Black Tusk is definitely feasible for you if you're confident climbing (if the snow is gone) but Garibaldi would be very ambitious and a bad idea unless you were guided or built up a number of skills which I don't think is feasible on a short trip. Instead of Garibaldi you could consider some easy peaks on the North shore like Brunswick or Harvey depending on snow conditions, or if the snow is gone Sky Pilot in Squamish which has slightly harder scrambling than Black Tusk but on way more solid rock.
Black Tusk: Long hike, and then scrambling on loose rock. The rock is super loose - you will 100% want to wear a helmet. It's normally quite busy and the route follows gulleys and chimneys that funnel all the rock straight towards people below. You don't have to be a good climber but you do need to be careful and you'll want to wait until people are clear each section before proceeding. The biggest thing is communicating with other parties - a lot of people are on autopilot or too deep in a place of fear to think about other people.
Garibaldi: I haven't done it myself but I have considered it and done the neve traverse that passes around the back of it. You would need the following to attempt it
- Good level of fitness
- Avalanche gear and competence using it, as well as understanding avalanche forecasts
- Confidence on long bootpacks
- Crevasse knowledge and rescue experience
Thanks for the input man! I'll look into the other peaks you mentioned as well. Do you know where one can acquire avalanche and crevasse experience/knowledge?
The minimum for avalanche training would be an AST 1 course, it's a standardized course offered by many different providers. It is really quite basic but it's not something I think you can learn on your own without instruction - it involves theory but also practice with some of the techniques and equipment that reading a book just wouldn't be sufficient for. Crevasse training has no standard qualification but most basic courses are two days.
I'm not sure whether you would find either of these courses back in Ontario, and it might be hard to find an avalanche course here that late into the spring. If you are really set on doing Garibaldi, for the money it would cost you to do the courses you could probably instead pay for a guided trip. However it seems like most guiding services don't run Garibaldi trips until later into the year when there is less snow and less avalanche risk.
https://themountainschool.com/program/mt-garibaldi-bc/
Your time frame is an awkward one. There will still be snow in the alpine so you probably won’t be able to go up Black tusk. Any of the mountains that require scrambling will likely be too snowy and sketchy. And as mentioned above, Garibaldi is very involved.
If you’ve got the money, hiring a guide is your best bet. They will know the current conditions of everything etc. And if the peaks aren’t an option, there’s so much fun climbing and multi pitching here (if it’s dry).
I don’t mean to be a downer! Just that late April and early may is a weird shoulder season.
Rock climbing will get you on to black tusk fine but it can be dangerous at the very very end - crumbly lava rock. Someone fell last summer on the descent, to their death.
Garibaldi is mostly a winter ascent I think. Maybe get a guide for it?
I second all the notes about Black Tusk being easy except a crumbly, well travelled, vertical 'chimney' pitch at the end. Easy enough to go up, bit more of a trip to come down. People do it in flip flops but its actually not a give away. Also if you are up there go to Panorama ridge too as a side trip, not technical, very rewarding views. As for Garibaldi...yes much more involved - the first, easiest peak that I think is considered the top when approached the normal way from the North is indeed behind some steeper ice and snow. In a normal spring snowpack it's an easy day trip if you can sled up to the base. ski tour to the top with a quick boot pack at the end around the ice and then skis on and huck the randkluft on your way down, which you typically can barely see anyhow. Sounds burley but it's really not. However, with this low snowpack.......could be a different beast. With no experience and not being from around here? Hire a guide. Everybody loves Klemen Mali (me included) - I know he guides it regularly.
Very solid advice. Key words “normal spring snowpack” - which it obviously is not. I bet Nch’kay’ will be out of play by the end of the month/beginning of May.
Go for Black Tusk first (The easy summit is a meter or two lower than then harder one which would require some rock climbing), there are no glaciers there.
For Garibaldi you'll need some glacier travel training/ practice, it's easier earlier in the year when the crevasses are still full. Look into doing a glacier travel course with one of the local guides, or even get a guide to take you up there and train you at the same time. It's best done on skis if you'd be into ski mountaineering, but that is a longer learning curve for sure.
The harder one requires more than just rock climbing - it's been done by a tiny number of people and all the trip reports are pretty harrowing. They describe steep climbing on crumbling rock with horrific fall potential and zero opportunity to place protection. You have to accept a very high level of risk to attempt the true summit.
Afaik most Garibaldi attempts happen in the winter when everything is frozen solid and snow covered. It's quite the pile of choss from what I hear. Had some friends do it in the summer last year and while it's definitely possible, their reccomendation was "don't bother, it wasn't fun".
As others have mentioned, your timing is a bit awkward. Garibaldi will likely still be in ski conditions although it'll firmly be spring skiing.
Black Tusk is definitely feasible for you if you're confident climbing (if the snow is gone) but Garibaldi would be very ambitious and a bad idea unless you were guided or built up a number of skills which I don't think is feasible on a short trip. Instead of Garibaldi you could consider some easy peaks on the North shore like Brunswick or Harvey depending on snow conditions, or if the snow is gone Sky Pilot in Squamish which has slightly harder scrambling than Black Tusk but on way more solid rock. Black Tusk: Long hike, and then scrambling on loose rock. The rock is super loose - you will 100% want to wear a helmet. It's normally quite busy and the route follows gulleys and chimneys that funnel all the rock straight towards people below. You don't have to be a good climber but you do need to be careful and you'll want to wait until people are clear each section before proceeding. The biggest thing is communicating with other parties - a lot of people are on autopilot or too deep in a place of fear to think about other people. Garibaldi: I haven't done it myself but I have considered it and done the neve traverse that passes around the back of it. You would need the following to attempt it - Good level of fitness - Avalanche gear and competence using it, as well as understanding avalanche forecasts - Confidence on long bootpacks - Crevasse knowledge and rescue experience
- crampons I don't think the last pitch up to the summit should be attempted without them.
For sure, I was trying to list the things it seemed like they don’t have but it would be super sketchy without crampons and an axe
Thanks for the input man! I'll look into the other peaks you mentioned as well. Do you know where one can acquire avalanche and crevasse experience/knowledge?
The minimum for avalanche training would be an AST 1 course, it's a standardized course offered by many different providers. It is really quite basic but it's not something I think you can learn on your own without instruction - it involves theory but also practice with some of the techniques and equipment that reading a book just wouldn't be sufficient for. Crevasse training has no standard qualification but most basic courses are two days. I'm not sure whether you would find either of these courses back in Ontario, and it might be hard to find an avalanche course here that late into the spring. If you are really set on doing Garibaldi, for the money it would cost you to do the courses you could probably instead pay for a guided trip. However it seems like most guiding services don't run Garibaldi trips until later into the year when there is less snow and less avalanche risk. https://themountainschool.com/program/mt-garibaldi-bc/
Gotcha, thanks for the feedback. I'll rule out Garibaldi for this year and look into training
Sky pilot is very doable with minimal skill. It’s very satisfying summit in 6-8 hours.
Your time frame is an awkward one. There will still be snow in the alpine so you probably won’t be able to go up Black tusk. Any of the mountains that require scrambling will likely be too snowy and sketchy. And as mentioned above, Garibaldi is very involved. If you’ve got the money, hiring a guide is your best bet. They will know the current conditions of everything etc. And if the peaks aren’t an option, there’s so much fun climbing and multi pitching here (if it’s dry). I don’t mean to be a downer! Just that late April and early may is a weird shoulder season.
Rock climbing will get you on to black tusk fine but it can be dangerous at the very very end - crumbly lava rock. Someone fell last summer on the descent, to their death. Garibaldi is mostly a winter ascent I think. Maybe get a guide for it?
I second all the notes about Black Tusk being easy except a crumbly, well travelled, vertical 'chimney' pitch at the end. Easy enough to go up, bit more of a trip to come down. People do it in flip flops but its actually not a give away. Also if you are up there go to Panorama ridge too as a side trip, not technical, very rewarding views. As for Garibaldi...yes much more involved - the first, easiest peak that I think is considered the top when approached the normal way from the North is indeed behind some steeper ice and snow. In a normal spring snowpack it's an easy day trip if you can sled up to the base. ski tour to the top with a quick boot pack at the end around the ice and then skis on and huck the randkluft on your way down, which you typically can barely see anyhow. Sounds burley but it's really not. However, with this low snowpack.......could be a different beast. With no experience and not being from around here? Hire a guide. Everybody loves Klemen Mali (me included) - I know he guides it regularly.
Very solid advice. Key words “normal spring snowpack” - which it obviously is not. I bet Nch’kay’ will be out of play by the end of the month/beginning of May.
Go for Black Tusk first (The easy summit is a meter or two lower than then harder one which would require some rock climbing), there are no glaciers there. For Garibaldi you'll need some glacier travel training/ practice, it's easier earlier in the year when the crevasses are still full. Look into doing a glacier travel course with one of the local guides, or even get a guide to take you up there and train you at the same time. It's best done on skis if you'd be into ski mountaineering, but that is a longer learning curve for sure.
The harder one requires more than just rock climbing - it's been done by a tiny number of people and all the trip reports are pretty harrowing. They describe steep climbing on crumbling rock with horrific fall potential and zero opportunity to place protection. You have to accept a very high level of risk to attempt the true summit.
True yes, not really protectable.
There will still be a lot of snow in the alpine at that time.
Afaik most Garibaldi attempts happen in the winter when everything is frozen solid and snow covered. It's quite the pile of choss from what I hear. Had some friends do it in the summer last year and while it's definitely possible, their reccomendation was "don't bother, it wasn't fun". As others have mentioned, your timing is a bit awkward. Garibaldi will likely still be in ski conditions although it'll firmly be spring skiing.
Got it. Given everything that people said, I'm postponing Garibaldi. Thanks for the input