Racehorse, Mount

September 29, 2016, high rock range, crowsnest pass

Summit
2530 m
Gain
1300 m
Distance
13 km
Round trip
6.5 hr
Technical
OT4 YDS (Hiking)
Activity
scramble
Quick 'n dirty
Class 1 - you fall, you aren't sober
Difficulty
The hardest part was driving the initial stretch of road off Allison Creek Road towards Racehorse Pass. The mountain itself is mostly a hike from the pass. Note: We combined Racehorse Peak and Mount Racehorse for a two peak day.
Route
GPS trackMap

While in the area, and with plenty of time left after climbing Racehorse Peak (and the “Pony” extension), we decided that we might as well bag another unofficial peak near Racehorse Pass. We turned our attention to the straightforward Mount Racehorse - as defined creatively by Bob Spirko and Sonny Bou when they bagged it back in 2014.

Racehorse Peaks Route Map
Racehorse Peaks Route Map

Racehorse Peaks Route Map

There really isn’t much to say about this minor peak. We simply bashed up its east ridge to the summit, surmounting several easy, blocky cliff bands along the way.

Wietse winds his way up the lower, bushy end of the mountain.
Wietse winds his way up the lower, bushy end of the mountain.
A fairly straightforward scree grunt.
A fairly straightforward scree grunt.
Easy, blocky scrambling up some low cliff bands.
Easy, blocky scrambling up some low cliff bands.

The views from the summit of Mount Racehorse are pretty decent and we spent a few minutes enjoying them before noticing some dark clouds moving in from the west.

Looking north east and south (R) from near the summit. Racehorse Peak at left and Allison at right.
Looking north east and south (R) from near the summit. Racehorse Peak at left and Allison at right.
Summit views from Mount Racehorse looking south towards Ward, Allison and Window Mountain.
Summit views from Mount Racehorse looking south towards Ward, Allison and Window Mountain.

Summit views from Mount Racehorse looking south towards Ward, Allison and Window Mountain.

We decided that getting rained on would suck and started our descent. Going down was easy and we enjoyed the walk back along the Racehorse FSR to my truck to conclude a great two peak day.

Hiking back along the perfectly driveable road.
Hiking back along the perfectly driveable road.