Not much to look at from here but around the corner is awesome!

Side traverse into a beautiful alpine valley

Grizzly Peak / Mt Evan-Thomas Col - a foreshortened view - still quite a distance to the col

Jesse and Al just below the summit, out of the wind, and enjoying great views

of Mt. Evan-Thomas

Grizzly Peak

Scramble: Class 1 – Steep Hiking

Altitude: 2,500m (8,200 ft)

Ascent Time: 2 -3 Hours

Elevation Gain: approx. 850m (2,790 ft)

Best Season to Scramble: May to September

This scramble is a surprisingly scenic one although from the highway the mountain itself doesn’t look like much at all. But when you begin the traverse around the right side of the mountain you enter a high alpine valley that is quite impressive. Another really good one for new scramblers.

Head west out of Calgary on the TransCanada highway # 1 for 79km (49.4 miles) and take the Kananaskis Country Highway 40 turnoff and head south. If your base is Banff head east on the TransCanada for 52 km (32.5 miles) and turn south on route as above. Drive south for 40.7 km (25.4 miles) to the Fortress Mountain Shell gas station. Keep heading south for approx 4.5 km to unsigned Ripple Creek and park on the left shoulder or the East side of the road. Ripple Creek lies between two signed creeks, the first being Grizzly Creek and the second being Hood Creek. Be careful turning around on highway 40 to park on the east side of the road.

The foot trail goes up the left or north side of Ripple Creek. See the trail start in the first photo. From there the trail works its way up to the right shoulder of Grizzly Peak. From this point there is a nice traverse along the right side of the mountain into a high alpine valley with a great view of Mt. Evan-Thomas. Once you have traversed past the cliffs of Grizzly start working your way up the steep slopes to the col directly behind Grizzly peak. This col connects Grizzly with Mt. Evan-Thomas. From the col you it’s a easy 15-20 minutes up to the summit.