The biggest challenge associated with writing a guidebook about the 54 peaks in the Canadian Rockies that rise above the 11,000-foot, or 3353-metre, mark was the more than 20 years it took author Bill Corbett to climb them.
The highest of which is 12,989-foot (3959-metre) Mount Robson, only a handful of the 11,000ers can be climbed as a day-trip. Many are heavily glaciated, complicated to navigate, located in very remote areas and subject to frequent and unpredictable storms.
It wasn’t until after he’d climbed his last 11,000er in 2002 that Corbett, a writer by profession, author of the best-selling Day Trips from Calgary, and a keen mountaineer and backcountry skier on the weekends, decided to write his 11,000ers book.
“I thought a guidebook highlighting some of the most beautiful, iconic peaks in the Canadian Rockies would go well with the history of their early ascents,” Corbett said.
Once he dove into the project though, the process of researching the first ascents of the peaks quickly became a reward of its own.
“The greatest reward in the research and writing was discovering the rich history of the first ascents at the turn of the last century,” he said. “These climbers were a literate bunch, and their accounts of climbing these famous 11,000ers pretty much coincided with the early decades of mountaineering in the Canadian Rockies.”
Their stories, combined with some details of more recent and impressively speedy and technically challenging ascents of the peaks will be shared by Corbett in a presentation in Canmore next Tuesday (April 25).
Since the original edition of The 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies was published by Rocky Mountain Books in 2004, much has changed in regards to the peaks, including approaches and climbing routes due to logging practices and also glacial recession. Add to that, new technology suggests as many as four more peaks qualify for the 11,000er designation.
Those things, as well as the fact the original was out of print, led to the publication of an expanded second edition last year. That new edition, Corbett said, will be the focus of his presentation.
“In the new edition I’ve added full route descriptions and histories of these four new peaks,” Corbett said. “Two of them I’m pretty certain are over 11,000 feet, one is right on the edge and the fourth is shown as over the mark on newer tops maps. But I think I’m most excited about all the great new photos in the book from some of the best mountaineering photographers in the Canadian Rockies.”
The larger format and captivating new design are also exciting he added. Along with a discussion of the four new 11,000ers, Corbett said he looked forward to sharing some stories from his own highlights and mis-adventures in pursuit of climbing the 11,000ers, which he was the third of 11 people to accomplish.
“I’ll talk about some of the many trips I made up onto the Columbia Icefield, which is home to more than 10 of the 11,000ers, and about being thwarted as often as I was rewarded.”
Bill Corbett’s 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies presentation is hosted by the Alpine Club of Canada’s Rocky Mountain Section on Tuesday (April 25) at the Canmore Legion, starting at 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to all.
