edge of the last slope that must be crossed to rejoin the main ridge beyond the False Summit. Look back.
The upper ridge of Cascade Mountain
(Click to enlarge.)
This slope forms a steep bowl exposed to cliffs below. When the mountain is dry, walk across on soft dirt most of the way. It is easy but breathtaking! However, this is also the last place for winter snow to melt off this side of the mountain. A bad slip here could be disastrous. Climb across this place with extreme care and be prepared to turn back if uncertain of safety. A climbing ice axe could be useful.
6. The Main Summit
From the notch beyond the False Summit — look back — scramble up long, loose scree to the main summit. The summit is marked by a cairn. Enjoy the fantastic views but be sure to stay away from cornice snow along the summit ridge (most cornices eventually fall off in the summer). Summit elevation is 2,998 m.
THE DESCENT
Descend by the same route you climbed. Retrace your steps. No shortcuts!
Follow the ridge and stay on course (wandering off-route wastes time and can lead to dangerous terrain).
From the ridge just above the False Summit, a tempting shortcut is to climb straight down to the Amphitheatre. This is a potentially fatal mistake! Review the route photo to see the huge cliffs below which are hidden from view at the ridge.
The practice of looking back during the ascent will now pay off by helping you retrace the route quickly on the way down. At the First Peak, avoid the trails that appear to bypass this peak on the left side. These lead into a long section of loose talus and poor footing. Climb back up over the little peak and follow the ridge down to the last trees. On a clear day, the view down the southwest face to Mt. Norquay ski area may look like an easy shortcut back to the car park. Again, this would be a serious mistake! This direction ends in cliffs and does not rejoin with the trail.
You’ve climbed Cascade Mountain! If you are interested in more scrambling at this level, see similar pamphlets by Parks Canada for Mount Rundle near Banff and Mount Temple in Lake Louise. If you have climbed these and want more, then it’s time to select a route from the guidebook Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, join the Alpine Club of Canada, hire a certified mountain guide, or take a rock climbing or mountaineering course. Good luck!
