Note for Aug 6, 03: - Colin and I ascended Nigel Peak in 6 hours and 10 min. The view from the top was great even with the cast-over skies. Smoke is still evident in the area, although it's alot better compared to BC. Problems were few except for the summit ridge. I decided to take the snow slope which was good until I found out that it was more ice than anything. With one axe and no crampons it fealt dicey to be on the slope but the summit came and the views were great. I would classify it as a scree slog but still great views either way. We had the peak to ourselves and by the looks of the register we were the first persons to the summit since the first of August. The descent from the summit to the valley bottom took just under an hour thanks to the scree.

Dates Summited -Aug 06,03

Elevation -3211m(10,535Ft.)

Elevation Gain - 1175m

Location - Columbia Icefields

We tried to stick to as much slab rock as possible scrambling up to the col. Their is alot of loose scree, which gave us a descent time from the summit to the valley bottom in just under an hour. Not bad for over four hours up.

An alpine view of Mt. Wilcox from the valley bottom.

Just before the summit you have a choice of ascending this snow slope or the rock to the right. The snow was really just ice on this day. We descended the rock.

Colin coming up. It was about 2 inches of snow on top of ice. The slope had a foolproof runout so we were having fun, but if it was exposed we wouldn't have been laughing.

Summit shots with cast over skies.

Colin descending the rock step.

View towards Mt. Athabasca and Mt. Andromeda, which are still well over 500Ft. above us.