Notes: Nigel Peak requires travel adjacent to a steep glacier. In my opinion, the fall potential bumps Nigel up to a difficult scramble.
Trip Report
Nigel and Wilcox can be tackled separately or in one long, but rewarding day. Both routes offer dazzling views of Mount Athabasca and the Columbia Icefields throughout the day. Mount Wilcox is an extremely popular scramble, true to the grade. In contrast, Nigel Peak requires travel along a steep glacier, with a much more significant fall potential. Nigel sees comparatively little traffic and I would tend to bump it up to a difficult scramble.
The first portion of the trail is shared with the popular Wilcox Pass trail, starting at Wilcox Creek Campground. Parking spots are scarce during peak tourism season and an early start is advisable.
The trail up to Wilcox Pass is wide and well-maintained. We happened upon this handsome grouse, being the first ones on the trail this morning. The wildflowers had long-since finished blooming for the season, but their remaining tufts were still stunning in the low morning sun.We left the trail once the trees opened up into plateau and turned right, heading for Nigel first. We will start by gaining the ridge ahead of us. An easy slope exists at roughly the middle of this photo, about 200m before a large drainage. Nigel Peak can be seen above the ridge, left of center.Looking back: Mount Athabasca, Mount Andromeda, and the Little A Glacier dominate the horizon.To the east lies a distinctive subpeak of Nigel (Nigel SE3).Once the ridge is gained, the remaining route comes into view. To gain the peak (center) we will first traverse left to the north arête (left). A faint trail can just be seen.Looking back at Dan on the ridge, with Mount Athabasca, Mount Andromeda, and Snowdome in the background.The traverse is much easier once closer. A good trail leads across to the north arête.Looking back at the ascent ridge (foreground), behind which the Athabasca Glacier flows from between Mount Andromeda (center-left) and Snowdome (right).Reaching the arête, the remaining route up is along Nigel’s glacier. The route is quite close to the glacier in places. I would pack my mountaineering axe if doing this one again – even so, a slide on this glacier would almost certainly be fatal. At the left are two parallel ridges – the closer one (in shadow) is the ridge of Nigel, and the one behind it is Mount Wilcox.Gazing across at an impressive spire . A cairn in the foreground confirms that we are on route.A steep section is negotiated just before the summit. We’d had a good view of the sharp drop below the Nigel glacier when we’d done Tangle Ridge earlier in the summer and proceeded very carefully through this section.A shot looking back down this section. The moves are only easy scrambling, but I feel that the fall potential bumps this up to difficult scrambling.Dan nears the top of Nigel Peak. A string of 11,000ers can be seen to the left behind Wilcox, including the dazzling duo of Diadem and Wooley, divided by their snowy col.At last, the peak is just ahead.Topping out on Nigel Peak. Sunwapta can be seen at the left.Summit panorama.We began our descent route, returning to the pass the same way we’d come before heading across to Wilcox.Dan downclimbs a cliff band just below the summitI begin descending the steep section.Returning to the ridge. In the background are Mount Andromeda, Snowdome, and Mount Kitchener.We make our way across the pass, radiant in fall colours. Our next objective, Mount Wilcox, rises at center.Once back on the Wilcox Pass trail, an obvious well-worn route led to the shoulder of Wilcox. The majority of the hikers ahead of us turned back at the shoulder.The shoulder of Wilcox alone is certainly worthy of a day out, offering spectacular views of Mount Athabasca!A tired as we were by this point, we continued on beyond the shoulder.The Moderate scrambling rating is fair for Wilcox. There were a few braiding trails through the cliffs, all roughly equivalent in difficulty. The popularity of this peak makes rockfall a real concern and we were glad to have helmets.The handful of intertwining trails merge at the high point ahead. From there, only a few meters along the ridge will remain.The last few meters to the summit (ahead) feel a bit more exposed and would probably be the crux of the route. This section is still within moderate scrambling.Looking back as Dan begins this final cruxy section. Mount Andromeda and the Athabasca Glacier make for a spectacular backdrop.Looking north from the top of Mount Wilcox as a raven (center) circles us. Tangle ridge is at center with Sunwapta peeking out at the rightLooking southeast over Wilcox Pass to the peak we just came from. Nigel Peak stands at the opposite side of the pass.Summit panorama.We returned the way we came, picking our way back through the braiding trails across Wilcox’s vertical rock bandsOne last pause on the shoulder of Wilcox. From here we’ll return to the obvious, well-maintained Wilcox Pass trail and return to the parking lot.
We returned to our vehicle in 11 1/2 hrs, exhausted and still needing to cook dinner in the dark. At the time, this was one of our longer and tougher days out, but the conditions were perfect and the views arguably unmatched years later.
Peak Bliss 